2016 National Circuit Series Results

9 events in all, including the Nationals at Medway in June. The event at Datchet Water in late October did not happen because of surprisingly a lack of wind. There were thus 8 events held, with 3 required to constitute a series for a particular boat, but there was a further stipulation that the three qualifying races had to include one Freshwater event and one Saltwater. This meant that the top positions were still up for grabs right up to this last event, and as it turned out, some of these positions were not determined until the last race at Bough Beech. A further rider was that for well attended events of over 20 boats, actually only at Medway where there were 31, the leading boats would get a half-point advantage compared with normal low scoring, and this again made a difference in the final analysis.

A total of 72 boats competed in at least one event, and 25 competed in two or more, but only 7 managed to achieve the qualifying number and stipulation of races. Michael McNamara and Simon Townsend from Rollesby Broad were worthy winners of the series, but it was clearly competitive at the top with Len Jones and Jamie Lea from Medway coming a close second. Andrew and Tom Wilson from Datchet were also scoring well and giving themselves opportunities for stardom by competing in 6 of the events. Well done, and this ensured the win for the Travellers’ Trophy for them. The programme for next year is taking shape, and we would hope that there may be a few more Wayfarers making the trip to visit locations other than their home club. After all, there is good racing wherever you are in the fleet.

Philip Ayton