Gul Fireball World Championships at Plas Heli - Day 4

Gul Fireball World Championship day 4 © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Gul Fireball World Championship day 4 © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Tremendous Tremadog!

A truly epic day out in the bay

Once again the forecasters got the big calls spot on. Sunny and breezy was the forecast and that was exactly what Tremadog Bay served up. One of the great advantages of Plas Heli as a Championship venue is the ease of making the race course from the sandy beach where the boats launch. It was little more than a 10 minute beach reach to the Committee Boat, but in that time the boats moved out from the lee of the Pwllheli shore. At this point the sea state was more fun than fearsome and with the fleet obviously enjoying themselves it was no surprise when the first start was a General Recall. Once under the Black Flag the fleet became far more orderly and got away cleanly at the second attempt. The earlier selsig debate on the course structure – should it is sausage –triangle or triangle-sausage had been decided for the first race of the day with a sausage-triangle-sausage.

There was a clear difference of opinion as to how to approach the beat. Some chose the right hand side, possibly smoother water close to the shore. Others went left, some as far as the far corner, but at the windward mark it was clear that one boat more than anyone else had 'nailed it'. James Peters and Fynn Sterritt didn't just have a lead, they had some 45 seconds in hand over the chasing Christian Birrell and Sam Brearey. In third place was the hard charging Australian pair of Ben Schulz and Doug Sheppard, who at long last were enjoying conditions that they recognised as breezy.

In the last race before the lay day, Peters and Sterritt had enjoyed a similar lead, only to miss a shift which allowed Tom Gillard and Richard Anderton to hunt them down, finally taking the win on the finish line. This time the Hyde/Watermark boat made no mistakes, adding to their lead on every leg of the course. Behind them, places were changing hands with neither Gillard nor Birrell able to catch the flying 49er pair. Once again the triangle would sort out things out, some went high before hoisting, Schulz and Sheppard went straight for the mark and laid it, but none of this made any difference. The leaders had it easy on the first reach; as the middle of the pack cleared the top mark a BFG (that could be Big Fruity Gust, or you may have other terminology to use) ripped down the course, sending some boats way low. Those who had opted to 2 sail the leg benefited, though it must have been a real white knuckle ride for them. On the last lap the breeze was up into the high teens for the first time and at the top of the course, the waves were building fast. At one point the leading boat of Peter's 'took the air' spectacularly, with more than a foot of centreboard clearly visibly. By the finish, Peters and Sterritt had stretched their lead to 1 minute 20 seconds, in that breeze that is a real 'horizon job'. Gillard and Anderton used their downwind speed to their advantage to move into second place ahead of Birrell, whilst Ian Dobson and Ben Ainsworth were the next to ease pass the Aussies. The other front runner overall, Dave 'DJ' Edwards would finish 7th in this race to open up the points at the top of the leader board. However, all was not as bright as it looked for the winner, as the pounding the boat had taken at the top of the course had dislodged their slot gasket; the high speed thrash back downwind had done the rest.

Gul Fireball World Championship day 4 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

The wind had swung a little around to 220 degrees but was continuing to build, which may have helped the fleet hold back enough to get away on the first start.

Gillard and Anderton blasted out of the pin with real intent, scorching a path away to the left hand wing of the beat. Behind them, Peters and Sterritt had started well but their slot gasket problems would hit their boat speed hard. Birrell and Brearey started just behind Gillard, but sensing the shift wanted to get over to the right. They threw in a fast tack, only to get a very vocal response from a fast approaching starboard hander. Another rapid tack back onto starboard saved their day, before they finally managed to break clear. With clear air and no boats around them, the expectation was that Gillard would be following the example of Peters by having a comfortable lead at the windward mark. But, that same shift that Birrell and Brearey had spotted had brought some new names to the front. Instead of the British boat, it would be the Swiss pair of Claude Mermod and Ruedi Moser who rounded first and set off down the reach, for this second race was going to be triangle, sausage, triangle. Behind Mermod came the waltzing Matilda's, Schulz and Sheppard. Given their start and upwind speed, the big surprise was that Gillard and Anderton were only third. However, the North/Allen pair have certainly not lacked speed on the offwind legs and it would not be long before they took the lead, followed by their North/Allen stable mates, Birrell and Brearey. These two boats may have had a lot in common, but in this second race there was a clear difference of opinion on the rules between them that was being noisily contested. At the finish they were still first and second, with Schulz sailing well to hold on to third place ahead of the other front runner, Edwards. Mermod would slip to 10th, but even this was better than Peters and Sterritt who nursed their boat around to finish 13th.

Gul Fireball World Championship day 4 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

That though was far from the end of the story, as the acrimony between the leading two boats took them both into the Protest Room. The two pairs had a long wait as there were a number of other protests to be heard before theirs, but in the end it was all anti-climactic as the Protest was dismissed. This leaves Christian Birrell and Sam Brearey back on top of the leader board from Tom Gillard and Richard Anderton, with Edwards and Peters still mathematically in with a shout.

Gul Fireball World Championship day 4 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

The focus now shifts to the weather, as the conditions tomorrow may be marginal for sailing. PRO Peter Saxton is very keen that a Race Management decision should not decide the event, but at the same time, it is his call on not only the wind, but the sea state. If they race tomorrow, the completion of Race 9 will invoke the second discard, which will also shuffle the pack further. Set against that, if it is really fruity, then there are few who would bet against Peters and Sterritt storming around in their revitalised boat. In wind, waves and two tightly contested starts, anything can happen and this week it already has. On paper, it looks between the reigning Champions, Birrell and Brearey against the new UK National Champions, Gillard and Anderton. By tomorrow, we will know the final results and on the performances of today, it is still too close to call.

Results after Day 5: (eight races, 1 discard)

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