Dart 18 World Championship in Lagos, Portugal overall
by Dave Roberts 21 Jul 2004 20:48 BST
A large contingent of British Dart 18 sailors made the long trip to Lagos in Portugal for the 2004 World Championship which attracted 90 competitors - the same number as in 1998 when the Championship was last held in Portugal. This was an eagerly anticipated event with great Portugese hospitality, the club situated on a beautiful beach next to the picturesque old town, lots of bars and restaurants close by and a strong wind reputation. The British sailors arrived keen to interrupt the recent French domination of the Dart World and European Championships.
The fleet included several past Champions - Gareth Owen from the UK, Vincent Bouvier from France and Mathius Huber from Germany who won last time the Dart fleet came to Portugal. Together with the French National Champions Thierry & Christine Wibaux and current UK National Champions David & Sam Lloyd, the entire Portugese fleet and a number of 'on form' sailors, this Championship was always going to be hotly contested.
After several days of strong winds, the regatta started with very light and shifty winds. Like all 'strong wind venues', it is not always windy! All the eventual top four finishers ended up discarding their result from race 1; some having been black flagged and others just the wrong side of the course when the forecast northerly wind filled in. Local sailors Antonio and Amelia Viegas started with a first in this race. The wind then filled from the prevailing northwest at 18 - 20 knots for the next two races. The French pair Thierry and Christine Wibaux won the second race from the defending Champions Vincent Bouvier and Fanny Merelle. The third race of the day saw a British win with Gareth Ownen and Will Thompson leading from the French/English team of Herve Le Maux and Joanne Pierce.
The weather changed for the rest of the regatta. Each day a light southwesterly wind filled in late afternoon only to shift around to the forecast northwest at about 8 - 10 knots. This allowed enough time for only one late race each day, with a significant wind shift at some stage in each race - it was always a case of being in the right place at the right time! Whilst it occasionally looked as though the left hand side may pay with more wind on that side, it was a big risk to go on that side in case the northwest wind filled suddenly from the right. On Tuesday, Herve Le Maux port tacked the fleet and led comfortably from Thierry Wibaux with the British pair Dave & Louise Roberts in 3rd. A large wind shift at the halfway stage of this race had caught out a number of competitors.
Race 5 was won by the French team Dominique and Anne Marie Landron with the Wibaux's scoring another second and establishing a comfortable overall lead with such consistent results.
Paul Wakelin and Jo Coe won their first World Championship race in race 6 from Dave & Louise Roberts. The race will be remembered for the most controversial incident of the regatta relating to the shortened course procedure at the leeward gate. Although the top 15 finished as intended, the rest of the fleet finished in a variety of ways and kept the protest jury up late into the night. Fortunately, none of the top results were affected.
With just time for one last race on Friday, Thierry and Christine Wibaux had won the Championship with no need to race, thanks to their supremely consistent results. Defending Champions Vincent Bouvier and Fanny Merelle were in a very strong position in 2nd. For the best placed British boat to get onto the podium, Dave & Louise Roberts had to get a top position, but also beat the third placed Swiss team by 16 points and Herve Le maux/Joanne Pierce by 6 points. In the event, local sailors Marcelo Leitte and Magda Silva won by a convincing margin, with Dave & Louise Roberts narrowly beating Thierry & Christine Wibaux to second spot. With Michel & Joline Fehr finishing 22nd and Herve Le Maux/Joanne Pierce finishing 16th, this was enough to get one British team onto a podium position.
One name to watch for the future is South Africa's Kyle de Wet, crewed by Jessica Walton from the UK. At only 15 years old Kyle finished this regatta in 21st place on a borrowed boat and recorded a best result of 8th. The top female helm was Abby Ledger with crew Murray Brett, who beat a strong Swiss team.
Overall Results:
1 Thierry & Christine Wibaux. France 23pts
2 Vincent Bouvier & Fanny Merelle France 39 pts
3 Dave & Louise Roberts www.sailingbooks.co.uk U.K. 55 pts
4 Michel & Joline Fehr Switzerland 61 pts
5 Herve Le Maux & Joanne Pierce France/U.K. 63 pts
6 Jose & Helena Murta Portugal 67 pts
7 Alan & Fiona Kernick 'Red Insurance' U.K. 76 pts
8 Gareth Owen & Will Thompson U.K. 77 pts
Other U.K.
10 Paul Wakelin & Jo Cole 'Fluid Boat Services' 87pts
11 Dan Norman & Catherin Farthing 'Burketts' 88 pts
19 David & Sam Lloyd 'Typhoon' 117pts
22 Stuart Snell & Robby Garka 136pts