Fireball French Championship at Yacht Club de Carnac - Overall
by Dave Hall 24 Aug 2018 20:48 BST
22-24 August 2018
Fireball French Championship at Carnac © YCCarnac
The French Fireball Championship held in Carnac was not only a championship but a warm up for the World Championship that will follow straight after. A fleet of 60 boats took part with many competitors from countries other than France taking part to get a flavour of the venue.
Six races were sailed over the 2 days with a start time of late in the day.
Day one came with a gentle breeze for the first start, Claude Mermod &Ruedi Moser were first out of the blocks taking the lead and the first race win of the series, they were followed in by Ian Dobson & Richard Wagstaff. For the second race with the wind increasing the positions were reversed with Ian and Richard taking line honours. They were followed in by Ludovic Alleaume & Loic Berthelot in third from the home country. For the last race of the day it was the turn of Tom Gillard & Geoff Edwards to open up a lead which they held to the finish. At the close of play it was the Swiss team of Claude & Ruedi who were to be overnight leaders.
For the second day more wind was forecast, and true to the forecast the wind did increase so by the end of the last race it was 20 knots across the race track. It was however shifting with big gains and losses to be had on both sides of the beat. There were also bands of wind coming down the course and it was important to stay in the pressure. Ian & Richard won the first race followed in once again by Claude & Ruedi. Tom & Geoff took the second race followed in by Penny & Russ Clarke.
It was all down to the last race, Ian & Richard made no mistakes taking the lead and extending through the race. Tom and Geoff came in second and Claude & Ruedi followed further down the fleet making Ian & Richard Open Champions.
The French Championship was won by Ludovic Alleaume & Loic Berthelot who sailed a consistent series ending up 4th overall.
The fleet of over 100 boats will now start again for the World Championship starting on Sunday the 26th.
Overall Results: (top ten)
| Pos | Helm & Crew | Sail No | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Ian Dobson & Richard Wagstaff | GBR 15141 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Tom Gillard & Geoff Edwards | GBR 15127 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| 3 | Claude Mermod & Reudi Moser | SUI 14877 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | 14 |
| 4 | Ludovic Alleaume & Loic Bertholet | FRA 14783 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 28 |
| 5 | Penny & Russell Clark | GBR 15096 | 7 | 17 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 31 |
| 6 | David Hall & Paul Constable | GBR 15122 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 34 |
| 7 | Paul Cullen & Simon Forbes | GBR 15147 | 3 | 8 | 18 | 28 | 5 | 7 | 41 |
| 8 | Barry McCartin & Conor Kinsella | IRL 15114 | 8 | 5 | 16 | 6 | UFD | 10 | 45 |
| 9 | David Sayce & Nick Rees | GBR 15112 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 13 | 46 |
| 10 | Johanka Koranova & Jakub Napravnik | CZE 15109 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 16 | 51 |
Full results can be found here.