18ft Skiff European Grand Prix Round 1 at Calshot Activity Centre
by Tom Hill 23 May 2018 07:44 BST
17-20 May 2018
Day 1
The first day of the European Grand Prix was a good shake-down for the boats that had just come out of the container following their recent trip to the JJ Championships in Sydney Australia. The inflated fleet was a sight to be seen all rigged on the slipway of Calshot; a sight that has become so familiar to the growing UK fleet.
The three boats from the container definitely found their pace in the first race, taking the top three spots and ChameleonI showing their intent with a bullet on their home waters.
It was then Be-Light's turn at the front. After a close three laps, they got in front. ChameleonI were off the pace, allowing LED onto the bottom step of the podium. Sail4Cancer and Union Rose got their first results of the weekend not far behind.
Union Rose got their nose even further forward in the last race of the day, narrowly missing out on the podium with a fourth place. It was ChameleonI and Be-Light battling it out at the front again. Be-Light got the better of ChameleonI and took another first place, cementing their spot at the top for an overnight lead.
The fleet retired to shore after a long day on the water and filled a local pub to show the Europeans some good old fashioned English "Brown Beer".
Day 2
The second day of the European Grand Prix was surprisingly windy for the fleet on a classic Solent day.
The fleet were kept ashore to allow the wind to settle and increase. That turned out to be a great call from the Race Officer and three races were run in some exciting top end 1 rig conditions. The committee boat end was the favoured gate, which gave the race crew some very up close action as the boats battled around the race course.
The first race saw the event leaders Be-Light blow their controls for the jib, so they were out of that race to do some on-the-water repairs. Chameleon-I and Rutland swept up the podium places in their absence.
The second race was sailed in increasing breeze and much the same for the fleet, but Rutland got the better of ChameleonI to take first place.
The final race had the Hungarians of Be Light back in action. Kaltenberger were impressively still the mix and on the water considering the building breeze and their scratch crew.
A discard came into play as 4 races had been sailed, so the scoreboard looked interesting. Another discard would come into play at 11 races, which would send the Hungarians to the top of the podium in front of current leaders ChameleonI. But would the breeze over the next two days be enough to get those races in? Or would the Hungarian Polenka being passed around at the fleet BBQ, knock some off their game?
Day 3
The third day of the European Grand Prix was another day to wait for breeze, but eventually the fleet launched with their small rigs anticipating the heat of the morning to breeze a fresh sea breeze.
The first race was a short course and a slight skew meant the best option was a gybe set. It's a manoeuvre not often practiced, so there was some quick learning! Chameleon-i, Rutland and LED took the podium places.
The second race was set in another area to allow the fleet to stretch their legs. The course made use of a Solent mark as the top mark which made for an interesting first leg. There were some close crosses and port/starboard calls to be made. Be-Light took the bullet after missing the first race followed by ChameleonI and another third for LED.
The final race had a very congested start and a few "suggestions" made between the teams to each other. Rutland poked their noses forward to lead, but a nasty kite hoist meant they dropped to the back of the fleet. Kaltenberger took the win as they returned to the race course after a quick change to their No1 rig.
The fleet came in, much more relaxed after a less windy than expected day. Absolutely everyone that was out on the race track made their way to the nearby curry house for beers and boating banter later that evening.
Day 4
The final day of racing had no option to wait as the Sailing Instructions prevented any races starting after 3pm. This meant the races had to be set off in some tricky breeze that was still settling.
Nevertheless, the race crew got a course laid and a prompt start caught a few boats out. The top mark for the whole day was the Robin Culpan – also being used as the pin end for the Vice Admiral's Cup. This made for some interesting traffic calls to avoid other yachts. The JJ veterans of Be-Light and ChameleonI had flash backs of Manley ferries and Sundays on Sydney Harbour!
It was an awesome No1 rig day with 8-10 knots across the course. Be-Light had a great day scoring three bullets showing their new boat has been fully dialled in. However, this wasn't enough to knock Chameleon-I off the top spot, by only one point! The German team of Kaltenberger Ritter finished off the final spot.
Overall
A huge thanks to the European boats for making the trip over to race with the UK fleet. They were impressed with the setup the UK class is building and loved the challenging and iconic race area of the Solent. The fleet is also extremely grateful to Tom Kiddle for setting off 12 races in some very tricky weather conditions. A huge thanks also to ChameleonI for sponsoring the event and providing the fleet with a BBQ and endless beer and Calshot Activity Centre for being great hosts for another brilliant racing weekend.
The fleet now takes a break from sailing in UK waters as the European season ramps up over the next couple of months. There will be events in Germany, Italy and Denmark before returning to the UK to battle it out for the Solent Grand Prix Series Championship.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | ChameleonI | 1 | 4- | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3- | 2 | 18 |
| 2 | Be Light | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8- | 1 | 8- | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
| 3 | Kaltenberger Ritter | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8- | 6- | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 29 |
| 4 | Rutland | 8 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 8- | 8- | 46 |
| 5 | LED | 4 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 8- | 8- | 53 |
| 6 | Sail 4 Cancer | 8 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8- | 8- | 5 | 4 | 4 | 60 |
| 7 | Union Rose | 8 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 8- | 8- | 63 |