Results / Crewsaver European Championships YC Carnac, Brittany - 30/05/2013

Day 1

A blustery north westerly with sunshine, around 18-20 knots, greeted the 16 RS100 sailors from as far afield as North Wales, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Isle of Wight and of course not forgetting England…..!

Al Hall led the fleet away at the pin end and got the shifts right to lead at the windward mark closely followed by Chris Cunningham and newcomer to the 8.4 fleet Huw Powell!!!! Has he slimmed down??

Downwind was all about staying upright and picking the gusts and by the leeward mark Powell led from Cunningham with Hall close behind. Once again Hall picked the shifts and led at the windward mark with Powell coming to terms with his new diminutive sail. Downwind Powell picked the right side of the course while Hall covered the middle ground and both boats arrived at the final leeward mark at identical times. Powell shot through to leeward to record the bullet, Hall second and Cunningham third.

Race two and the wind had increased to a steady 24 knots with occasional 28 knot gusts recorded. This was a tale of so nearly and if only for quite a few sailors. Alistair Dickson established a huge lead at the windward mark only to succumb to the gybe. Mark Harrison then had a significant lead but tried to sail by the lee to avoid the gybe and succumbed to a watery grave. Huw Powell then became master of his own destiny but he got the next downwind gybe horribly wrong leaving Chris Cunningham to pick up the pieces and take the bullet by quite a margin. Powell recovered to second with Hall finishing third.

Day 2

A shifty force 3 greeted the 17 100s on a day of snakes and ladders. Martin Boyd got the shifts right closely followed by Huw Powell (rig changer) at the first windward mark. Huw took control downwind with Alistair Dickson coming through to second. Mark Harrison and Greg Booth showed their usual downwind pace with Dickson dropping to fourth. Places were held until the final downwind when Huw extended his lead, Dickson took the shifts / gusts to scrape into 2^nd and Harrison overtook on the final reach to the finish holding his kite while others dropped.

Race two and the breeze was edging left….. Al Hall lead the fleet away from the pin end and held a commanding lead by the windward mark. Martin Boyd lead the rest of the fleet as the wind shifted further left. Those that held on to starboard gybe did best whilst those who gybed to port found the graveyard. Powell found some pace (with his old knackered 8.4 sail as he describes) and came through to second with Giles Peckham taking advantage of the graveyard to pull through to third. The rest of the race became a procession as the shifting wind shifted permanently with Hall holding a commanding lead, Powell second and Peckham third.

Race three and the fleet were slowly coming to terms with the shifting breeze and making tactical shift decisions became the order of the day. Powell lead from Dickson after getting the final shift correct in the last 300 metres to the windward mark. Downwind Dickson got inside Powell at the leeward mark with Harrison and Giles Chipperfield in close pursuit. Places were held until the final leeward mark when Harrison mistimed his gybe and fell foul of Powell, whilst Chipperfield took advantage of the mayhem to sneak through to first place with an opportunist rounding inside both boats. The fetch to the finish was processional with 16 seconds separating the first four boats. Chipperfield held his lead, Powell second closely followed by Harrison and Hall who squeezed inside four boats at the final mark rounding.

After one of the best dinghy championship evenings for many years with an outstanding buffet, free booze and a live band the fleet gathered for day three looking rather tired….!!!!

Day 3

A grand master shift day greeted the sailors today with wind varying from top of a force two to occasional force four from the North ish. Compass headings varied from 295’ to 345’ on the same upwind legs so an extraordinary snakes and ladders day was in order. Race one and the fleet got away cleanly and split roughly 50-50 upwind. The left side of the beat seemed to pay but a couple of boats on right side of the course also did well. Huw Powell established a good lead with Mark Harrison in hot pursuit. The lead changed hands several times with Chris Cunningham, Harrison and Powell all out front at times. On the last downwind leg Powell went right in breeze whilst Harrison went left and dropped from 2^nd to 7^th. Hall was the main benefactor recovering to second with Alistair Dickson coming in third.

Race two and the fleet were getting ahead of themselves on the start line with Powell, Dickson and Harrison having to return for the individual recalls……Michel Rotach lead at the windward mark with a “I’m going left whatever happens approach.” Once again the lead changed hands many times with 40 degree wind shifts recorded. The wind shifts caught some sailors out with capsizes in what was really non capsizing conditions….! Giles Chipperfield overcame the odds to record a bullet with Cunningham and Greg Booth close behind.

Race three and once again the early starters paid dearly with Harrison and Martin Boyd recording OCS. Rounding the windward mark Harrison had established a significant lead and was able to hold his kite to the spreader mark whilst others floundered. Eventually after another multitude of lead changes Powell came through on the final downwind leg in his own private gust to record the bullet and win the event with a day to spare, Cunningham second and Michel Rotach recording his first podium of the event.

Congratulations to Huge Powell on a well-deserved victory (rumour has it he was seen rigging his 10.2 this evening in a bid to win the Euro RS100 double) and with second place separated by just by one point for three sailors the minor prizes are up for grabs tomorrow with Hall and Cunningham equal second and Chipperfield a point adrift…..!

Day 4

The fleet split on the final with a mixture of 10.2 and 8.4s …..

Huw Powell (already 8.4 European Champion with a day to spare) adorned his 10.2 rig overnight – and had a shocker seemingly forgetting to fly his kite downwind and generally making a multitude of mistakes but somehow managing to take line honours and become the European double RS100 champion…….! On questioning him afterwards he says he opted to do the honourable thing and keep out the way of everyone.

Meanwhile …… other places were up for grabs in the 8.4 fleet. The first race of the day was set with a gentle breeze of around 5-8 knots off the shore with the windward mark placed not far off a local headland. The fleet bunched up around the Committee boat but soon split with Hall heading right into more breeze and the thought of a wind bend near the headland. Giles Peckham headed left and those two met at the windward mark with a clear lead over the others. The majority of the fleet gybe set with the exception of Tobias Claudius who headed off alone on starboard gybe. Claudius gained significantly more pressure downwind and led the fleet home with a huge advantage. Hall was second with Alistair Dickson a close third.

So going into the last race Hall held a four point advantage over Chipperfield. The black flag had come out of the bag as time was limited and the fleet got away cleanly(!) with a pin end bias. Michel Rotach (the light wind specialist who sails on Swiss lakes) judged the shifts correctly and led at the windward mark closely followed by Giles Peckham. Harrison, Booth, Chipperfield, Hall and Cunningham were closely bunched just behind with Hall keeping close to Chipperfield throughout. Downwind the wind went very light for a few minutes with sailors anxiously looking behind for new pressure. Rotach and Peckham extended their unassailable advantage whilst others floundered in very light air with Rotach getting the bullet and Peckham second. On the final beat Harrison, Booth and Chipperfield were very close and they stayed together for the final downwind of the Regatta with wind suddenly increasing into a good force 3. At the leeward mark the decision to drop the kite was a tough one with all three opting to fly the kite across the beam reach. Harrison just made it to outer end of the finish line to pip Chipperfield by 1 second with Booth two seconds back. Hall, finishing in sixth place, turned out to be OCS, which left Chipperfield in second place overall and Hall third.

Thanks to Carnac YC for supplying a well organised week of sun and varying wind speeds, setting up some very close racing throughout the fleet. Thanks too to RS for their plentiful on-site support. For several in the fleet, this was their first event at Carnac and many will hope to return soon. Next in the 100 calendar is the Sprint Championship at Rutland over 13/14 June.

Al Hall

FINAL RESULTS BELOW

Results after Day