Gul Fireball World Championships at Plas Heli - Day 2

Gul Fireball World Championship day 2 © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Gul Fireball World Championship day 2 © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

A day of drama

As well as offering one of the best stretches of sailing water to be found anywhere in the UK, the Llyn peninsular of North Wales offers the most picturesque of backdrops. Of course, to be able to enjoy the stunningly spectacular views that include Snowdon and Cadair Idris,, the traditional Welsh welcome of continuous rain has to take a bit of a holiday. But when it does... the sun comes out, the breeze kicks in and Tremadog Bay transforms itself into the perfect stage for a day of drama.

To say that the day turned out to be something of a surprise would be an understatement. The forecast had been for sub-10 knots with something along the lines of a 10%+ probability of a sharp shower. Instead, the sun broke through as the fleet were sailing out to the start and having decided to shine, just got brighter as the day wore on. To match the blue skies the breeze quickly freshened into double figures and then continued to build as the day wore on.

The weather may have changed but the start line issues remain the same, with the now expected General Recall first time around. At the second attempt the fleet did get away, with James Peters and Fynn Sterritt making a pin end start that was straight out of the play book. With clear air they were able to control the fleet who were also heading left and before long the other pin end hopefuls were being forced to tack off. Jonny McGovan and Max Todd were one team that decided to follow the old adage of "when in the sh** (merde,,, but it doesn't rhyme), go right" which they did, ducking boat after boat until a gap finally opened up to let them squeeze through. For the first lap Peters and Sterritt appeared comfortable out front, but as they went up the second beat the wind kicked left, then right. From a stable leading position, it looked as if the pair would be down into fourth, maybe even lower; it says something of their sailing abilities in a boat that is new to them that they were able to recover some of their lost ground. The lead was now taken up by Darian and Andy Scott, who once they had their bow in front set about extending their advantage on each of the remaining legs of the sausage-triangle-sausage course.

Gul Fireball World Championship day 2 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Readers who have been following these reports could be forgiven in asking "where was Gillard in all of this?" After not putting a foot wrong last week (and, to be fair, doing the same in yesterday's second race) Tom and crew Richard Anderton were playing Wurzell somewhere around the middle of the fleet. An uncharacteristic poor start was bad enough, only for one of their trapeze wires to break going up the beat. Lesser crews would have pulled a DNF, but with their BFD score from yesterday, the pair set about making the most of what they could, even to the point of passing their good trapeze line around the boat on each tack (a good reason to hit the corners!!). "When the going gets tough...." the tough certainly get going. After the first lap there were up into the 20s and by the finish, they had clawed their way up to 10th. No one would catch the flying Scotts, nor the experienced DJ Edwards and crew Vyv Townend, who would add another 2nd place to their good results from Day 1.

Gul Fireball World Championship day 2 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

For Race 2, the conditions were just more of the same, sunshine, breeze and then...more breeze. And, just to prove the pundits wrong, the fleet got away at the first time of asking. Or at least, most did. With 15 seconds to go on a U flag start, Dave Wade's boat appeared to pop out from the line, but instead of heading home for an early bath, he tried to hide from the all-seeing eyes on the Committee Boat and Pin by diving back down into the fleet. The orderly text-book example of pin end starting now became an ugly tangle of boats, complete with a cacophony of shouting. Finally everyone got untangled and set off, but just as with yesterday, Tom Gillard and Richard Anderton pulled out all the stops on the second race of the day. They were already clear ahead when the pair correctly called a big shift on the beat. With their lead now more than 200m and growing, it was back to fleet management, something that the pair has shown that they can excel at. Behind then Edwards and Townend were proving the value of consistent sailing with their second 2nd place of the day, results that would lift them to the top of the leader board.

Gul Fireball World Championship day 2 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

The results though would be subject to the results of a number of protests, one of which concerned the well placed pairing of Birrell and Brearey. If the decision went against them, it would further open up the competition. Instead, their robust defence saw the pair live to fight another day with their score line intact. Edwards and Townend may be front running but the event is only 40% complete. More races, more discards, it is still too early to say how things will look at the end of the week. Ian Dobson, James Peters, Claude Mermod and a handful of others have all shown good pace – after the top dozen or so there is a bit of a gap to the rest.

The forecast for tomorrow suggests a return to more unsettled weather, rain later and more breeze. By tomorrow night, the situation will be a bit clearer.

Results after Day 2:

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