B14 TT at Weston Sailing Club

B14 TT at Weston 2015 © WSC

Last weekend saw the 3rd leg of the 2015 B14 circuit, held at Weston SC, together with the International 14s and Cherub fleets, with early starts due to the tides. A few teams turned up on the Friday night for a sail on the late tide, fish & chips and beer before utilising the free camping available at Weston for open meetings.

Day 1 kicked off with a, tide driven, 10am start with a few sleepy faces among the fleets – probably none more so than Alan Davis who had lost the ability to move his neck overnight and looked decidedly "off form". The fleet started into a 15-20 knot south-westerly breeze with some considerable shifts which taxed both boat handling and tactical skills.

Chris Duffin, with local knowledge expertly provided by Weston's Clare Stubbs in the front seat, led the fleet to the top mark having chosen the correct side of the course and got there with good speed. The rest of us never saw them again... Mark Emmett and Charlotte Jones (Neil Pryde) led the rest in 2nd, followed in by the Leakies (Leaky Pipe Systems) in 3rd.

Races 2 and 3 were held in similar conditions providing the B14s some great and close racing in champagne conditions, windy enough that a mistake could ensure a visit to the tide, not windy enough to discourage throwing in 5-6 gybes on the downhills for tactical advantage. Race 2 was won by Neil Pryde doing the proverbial 'horizon job'.

Race 3 was the closest of the day with Leaky Pipe Systems taking the win from Duffin and Neil Pryde, with just 4 seconds covering the top 3 boats. Alan Davis and Kathy Sherratt (Troublegum) following up 10 seconds later in 4th.

At the end of day the top 3 boats were all tied on 6 points with 1,2,3 scorelines with Troublegum in 4th. While it was all to play for at the front, further back, class newcomers Simon Berry and James Baker were putting it together well while climbing the steep bit of the learning curve.

Saturday night saw the B14 driven social revolve around Beer, a strange cross between Pictionary and Chinese Whispers and a young Cherub sailor named 'Sven'... as ever the details may be best left unpublished.

A few sore heads were obvious on Sunday morning, but Alan Davis could turn his head again so Troublegum had the opportunity to upset the top 3 in the light, shifty offshore Northerly provided. And so it proved with Troublegum leading off the line and around lap 1, closely followed by Neil Pryde with Leaky Pipe Systems in close attendance. On lap 2 Duffin and Stubbs worked the right corner upwind to pass Leaky Pipe Systems and Neil Pryde overhauled Troublegum to go on and take the win.

Race 5 saw a similar start but Team Neil Pryde quickly extended a short lead on the chasing fleet which grew as Troublegum and Leaky Pipe Systems battled it out for 2nd. In the end Troublegum took 2nd with the Leaky Pipe Systems finishing 3rd.

In the final race the conditions turned lighter and it became hugely gusty, so the course was set at only 2 laps. Duffin and Stubbs led with the Leaky Pipe Systems close behind, but both were looking worryingly over their shoulder with Troublegum catching up very quickly on the downwind leg in fresh breeze that started to fill in. It was not to be though and the positions stayed until the line.

Neil Pryde took the event by 2 points from Duffin and Stubbs who showed great form throughout the weekend, and held a single point advantage over Leaky Pipe Systems in 3rd.

Weston SC, as ever, were excellent hosts for the B14, Cherub and I-14 classes over the weekend and particular mention must be given to, Sailing Sec, Paul Howard who not only provided great organisation for the weekend but also stepped in to run the bar on Saturday night!

The next B14 UK circuit event is Whitstable YC on July 18/19, always a highlight of the calendar.

Overall Results: