18ft Skiff Euro Grand Prix at Sandbanks, Poole - Day 1
by Tom Hill 2 Sep 2016 14:39 BST
1-4 September 2016
The 18ft Skiff fleet return for their 6th year to Sandbanks, but this year European crews have joined to make for a great sized fleet. Not much wind was forecast for Thursday, but what greeted the sailors on the water was a good surprise.
Three races were held in an increasing breeze that led to a few sailors asking if they were going to end up on the wrong rig. The first race got off in a lighter breeze, allowing some of the newer crews to get settled. Pica led the fleet to the first bullet of the event challenged by ChameleonI, Be Light and Original Chia.
The second race was similar to the first, with the Danish boat of Original Chia catching a mark, making it hard for them to challenge Pica at the front.
The final race was something a little different. The fleet tried a trapezoid course to mix up the fleet with a couple of reaching legs. The building breeze made handling the boats off the wind a tricky exercise with boats not used to racing on these legs outside of Australia. Pica rounded off their day with a trio of bullets, followed by the Hungarian boat of Be Light.
The wind is forever increasing this weekend so tomorrow may see a switch to the smaller rigs for some of the crews.
Results after Day 1:
| Pos | Boat | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | PICA | 92 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2nd | Belight | HUN 18 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 3rd | Chameleon i | | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 4th | CHIA | | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
| 5th | Rutland | 118 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 14 |
| 6th | Team O marine | 122 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 |
| 7th | Talullah | 55 | RET | 7 | RET | 29 |
| 8th | Union Rose | 115 | 7 | RET | DNC | 29 |
| 9th | AOL / LED | 43 | 8 | RET | DNC | 30 |
| 10th | Young & reckless | BERG 29 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 33 |