International 14 Firecracker at Itchenor Sailing Club

International 14 Firecracker at Itchenor © Ras Turner

This weekend marked the final major event of the UK International 14 calendar. With 15 boats entered for the weekend, all the crews were looking forward to an exciting weekend of close racing on the beautiful backdrop of Chichester harbour.

Day 1

With 20-22kts of breeze in the west and a high water in the harbour, a windward-leeward course was set.

Race 1 saw Douglas Pattison and Mark Tait in Pamela take an early clear lead of the start line, which they managed to maintain round course, close followed by Archie Massey and Katie Nurton in 2 and 3rd respectively.

Race 2 saw increasingly gusty conditions and an ebb tide creating some testing condition for the fleet. The race one winner, Pattison and Tait unfortunately were out of action early on, due to a broken mast. With many boats struggling with the condition, race 2 saw Kimball Morrison and Jeremy Fowke take the win.

Race 3 saw a reduced fleet on the start line, with many crews already exhausted taking the option for early tea and cake from the Itchenor buttery. However for the 4 remaining boats, the racing couldn't not have been better, with the lead changing many times up and downwind. It culminated in a shortened course. Rounding the leeward mark for the final beat to the finish saw the winners of race 2, Morrison and Fowke round first, however they were closely followed by Andy Shaw and Rob Stuckett in Pamela. With Shaw and Struckett tacking-in first for the finish line, they took the win for race 3. Day 1 end with Morrison and Fowke in 1st, Olly Sloper and Hugh Maclean in 2nd and Julian Pearson and Sam Pascoe in 3rd.

Day 2

Sunday the 5th of November saw a brighter and calmer start to the day, but a chilly wind soon built to similar conditions as day 1, and there was a lot of points still to play for.

Race 4 saw Julian Pearson with World champion crew Sam Pascoe taking the win in The Beast, with an impressive lead that was established early on. This impressive result of race 4, was sustained in race 5 with team Pearson and Pascoe them taking yet another win.

International 14 Firecracker at Itchenor - photo © Ras Turner

Race 6 showed choppier and gusty conditions. A good start put Morrison and Fowke first at the windward mark, closely followed by Charlie Duchesne and Tom Bracewell in Jungle Fire, who had an impressive day 2 following damage on day 1. Downwind showed impressive displays of boats handling, with big grins on the face of all the teams. Morrison and Fowke managed to retain the lead down the first run, with team Pearson and Pascoe overtaking them on the second beat, where they held until the final beat, where an unfortunate capsize saw Morrison and Fowke regain the lead to take the win.

The fleet now move onto the coveted Perry Pot series which is every Sunday before Christmas, every year this proves to be a great tell tail sign for who will do well in the next year and with 5-12 good quality boats on the start line come rain or shine every weekend its great fun as well.

The International 14 fleet would like to thank all the race office and all the staff at Itchenor Sailing Club for another great weekend of sailing.

Overall Results: