Gul B14 National Championship at Whitstable Yacht Club - Overall

by Mark Barnes 8 Aug 2017 11:06 BST 3-6 August 2017

Day 4 of the Gul B14 nationals, only 4 of 10 races had been sailed, With a maximum of only 4 races on the day, the championships effectively started again with only one discard available. Looking at the form guide and odds, would it be a good day to place a bet.

Conditions were for a force 2–3 swinging between West and North North West. Harken and P&B had used their discards, with the next 3, English Braid / Griptec, Gul / North Sails and Dimelza still looking good.

In the Classic Fleet it was a race between Team Horlock (Alex Horlock/Iain Horlock) and Team Willis/Keightley-Hanson (Iiam Willis/Abby Keightley-Hanson).

Race 9 was to prove one of snakes and ladders, but the front group gradually broke way with the lead changing several times. At the finish it was Gul / North Sails from Dimelza and P&B, putting more heat on Harken.

Race 10 and Dimelza had a blinder. Having been over the line they worked the right hand side of the beat and clawed their way to the front whilst Gul / North Sails, Harken and the other main protagonists worked the left to middle ground. Dimelza got off to trot and led home, chased by Gul / North Sails and a recovering Harken coming down the middle in pressure passing three B14s in the last 200 metres who were coming from the right.

It seems that Dimelza had woken up and roared to a second straight win in race 1, with Gul / North Sails working through to 2nd, riding shot gun with English Braids/Griptec 3rd and Harken 4th.

So going into the last race Gul / North Sails had a 2 point lead and Dimelza was close to closing out the podium from English Braids/Griptec.

With 10 minutes until the cut off, Race 2 got away to a left hand shift just before the start, leaving Harken, Dimelza and Gul / North Sails at the committee boat end. As these 3 tracked left, they hit out right to hold a lane to the right side of the beat but the further right, the further you sailed as the wind bent left. Ullman Sails (Kathy Sherratt (Watts)/Josh Wilce) had won the pin and led round the windward mark followed by ASBO (Jack Sparrow/Gi) and a recovering Harken. With Gul / North Sails and Dimelza buried, it was looking sweat for Harken. Over the race Harken turned it on and won from Ullman Sails and ASBO with Gul / North Sails and Dimelza clawing heir way back, but with a lack of lanes to make ground, proved a step to far to recover before the finish.

Harken closed out the Gul B14 Nationals by 2 points from Gul / North Sails with Dimelza doing just enough to close out the podium from English Braids / Griptec.

In the Classic fleet Willis & Keightley-Hanson had a great day mixing it with the front pack whilst the Horlocks were close but always behind. As the numbers came in Team Horlock squeaked it from Willis/Keightley-Hanson by 2 points.

A well organized event run by Race Officer Howard Patterson and his team of volunteers, who had 4 days of testing conditions for all, and support ashore with food from Wizz/Keith and their teams.

Thanks go out to Gul for all the tokens and spot prizes.

The early bird prize, and carbon transom Go-Pro mount donated by Seavolution was won by ASBO, so allowing Jack Sparrow to start filming of his next short film shaking down some manoeuvres.

With the next big event being the Worlds at Beauty Point, Bell Bay in Tasmania at Christmas, it will be a case of who can step up to get the Ashes back off of the Aussies.

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the B14 nationals then enter your Gear Guide information here

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R3	R4	R5	R6	R9	R10	R1	R2	Pts	Gul Prizes
1	796	Nick Craig	Tobytastic Lewis	Frensham Burghfield	2	1	1	(DNF)	4	3	4	1	16	1st
2	795	Mark Barnes	Charlotte Jones	Whitstable Yacht Club	(5)	4	3	1	1	2	2	5	18	2nd First lady
3	785	Peter Knight	James Wilkinson	Restronguet SC	4	5	4	6	2	1	1	(7)	23	3rd
4	797	Mark Watts	Chris Bishop	Weston	3	2	2	4	5	4	3	(9)	23	4th
5	772	Kathy Sherratt	Josh Wilce	Weston	6	7	(9)	5	7	5	7	2	39	5th First Lady Helm
6	791	Jasper Barnham	Oli Wells	Snettisham Beach	1	3	(DNF)	3	3	6	5	OCS	44	First Newbie
7	762	Crispin Taylor	Guy Harrill	Starcross YC	12	(DNF)	6	2	14	10	8	3	55
8	764	Tony Blackmore	Naomi Pound	Starcross YC	10	10	5	(13)	12	11	11	10	69
9	728	Iain Horlock	Alex Horlock	Exe Sailing Club	7	6	(DNF)	17	9	12	10	8	69	1st Classic Nationals
10	681	Liam Willis	Abby Keightley‑Hanson	Lymington Town	9	(DNF)	DNC	9	8	7	9	6	71	2nd Classic Nationals 1st Youth Team
11	786	Geraldine Fermor	Leaky Fermor		(DNC)	DNC	8	11	6	DNC	6	4	81	Mid poiint winners
12	768	James Gardner	Anne Gardner	HISC	11	8	(DNC)	7	19	16	14	13	88
13	77	Alicia Clifford	Luke Graham		14	12	10	(19)	17	17	16	15	101	3rd Classic Nationals Endeavuor Trophy
14	770	Simon Hadley	Nikki Hadley	Whitstable Yacht Club	(DNC)	DNC	7	10	10	9	DNS	DNS	105
15	750	Gary Parks	Christopher Webber	Restronguet SC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	15	16	14	15	12	118
16	FRA 777	Sebastian Le Cam	Sophie Le Cam	Centre Nautique de Plerin	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	8	11	8	DNS	DNC	119	Furthest travelled
17	775	Rhys Triffitt	Stuart Hadfield	Rutland SC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	14	18	18	13	11	120	Gul Kit awarded
18	707	Amir Shamsuddin	Adam Kitchen	King George SC	15	(DNF)	DNF	DNC	15	13	17	14	120	Gul Kit awarded
19	724	Stephen Hollingsworth	Al Storer	Restronguet SC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	12	13	15	12	DNS	121	Gul Kit awarded
20	749	Will Rand	Querine Van Meurs	Lymington Town	13	11	(DNF)	16	20	20	19	DNS	122	Gul Kit awarded
21	784	Steve Barnes	Simon Reynolds	Whitstable Yacht Club	8	9	(DNF)	DNF	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	132	Gul Kit awarded
22	672	Christian Wilms	Daniela Alt	SSC Kahl	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	18	21	19	18	DNF	145	Gul Kit awarded