Hornet Europeans at Sandwich Bay - Day 1

A swarm of 20 Hornets descended on Sandwich Bay for the 2010 European Championships, with visitors from as far afield as Poland.

The racing started at 13.30 in a stiff south westerly gusting 22 knots at times, and the increasing tide skewed the start line, allowing Colin Smith & Nathan Hudson from Herne Bay to pull off a screaming port tack flyer. By the windward mark, they were being worn down by the pack, and finally current National Champions Peter Bennett & John Shelton from Shoreham pulled through on the fast reach, followed by Dave Edge and Martin Arnison from Weston. These two battled round the course, with Edge finally hitting one gybe mark, allowing Bennett to pull away, and Mark & Clint Styles from Downs narrowly saving third place from the chasing Dick Garrry & James Beer from Starcross.

With the tide strengthening further, the start of race 2 again caused some fun and capsizes in the fleet, with the pin-enders trying to lee bow the tide, while others tacked off. They all met at the windward mark, with Garry rounding first, chased by Bennett, and Strangler & Pippa Rogers of Port Dinorwic. Garry and Bennett played cat and mouse for most of the race, each taking the lead several times, both pulling out a lead on the rest of the fleet, but with the tide always bunching everyone together on the beats. Bennett suffered a broken barber hauler, allowing Garry to slip away to a win, with Strangler taking third spot.

All the usual suspects are very much in the hunt, promising a very close championships, and the forecast of lighter winds in the next few days will doubtless bring some more names into the pack

Results after Day 1:

1st 2144 Peter Bennett & John Shelton (Shoreham SC)
2nd 2154 Dick Garry & James Beer (Starcross YC)
3rd 2183 Dave Edge & Martin Arnison (Weston SC)
4th 2132 Strangler & Pippa Rogers (Port Dinorwic YC)