Noble Marine Golden Jubilee National Championships
Rooster Super Series
11-12 July - days 1 & 2
by Nigel Pepperdine
102 Streaker sailors arrived at Costa del Edith Weston for the Noble Marine Streaker Golden Jubilee National Championships. This is the largest Streaker fleet ever to be seen on the water.
The Streaker was designed 50 years ago by the late Jack Holt. A smaller lighter boat was required when Jack was finding the Solo too much to handle. The original design in plywood with a simple rig. The boat which is sailed today has evolved over the years from plywood, GRP, composite and now FRP hull. The hull has retained the original lines but the interior has evolved to a clean cockpit that we see today with a tapered mast and optional carbon boom.
Over the years countless people have been involved with the class. Many committee members will have debated the rule changes and manufacturers will have evaluated the risks. Class secretaries have administered the membership and would have spent many hours in front of a computer and treasurers the thankless task of "balancing the books."
It would be unfair to mention names as many people have contributed. To neglect a name would simply be unjust. You know who you are and we hope you can gain some satisfaction in seeing over 100 boats on the water. You have contributed to this championships success. Thank you.
Well what's been happening in the racing. Day 1, no wind, a mirror like Rutland and racing cancelled.
Day 2 dawns with 25 degrees, sunshine and 7/8 knot breeze, an optimistic race officer, Adam Petit, called the sailors for a briefing. "Right chaps, we going to for 6 races in two flights, 12 starts" and boy did he do a good job, time couldn't permit a full 12 starts but 10 were managed. A real credit to Adam and Ben Falat and their teams for such professional race management.
How can one possibly give a race report, the author has trouble even knowing where he finished never mind about anybody else.
With the results of 5 races the leaderboard is headed by Tom Gillard with 4 firsts. However Martin Penty is not too far behind with Ollie Groves a good 3rd.
Archie Burton and Giles Therkelson Smith making up the top 5.
Staunton Harold's Peter and Rachael Gray, not in the same boat, are 6th and 7th respectively. Wonder who will have bragging rights for the journey back to Burton?
Every championships does have a walk of shame and I'm afraid this one is no different. We have heard about Phil Priestley splashing out on the new boat. The money has been well spent with a 5th, 4th and 2nd. However a major "love in" with the pin end start boat dented a higher than 10th overnight position.
Class chairman Neil Firth must get a mention managing a 4th and 2nd, love to report my result but just forgot the specs and just can't quite see where I finished.
All to play for on Sunday when we move from the Qualification Series to the Final Series, with the top 51 all racing in Group A start for two races to decide the championship. The Group B start will decide the places from 52 onwards.
Watch this space for the full report after today's racing...
Noble Marine Golden Jubilee National Championships
11-13 July - overall
by Neil Firth
Tom Gillard becomes 11 times Streaker National Champion, surpassing dad Alan's record, against a spectacular 102 boat fleet at Rutland Sailing Club. The event combined top quality championship racing with Golden Jubilee celebrations to mark 50 years since Jack Holt designed the Streaker, a class that is thriving in the modern single-handed dinghy market.
Given the size of the fleet for the greatest Streaker event ever, racing was organised into flights. As previously reported, the qualifying series ran for the first two days. This saw the fleet divided into four evenly matched colour groups which raced against each other in pairs; two 50-boat starts per race. Colour pairs were rotated for each successive race to ensure that everyone raced against everyone else. By the end of Saturday, five of the possible six qualifying races had been sailed and the scene was set for the final series showdown on Sunday.
But, before that, there was the small matter of the Streaker Golden Jubilee Dinner. 125 Class Members, partners and invited guests sat down for a three-course dinner in the glorious setting of the Rutland clubhouse, overlooking the reservoir. The honoured guests included seven current and former National Champions, as well as a few past committee members who contributed significantly to the success of the class over the years. After dinner the Chairman, Neil Firth, introduced the first and second National Champions, Nick Tillett (1977) and Arran Linton-Smith (1978 & 1979) who each gave a short speech.
Arran Linton-Smith was the original Streaker 'works jockey'! He was working at Jack Holt's Putney showroom when he won the Nationals, although as he recounted, he was not allowed to win the last race as he was under strict orders to give the 'amateurs' a chance! He also recalled the Streaker launch event on the River Thames at Putney when Jack was 'apprehended' by the police. Let's just say that a publicity stunt connected with the boat's name might have drawn some unwanted attention - or perhaps that was the point!
