International 14 European Championships at Travemünder Woche

Right from the off 18-22 knots on the first day, Wednesday, with the forecast not set to change until Saturday. The water was a black mess, rippling with the small wavelets you get on top of the rolling waves, that you only get when it's nuclear.

Clearly we thought our German friends would call it off.... I'm so glad they didn't though! What a day. Each race was scheduled to be 3-laps, 30 minutes races.

Right from race 1, Archie/Damian ducked the fleet of port aiming for the one tack beat option, learning a trick from watching the extreme 40s. This proved decisive. Although some port tackers later crossed on the starboard lay, Archie/Damian rounded first and were never challenged, in fact sitting in on each run! Those behind who chased too hard often found themselves in the drink as the wave state was chronic with the occasional vertical backs. Definitely a day to back off a bit. Race 2 went a similar way, with a few more joining in on the port start fun. Dan/Chris sailed a clean 2,2 for the day to sit comfortably second overall.

Race 3 & 4 were sailed on the SAP course and the races were even shorter. The spoils went evenly to Glen/Sam and Archie/Damian with a 1,2 each. Again the port tack start proving decisive in each race. Katie/Nigel got a solid 3rd in the first race.

Race 5 & 6 were again sailed on the SAP course with live coverage on the big screens. This was because the 505s deemed the SAP course unsuitable for their Nationals, (even though SAP is their principle sponsor), and SAP preferred the adrenaline fuelled 14s. Douglas/Mark came to fore with a 1,2 and Glen/Sam had another solid day with a 4,1. The 4 was as a result of their in-boom sheeting getting stuck. Meanwhile Archie/Damian had a shocker with a 4,10, resulting from a kite-wrap and capsize respectively. The Germans Georg/Eike had an improved day with a 2,3 using their second mast of the week.

So it all came down to the last day with the Archie/Damian ahead by 4 points of Glen/Sam and a further 2 ahead of Dan/Chris. However the wind was significantly lighter around the 10 knot mark and so it was certainly not a done deal.

In the first race, Glen sailed off to a substantial lead followed by the Peckolt brothers, (bronze 49er medallists from Beijing), then Douglas/Tait. Archie/Damian followed in 4th. This meant that whoever won the last race between the top 2 would win the European championships.

So... in a touch more wind, the 2 lead protagonists got off to a clean start, Glen/Sam just failing to roll Archie/Damian coming into the starboard layline on port. However they were able to sail around the top mark in 1st with Douglas/Tait sneaking in between in 2nd. It was looking like race over. However on the reaching legs to the gybe mark, Archie/Damian laid the gybe mark without dropping and then proceeded to extend away from Glen/Sam into the bottom mark. However the race ain't over until the fat lady sings. Glen/Sam put down the throttle and again led at the top mark from Archie/Damian by 2 boat lengths. Glen/Sam were able to get the first gybe back towards the finish and with the race win were crowned European champions.

Congratulations Glen and Sam for sailing a superb series and really showing the fleet how fast a 14 can be made to go.

Overall Results: