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The 2007 BEYC 'Drakes Challenge' report |
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Written by Richard Wooldridge
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Monday, 29 October 2007 |
The 2007 BEYC 'Drakes Challenge' report
11 IC24s rigged up on a very grey and gusty Saturday morning to do battle.
With tropical storm Noel winding up off to the east, bands of squalls were
going to make things interesting.
Race officers Tom and Barbara F, who have been officiating at the BEYC for
over 20 years, got the first race underway after a short delay getting
the course squared up. During the pre-start the wind went right and it
became a drag race to the windward gate followed by a reach back to the
leeward gate.
Plenty of spinnakers flogged out of control with poles saluting the skies.
The second downwind leg saw bMobile (Colin Rathbun) nearly get up on the
plane in a particluarly strong gust . The race was won by Latitude 19
(Chris Haycraft) who narrowly beat Mio Broadband to the line, with
bMobile third.
For the remainder of the morning conditions stayed 'fresh to frightening'
and the race committee decided to continue racing without spinnakers.
At the front of the fleet a pattern emerged with Rathbun, Haycraft and
Hirst rarely out of the top three. The large fleet meant that being
over early produced big scores. Andrew Waters found this out the hard
way posting two 9ths in the morning session.
Lunch was called and it was Rathbun and Haycraft locked on 6 points with
Hirst on 9 after 3 races. Waters and his crew licked their wounds and
sought refreshments. This made all the difference in the world as they
convincingly won the first race of the afternoon. Waters, second last
year, with a scoreline good enough to win any regatta was the pre regatta
co-top seed... Was Andrew Waters now back on track? I'm afraid not,
another pair of 9ths rounded off 'Mio Broadband's' miserable day.
The weather conditions improved with the wind moderating and settling
down blowing out of Gun Creek. Haycraft, Rathbun and Hirst continued
to show the way with the exception of an OCS (and a whopping 12 points)
for Robbie Hirst in race 6. Best of the improvers for the day were Chris
Currerri sailing racinginparadise and James Woods sailing INTAC.
Over half of the competitors slogged back down the Sir Francis Drake
Channel to hear Ben Ainslie speak at the RBVIYC. After the nasty trip
back up to the BEYC the following morning most were heard to say,
'That's the last time I commute to the BEYC!"
Sunday sees a bit of sunshine poking through the clouds and a steady
breeze from the Southeast. The final morning's racing gets underway.
Lat 19 looked to be in control with a 4 point lead over Hirst even
after the discard which hooked in after race 7. That all changed
in a heartbeat as Haycraft got buried at the start in the first race
and posted an 8th, bMobile won with Hirst second.
Haycraft bounces back with a bullet in race 8, Rathbun 3rd and Hirst
4th. The improvers are now mixing it up at the front with Currerri
and Woods going especially well. Robbie Hirst sails a blinder to win
race 9, Rathbun 4th, Haycraft 5th. At this point bMobile is sailing
back to the dock with the regatta in his pocket but enough boats hover
around the committee boat and Tom declares race 10 is on.
It's down to the wire. This race decides the regatta. Rathbun's vang
has exploded off the mast and he's struggling.
After a tense affair Hirst posts a 2nd, Haycraft a 3rd and Rathbun a 6th,
none of us know who has won overall. Back at the BEYC lunch is ordered
and everyone waits for Tom to bring the results. Hirst has done it by
one point, totalling 24 points from 9 races. Rathbun and Haycraft are
tied up on 25 with Haycraft taking second with his 3 bullets over Rathbun's 2.
If Hirst had scored just one more lonely point Haycraft would have sealed
the regatta with a three-way tie. Hirst would have been third with only
one bullet!
A few other 'what if's' are explored but it's team Robbie Hirst and Mio
Broadband who accept the perpetual trophy from BEYC supremos Mikhail
Shamkin and John Glynn. The competitors thank Tom and Barbara for a
great job in very tricky conditions.
The match racing betwen Peter Holmberg and Robbie Hirst's team was
cancelled as more line squalls rolled in with over 40kts of wind and horizontal rain.
writen by Richard Wooldridge. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 01 November 2007 )
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