Nick Tillett, on the other hand, was the epitome of Jack's target market for his latest dinghy design. Nick needed a summer project between school and university so his dad bought a Streaker kit for Nick to build - thanks to a 10% discount for sending in a few Tate & Lyle sugar packets. Nick recalled that the heatwave summer of '76 was not a time to be mixing too much resin at once - not dissimilar to 2025! He was meant to be building the boat for his dad to sail, but he borrowed it for the 1977 Nationals and won! He also won the Burnham Icicle earlier that year and was runner up to Arran at the 1978 Nationals.
After the speeches, at the Robline Daily Prize Giving, Saturday's individual race trophies were presented to the relevant race winners. A prize draw was then held to identify ten lucky winners of new Robline tapered mainsheets.
On Sunday morning the fleet woke to confirmation that the top 51 boats had been assigned to Group A for the final series. They would all race against each other for the two deciding races, with everyone else racing in Group B. Or at least that was the plan! The fleet launched on time and there were a few attempted starts, all recalled or abandoned, before the race officer sensibly decided to call it a day in the fading breeze.
So the Noble Marine Streaker Golden Jubilee National Championship was decided on the outcome of the previous day's highly competitive qualifying series. This was widely acknowledged to have been a fair and competitive series for everyone involved, including the worthy winners. Our day 2 reporter had misplaced his glasses, so here's how the five races (ten starts) played out...
National Champion, Tom Gillard (Staunton Harold SC/Sheffield Viking SC), counted four bullets with a discarded third place taking the shine off an otherwise perfect score line. The discard came in race 3 (yellow/green flight) when Tom got caught up in a tussle with Ollie Groves, allowing Pete Gray (Staunton Harold SC) and Phil Priestley (Beaver SC) to sail around them into first and second respectively.
Martin Penty (Beaver SC) was second overall. He was second to Tom when they met in races 1 and 4. In race 2 without Tom (blue/green flight), Martin found himself on the wrong side of the first beat and could only recover to sixth. This allowed Ollie his first race win ahead of Neil Firth (Banbury SC). Martin also let Beaver's young pretender, Archie Burton, have a win in race 3 (blue/red flight), showing the depth of talent at Beaver SC... with no respect for their elders!
Ollie Groves (Beaver SC) was third overall with a second win coming in race 4 (green/red flight). Richard Hanby (Beaver SC) was second in that race.
Other notable race results include Steve Blackburn (West Lancs YC/Leigh & Lowton SC) and Rachael Gray (Staunton Harold SC) who took full advantage of Tom and Martin's absence to come first and second respectively in race 1 (red/green flight)! Elsewhere, Giles Therkelson-Smith (Beaver SC), in the same colour group as Tom, claimed a worthy second in race 5 (yellow/red flight).
The Streaker sailors stayed in their pre-existing Allen-sponsored Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets for this event, independent of the qualifying series. Richard Brameld (Beaver SC) had a spectacular set of results for a well-deserved victory in the Silver Fleet. A sixth in race 4 (blue/yellow flight) was his best result. Wendy Jones (Dovestone SC) was second overall with a seventh in race 3 (blue/red flight) and Ben Harris (Up River YC) was third overall, his best a tenth in race 4 (blue/yellow flight).
In the Bronze Fleet it was Lianne Therkelson (Beaver SC again!) who took the honours ahead of Jeremy Daniell (Downs SC). Under 18 youth Woody Walters (Broadstairs SC) completed the Bronze Fleet podium. He was competing at his first Nationals in any class.
Rutland Sailing Club were excellent hosts for this very special 50th anniversary event. Adam Petit and the race management team did a great job to get 5 races (10 starts) into the only viable day. Ashore, the catering and bar team kept the food and drink flowing throughout the event and pulled out all the stops for the Jubilee Dinner. The local Rutland Streaker fleet, led by Wendy Alexander, also did a fantastic job supporting the pre-event planning and bringing everything together throughout the event.
Next year the Streaker fleet heads to Sunderland YC on 10-12 July for the 2026 National Championship. It's going to be another one not to miss!
Trophy winners:
National Champion: Thomas Gillard, Sheffield Viking SC / Staunton Harold SC
Silver Fleet: Richard Brameld, Beaver SC
Bronze Fleet: Lianne Therkelsen, Beaver SC
First Lady: Rachael Gray, Staunton Harold SC
First Youth (U18): Nathan Clark, Waveney & Oulton Broad YC
First Youth (U25): Archie Burton, Beaver SC
First Master: Phil Priestley, Beaver SC
First Grand Master: Martin Penty, Beaver SC
First Great Grand Master: Stephen Dickinson, Burghfield SC
First Veteran: Steve Hanby, Beaver SC
First Grand Veteran: Peter Cogill, Beaver SC / Rotherham SC
First Club Team: Beaver SC - Martin Penty, Ollie Groves and Archie Burton
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