GLASGOW 12TH 13TH 
15/09/2009

GLASGOW 12TH 13TH September

A Quick round trip the Braehead shopping centre on the 4th to put one of the round Britain boats on display we then set about preparing our race boat for the next round of the ZAPCAT Celtic Cup, unfortunately my regular co-pilot Phill could again not make it as he is getting OLD and was to hit the big 50 on the Saturday with a surprise birthday party!! So i had to think of plan ‘B’ the secret weapon  ‘Little Rick’ lucky for me he was flying in to Gatwick from a week in Egypt windsurfing after finishing a stint as a engineer on a super yacht, just how lucky could i be? Read on –

We were loaded up at the un earthly hour of 3am and Rick was on the train to MK i was collecting him at 6am, with the weapon on board we headed north.  We had a quick stop off at Rick’s Parents hotel in Grange-over-Sands for breakfast [The Netherwood Hotel] Bacon buttys on board we got moving north, to Braehead.       

After some great racing in the heats we put ourselves in P1 for the final, not the best of positions as you have the distance of the river to cover over the higher positions, the start was ballistic with us all going head to head, with boats matched as well as teams there was nothing in it.

At the first turn buoy Marin Subsea/ Delta Jets took the lead from Westgate and BS Marinesport  as the pack closed in. Marin Subsea, knowing they had the boat speed opted for the shorter course to build their lead, which they maintained to take the top spot on the podium and the gold medal. A tactical race ensued between Team Suffolk, Zapcat 98, Westgate and us BS Marinesport for second and third.

BS Marinesport, Zapcat 66 Neil Bainbridge and Richard Fallowfield squeezed into second with Westgate’s Charles and Jacqui just holding off  team Suffolk to claim the bronze medal position.


So Marinsubsea/Delta Jets Ash and Chris’s win sees them comfortably sitting at the top of the Celtic Cup table but with another round of hotly contested action tomorrow the fight from the chasing teams is not over yet. Action will commence on the River Clyde at Braehead tomorrow again from 12 noon.

Zapcat

Team Name

Pilot

Co-pilot

Round 3

9

Marin Subsea/ Delta Jet

Ashley Chappell

Chris Rex

100

66

BS Marinesport

Neil Bainbridge

Richard Fallowfield

90

28

Westgate

Charles Morris

Jacqui Wood

80

98

Team Suffolk

Greg Richardson

Kieron Richardson

75

74

Dangerous Brothers

Andrew Foster

Mark Surrey

70

21

Certain Death

Tristan Haigh

Mike Hammer

65

10

Seavation

Jeremy Nazarin

Baz Minns

60

80

BS Marinesport 2

Sunil (Sunny) Panniker

Jason Hutson

55

44

Who The Hell

Steve Pidsley

Bobby Pidsley

50

35

Crest of a Wave

Pat Moger

Paul Nash

45

40

Scaredy Cat

Russell Sidney

Sandra Sidney

40

7

Smart ABC

Dave Paget

Tony Cooper

38

95

Scottish Highlanders - Guardian of Scotland

Terry Roberson

Paul Seargent

36

23

Rusty Racing

Nick Ponting

Stuart Harrison

34

97

Scottish Highlanders – Destiny

Andrew Buchan

TBC

32

77

The Exe Jets

George Moger

Richard Hawkes

30

96

Shore Thing

Chris Shepherd

Darren Giles

28

99

Scottish Highlanders - Bannockburn

George Stroud (Boris)

Nieve Jennings

26

94

Scottish Highlanders - Independence

Chris Conway

Irvin Findley

24

 

Sunday’s racing got underway as the crowds lined the River Clyde in the sunshine. English team, Team Suffolk, Zapcat 98 father and son Greg and Kieron Richardson were off to a flying start and were pushing hard to get the top results from the day in the hope of stealing the Celtic Cup from Marin Subsea/Delta Jets who currently topped them in the table.

Also putting in their best performance of the season so far was team Who the Hell, Zapcat 44 another father and son team in Steve and Bobby Pidsley, who had shaken off a rookie error from Saturdays racing which resulted in them mounting a buoy to achieve some of their best results to date.

The racing was fast and frantic with a tactical short pit lap course introduced to the racing to make the racers think about when they took their pit lap to give them optimum advantage. As the days final approached each nation had a representation and it was set to be an exhilarating final as each team and nation had something to prove.

Heading into the first buoy, Marin Subsea/Delta Jets were neck and neck with BS Marinesports, Zapcat 66 Neil Bainbridge and Richard Fallowfield racing for England, and Welsh Team Westgate, Zapcat 28 Charles Morris and Jacqui Wood; being a tight corner one team would have back off and let the other team take the lead but with national pride at stake who would it be? Marin Subsea/Delta Jets pilot Ash opened the throttle and took the lead with co-pilot chris launching himself right over the side in the corners to make their turns tighter they pulled away, they opted to take they short pit on the first lap to make the most of the clean water. BS Marinesport hot on their wake followed hoping to over take them on the back straight.

Marin Subsea/ Delta Jets, Zapcat 09 maintained their lead and with took the title of 2009 Zapcat Celtic Cup Champions, Westgate, Zapcat 28 stole the silver medal position from BS Marinesport, Zapcat 66 after a phenomenal race that saw each team pushing each others skill for the whole duration of the race.

So with the results in attentions turned to the Nations Championship, The points from both days were collated and then the top 2 boats from each Nations points were added together to give the 2009 Zapcat Home Nations Champions to Team England. BS Marinesport , Zapcat 66 Neil Bainbridge and Richard Fallowfield along with Dangerous Brothers, Zapcat 74 Andy Foster and Mark Surrey claimed the title for a victorious English team.