Day 0
Many teams (including 2 boats from France) arrived early for some pre-event practice, only to be met by a warm 40 knot welcome from Whitstable. So it was an early start in the bar for many, enjoying the usual Whitstable YC hospitality.
Day 1
Friday dawned with gusts well into the 30's and, following a less than optimistic briefing from PRO Dave Curno, the fleet set about bimbling and relaxing.
The fleet were naturally less than enthusiastic as they were called to the race course in what looked like only marginally improved conditions. The game of "who is going to launch first" ensued, with the eventual "winners" being team Ullman Sails who questioned their own sanity as it took 4 helpers to hold the boat down to launch!
After proving it was vaguely sailable a skeleton fleet hit the water for race 1...
Race 1 saw Ullman Sails (Mark Watts/Chris Bishop) lead at the windward mark with Anthill Mob (Tim Harrison/Jonny Radcliffe) and Blue Badge (Mike Bees/Ferret) and fleet newcomers "On it like a car bonnet" (Will Hall/Josh Wilce) in hot pursuit. Lap 2 saw a big wind shift with Blue Badge pulling through to lead to the finish, with Anthill Mob and Ullman Sails separated by less than a boat length blasting down a final run showdown, Anthill mob taking second.
In Race 2, with the wind moderating, more of the fleet braved the conditions. Team Neil Pryde led for the first lap only to take a scenic detour round the furthest leeward mark, suffer gear issues and disappear down the order. Anthill Mob sailed a solid race to take the bullet from Blue Badge. Ullman Sails succumbing to kicker failure (again...) could not hold off a charging "On it like a car bonnet" who took a well earned third.
Race 3 started with the breeze building and at the pin it was Ullman Sails and blue badge leading off the line from Team Neil Pryde and Antill Mob. At the top it was Ullman Sails leading from Blue Badge, "On it like a car bonnet", Anthill Mob. On the second lap Anthill Mob took an early swim (Jonny 's fault apparently!!) leaving Neil Pryde to come back into the frame. On the last lap the breeze had built again and was completely on the sailable limit. Blue Badge took the lead but nearly put it in the tide on the last gybe, allowing Ullman Sails to blast through to the win. Team Neil Pryde came through to third and Troublegum (Alan Davis/Toby Barsley-Dale) fourth.
With many teams deciding that conditions were too extreme today, including a few front runners suffering too, it's still all to play for tomorrow - and in the bar tonight...
Day 2
Saturday and the fleet of 28 B14s soon became resigned to the fact that the wind gods were against them and their wings were clipped for another day. With winds peaking at 40 knots around mid day, PRO Dave Curno, with accurate wind prediction, decided mid afternoon to postpone to Sunday and go for 5 races if time allowed. With some ribs still afloat and 25 – 30 knot gusts coming through, GBR742 Budget Banger (Josh Wilce and Will Hall) pushed the go button and went out for a blast. It proved that racing was not an option but their heavy weather sail with only one capsize on a gybe was worth the watch. 40 minutes later they returned to shore to be greeted by helpers to get the boat ashore, with big smiles on their faces.
Saturday night BBQ, band and quiz entertained the fleet and kept the bar busy.
Day 3
Sunday dawned to NW 30-32 knot breeze, again the weather forecast underplayed the wind strength. All the efforts for an early start were saddened. Lots of long faces at breakfast as deja vu enveloped the fleet. Fortunately at around 1030 hrs the breeze started to drop as forecast. As soon as the committee boat was afloat, the fleet started to launch. PRO Dave Curno, eager to get in at least 4 races before the 1400 hrs curfew, got the course laid and the start sequence underway in double-quick time - a little too quickly for some including Anthill Mob, who were enjoying their breakfast picnic halfway up the beat, resulting in their starting a little late.
