B14s at the Stokes Bay Sailing Club Skiff Open
by Crispin Taylor 3 May 2023 06:28 BST
29-30 April 2023
B14s at the Stokes Bay Skiff Open © Tim Olin /
www.olinphoto.co.uk
Seven B14s made it to the start line, ranging from old hands to newbies. As always, the club were super efficient and helpful, both shore side & on the water, if you haven't sailed there, do, it's a great location and super friendly!
Race 1 started in a building SE breeze, 8-10 knots. Mark Watts and MJ (797) true to form led from the start and had the first bullet. Races 2 & 3, wind building, Mark and MJ just seemed to go turbo leaving Crispin (780) and Russ (762) to fight it out for second and third places. In the end, Russ sneaked in on the leeward drops with the results standing as 797 three firsts, 762 second and 789 third.
Team B14 nailed, or should I say, failed it at the now infamous Dan Vincent Saturday night quiz in joint last place, however as is often the way, the pain was eased by the Rioja river that flowed throughout the evening :-)
Sunday dawned with a 9-11 knot SE, Crispin and crew Jamie took races 4 & 5 and in 6, a close tactical race with 797 & 762 with 797 taking a close win from 789.
Great sailing and a wonderful venue plus a big up to Gaz Stewart and Kev in their first open outing in 769... surely ones to watch!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 797 | Mark Watts | Matt Johnson | Weston SC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑3 | 1 | 6 |
| 2nd | 789 | Crispin Taylor | Jamie Dawson | SYC | ‑4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| 3rd | 762 | Russell Gibbs | Lucy Loughton | Starcross YC | 2 | ‑3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| 4th | 756 | Paul Roberts | Guy Raynes | Weston SC | 3 | ‑5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 21 |
| 5th | 795 | Amir Shamsuddin | Nick Pye | King George SC | 5 | ‑6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 23 |
| 6th | 769 | Gary Stuart | Kev Hall | Northampton sailing club | 7 | 2 | (DNF) | DNC | DNC | DNC | 36 |
| 7th | 770 | Simon Hadley | Charlie Hadley | Whitstable Yacht Club | 6 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 42 |
| 8th | 791 | Josh Wilce | Matt Hollis | Rutland sc | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 45 |
Team prize: Starcross YC with two boats in the top three.
Next event is the national championships at WPNSA 13/14th May, venue to be shared with other skiff fleets.