The B14’s returned to McCrae YC for the 2010/11 B14 Nationals. 20 Boats made it from NSW, Tasmania and Victoria for the event which was run as a combined event with the Javelin Class. McCrae brought out its finest and hosted another terrific regatta, with the weather being on their side.
The weather decided to show us every possible wind condition over the 6 days. Invitation race was good to get the cobwebs off the boat, Sophie and Andy decided on a very early launch time to avoid repeats of day 1 in France with the spinnaker this time being rigged correctly on shore first attempt. The Racing was in light conditions with Sly-Bone finishing first, The Nude in second, and unknowns Mark Lainson and Paul O’Connor in Suss This in third. Special UK guests Geri and Leaky in Second Thoughts were straight into it to shake off their jet lag.
That night there was a welcome function and everyone enjoyed mingling, a nice spit roast and plenty of talk about the days to come. Racing Day 1 there were some with slight concern about the nearly 30 knots of wind, and others looking forward to it. There were plenty of pre race capsizes and numerous boats opted to not race. Scott Cunningham and Sam Kivel on Sunsail-Bonework showed their stuff and took out 2 firsts. Conditions were more calm for the following few days racing.
New Years Eve was held at the club with a band taking us into the night. Dave Grace had mastered the art manually controlling the gas in a keg to keep us all hydrated. Everyone enjoyed the fireworks some locals had set off on the beach, and the fireworks in Melbourne could be seen, mainly by those who didn’t have beer goggles firmly in place.
As a nice surprise everyone was invited to the wedding of our UK guests. January 1 after a nice lay day everyone gathered in the early evening on the front lawn of McCrae YC in readiness for the wedding. Leaky Fermor was his usual self, keeping everyone entertained as we waited for the bridal party to arrive. When Geraldine Brown arrived there was much talk/shock/excitement about her bridesmaids – Richie Reynolds, Guy Bancroft and Kelvin Boyle continued a tradition of the B14’s that apparently Leaky introduced according to Lissa’s speech and wore some nice matching pink dresses and a bow in their hair! The wedding was very nice and the sun came out just in time for the photos. Congratulations again to you both.
The next days’ racing was very close between Sunsail-Bonework and Sly-Bone. And coming into the last day the two were tied with 1 race to be the decider. On the day Sly-Bone managed to be on the right side of some bad shifts and claimed another National Championships. Credit must also go to The Plumbers (Ian and Dave Cunningham) who were always in the top 4 and keeping the top boats on their game. Congratulations to the Nude (Richie Reynolds and Lissa McMillan) who were 1st on Handicap, 2nd was Gretel III-HuntLeather (Sophie Hunt and Andy Payne), and 3rd Octopussy (Andre and Jacob Webstor).
Overall it was a fantastic event, McCrae and their 40+ volunteers made it a huge success and a memorable event. The weather was good for the whole time and a very enjoyable regatta for all. Next Nationals are on the Swan River in Perth along with the Worlds in January 2012 and definitely worth serious consideration. Hope to see everyone there and bring on the Fremantle Doctor!!
Full Results and Race Reports: www.b14.unisailing.org.au
Photos coming soon