55th European Sharpie Championship at Itchenor Sailing Club - Day 4
by David Priscott 22 Aug 2019 21:24 BST
18-24 August 2019
Geep wins the second race on day 4 of the Sharpie Europeans © David Priscott
The forty strong fleet enjoyed another perfect day for international racing in Hayling Bay. The wind was steady in the South West, building from an initial 10 knots to an enhanced 15 to 18 knots.
An increasingly choppy sea added extra challenges in race two. Both races today were windward leeward affairs which met with the approval of the fleet.
In the first race at the first weather mark it was Germany's Bunyip (Eisenblaetter and Baumgartner) round first followed by the British boat Windspiel (Gibbs and Gibbs) and Jan van Galen (Versteeg and Mulderij) from The Netherlands. However, after three more legs of the race the order was shaken up to see the finishing places - Windspiel, Janvan Galen and Bunyip.
Race two a slightly stronger wind and a lengthened course added the challenge of seamanship to those of race tactics. Some boats took on too much water had were forced to retire. Surprise early leaders were Patrick van Raalte and Jeroen Kool in Spotvogel and Geep sailed by Frank Steeneken and Cees van Dijk (Best place to date 11th). Germany's Very Old with Uwe Peters and Gunter Daubenmerkl were even more surprising in third place when their previous best finish had been 18th.
Of the main contenders Gibbs was sixth and Versteeg only 10th. The Dutch boat tried their successful tactic of yesterday by storming off the pin end and going deep to the left flank. But they had under-estimated the strength of the tide and growing sea state. Unfortunately Spotvogel was forced to retire which left Geep as the boat to catch. The boys in Windspiel tried their best but could only manage second and Versteeg and Mulderij pulled up six places to take fourth. So a well deserved victory for Geep.
These results leave the competition poised on a knife edge with Windspiel and Jan van Galen both on 17 points ahead of another two races planned for tomorrow.
Results after Day 4: (top three, 8 races, 1 discard)
1st Windspiel GBR125, Chris and Tim Gibbs 17pts
2nd Jan van Galen NED 14, Daan Versteeg and Arnold Mulderij 17pts
3rd Bunyip GER377, Klaus Eisenblaetter and Sven Ove Baumgartner 28pts
Full results on www.itchenorsc.co.uk