A slightly port-biased line saw Seavolution 1 (Mark Barnes/Jeremy Williamson (who'd missed Friday's races due to a technical mishap)), Blue Badge (Mike Bees/Martin Worth (Ferret)) and Ullman Sails 1 (Mark Watts/Chris Bishop) make the best getaway with Ullman Sails 1 looking like they were making the early running. When the first significant shift came through, Blue Badge pulled ahead, leaving Ullman Sails, Seavolution and Seavolution 2 (Steve Hollingsworth/Elliot Holman) scrapping over the minor placings. Ullman Sails 1 kept the heat on Blue Badge, but their challenge ended with a snagged kite halyard on the 2nd lap which needed a capsize to fix. At the end Blue Badge won comfortably from Seavolution 1, with Anthill Mob making a screaming comeback to grab 3rd after their late start. The last run shook up the minor placings with Seavolution 2 and Ronstan/Kingfisher Ropes (Tony Blackmore/Char Jones) dropping back from 3rd and 4th as the pressure built on the opposite side of the run, finishing behind Neil Pryde (Mark Emmett/Allan Stuart).
Race 5. A more significantly port biased line resulted in a fight for the pin end, won by Seavolution 1 at the expense of Anthill Mob who moored themselves fast to the pin end buoy. The race developed into a straight fight between Seavolution 1 and Blue Badge, with the former getting an overlap at the first gate but leaving themselves with a high-tariff gybe drop inside the zone, which ended badly as they sailed over the kite. Fortunately a robust discussion between helmsman and crew quickly established the reasons and recovery procedure and apart from Blue Badge getting away they only lost 5 places. Over the next beat they recovered to round the windward mark on the heals of Blue Badge. From there on Blue Badge and Seavolution 1 stretched away in their own loose cover chase finishing a matter of seconds apart at the finish with Blue Badge taking the bullet. In the chasing pack there ware many place changes with Seavolution 2 popping out to take a well deserved 3rd from Neil Pryde by 2 seconds with Ullman Sails 1 another 5 seconds back.
Race 6. Seavolution 1 spotted something which nobody else had, and started on port ducking a fair few boats. After a few minutes on port they hitched over to starboard and straight into a 150 m lead which they never looked likely to relinquish. Blue Badge, Ullman Sails 1, Troublegum/N50 (Alan Davis/Toby Barsley-Dale) and Seavolution 2 fought over the minor places. The course was shortened to 2 laps in order to squeeze in a 4th race before the curfew, resulting in a clear win for Seavolution 1. 2nd place for Blue Badge gave them the championship with a race to spare and they headed for the beach and a celebratory beer.
Race 7. With the decider for the minor places up for grabs, the main players headed for the pin. Seavolution 1, Ullman Sails 1 and Troublegum/N50 played for the pin with all 3 doing pretty well and no clear gain for either team.
Seavolution 1 worked the middle left to establish a lead over the fleet lead by Ullman Sails 1, Neal Pryde, Ullman Sails 3 (Kathy Sherratt/Ollie Needam) and Team Marlow (Dan Cowin/Dan Hollands). Over the next lap Seavolution 1 loose covered the fleet where place changes were occurring at regular intervals. On the final beat, all changed with Ullman Sails 1 hitching left into a 10° port lift and more pressure. Seavolution 1 tracked left to cover and just managed to drop a covering tack in front and claw a lead to the lay-line. Down the run Seavolution 1 popped the kite chased by Ullman Sails 1, pulling out a slim lead which they held to the finish. 3rd was a dogfight between 4 boats with Neil Pryde just pipping Ullman Sails 3 and the Anthill Mob.
The fleet headed ashore for a chilli pasta and the prize giving.
PRO Dave Curno ran a slick event with his well organised race team and Tony reciprocated with his shore team to make this a well remembered event in testing conditions.
Regional bragging rights went to the East Coast Boys who beat the South Coast All Stars. The result is the average total net score of all boats from the region.
Thanks to our title sponsor Ullman Sails and tier 2 sponsors Advantage Sails, Harken, DEM Foils and Seavolution for their prizes.
Results:
1st Lady – Kathy Sherratt (Watts) - Ullman Sails 3
1st Youth – Jeremy Williamson – Seavolution 1
1st Tin Rig – Josh Wilce/Will Hall – Budget Banger
1st Handicap – Simon Brewer/Alistair Ramsden – Sabre Sails
2nd Handicap – Tom Gatehouse/Kate Wardle – Florescent Adolescent
Endeavour Trophy – Reece Triffitt/Richard Watson – Crimson Haybailer
1st Region – East Coast Boys – 81.4 points
2nd Region – South Coast All Stars – 84.6 points