A fleet of 11 B14’s gathered for what was probably the best sailing weekend (13th/14th July) of 2002 so far with plenty of sunshine and good sea breezes. Race 1 on Saturday started in a very variable breeze of around 6-10 knots with large gusts making it crucial to be on the correct side of the course. After the first lap Nils Joliffe and John Branch in ‘Raymarine’ took the lead which they held to the finish. Behind them places were changing regularly in the frustrating conditions, however the race culminated in an exciting finish with just a few boat lengths separating the next 3 boats of which Dave Hayes and Sean Dwyer secured the advantage in ‘Seasure’.
Following race 1 the beginnings of the sea breeze meant that the wind backed slightly more to the south west causing a delay while the marks were reset. The fleet was keen to start race 2 and following a recall the black flag was raised. The second start was clean and with the wind steadying and beginning to build the racing was close, with the top 6 boats all rounding the first mark within seconds of each other. Racing remained close, ‘Seasure’ holding the advantage until a curious capsize at the leeward mark put them out of the chocolates. Steve Fisher and Neil Barber managed to clinch victory on the final leg over another good performance from ‘Raymarine’ closely followed by Matt Searle and Rich Bell in ‘SPRINT’.
For the final race on Saturday the sea breeze had fully installed and with the sun shining conditions were perfect. Both ‘SPRINT’ and Matt Snedker and Dave Dobrejevic in ‘North Sails’ were fast out of the blocks with Fish and Neil and Adrian Williams and Lachlan Torrance in ‘SP Systems’ in hot pursuit. The leaders managed to pull out a comfortable margin in the exceptional downwind conditions with ‘SPRINT’ narrowly fending off ‘North Sails’ for the victory. Behind them Fish and Neil kept ‘Seasure’ and ‘SPSystems’ at bay for a well deserved third. So with all the races to count, overnight leaders were ‘SPRINT’ closely followed by 3 boats, ‘Raymarine’ , ‘North Sails’ and Steve Fisher tied on 10 points for second place.
Day two dawned and plenty of sunshine meant that the Sea breeze gently moved in at around 11.30am and racing got away around an hour later. With the wind at 8-10 knots ‘SPRINT’ reached mark 1 first only to trawl the kite, allowing ‘Raymarine’ once again to show their speed to take the victory over ‘North Sails’ with ‘SPRINT’ holding on to third.
With the wind and the tide strengthening the fleet was recalled in race 5 and the black flag raised. This time two boats ’Raymarine’ and ‘SPSystems’ fell victim of the flag allowing ‘SPRINT’ and ‘North Sails’ to fight it out, leading to a reversal of the previous race positions. On the final lap ‘Seasure’ stormed down the left hand side of the run to finish third ahead of Steve Fisher and Neil Barber. Further down the fleet it was good the see that some new faces were fighting it out to the end with Chistopher and Jane Seymour just keeping Tom Powell and Rachel Wright in their wake.
So with ‘Raymarine’ being black flagged the regatta was down to the final race with Matt Searle and Rich Bell in ‘SPRINT’ holing a 1 point lead over Matt Snedker and Dave Dobrejevic in ‘North Sails’. The wind was now freshening up and the final race started cleanly with the two contenders side by side up the beat. Sadly the ninja hiking onboard ‘SPRINT’ caused a broken rack during the first beat effectively finishing their title hopes. ‘North Sails’ then went on to form a commanding lead from ‘Seasure’ who were followed by Steve Fisher and ‘SPSystems’. This gave North Sails the regatta with ‘SPRINT’ in second and ‘Seasure’ third.
1st Matt Snedker and Dave Dobrejevic ‘North Sails’ 11pts
2nd Matt Searle and Rich Bell ‘SPRINT’ 13pts
3rd Dave Hayes and Sean Dwyer ‘Seasure’ 15pts
4th Steve Fisher and Neil Barber 16pts
5th Adrian Williams and Lachlan Torrance ‘SPSystems’ 22pts
6th Nils Joliffe and John Branch ‘Raymarine’ 24pts
7th Anthony York and Simon Wiel 32pts
8th Andy Brown and Rob Bates 46pts
9th Christopher and Jane Seymour 49pts
10th Tom Powell and Rachel Wright 55pts
11th Neil Ashby and Alan Higgs 65pts
