Buzz International Championships in Carnac, France

Matt Greenfield and Lizzie Lyle on their way to victory Photo ©: Gilbert Lauvergnier

The club maintained its reputation for efficiency and hospitality, while the weather did its bit, too, with scorching sunshine and winds ranging from force two to a gusty five. Courses were windward/leeward, alternating between a windward finish with a downwind gate and a downwind finish with no gate and a short, tight reach to the line.

A big wind shift turned the first beat of the practice race into a one-tacker, with current national champions Roger and Robert Gates taking the lead. By the second lap things had settled back, with Peter and Neil MacLaren taking advantage of the shift to take first.

Any worries about the short course of the practice race being repeated for the championship proper were quickly dispelled on day one - in the first race half the fleet couldn't see the windward mark from the start line, aimed for where they thought it should be and ended up reaching for it. The French pair of Nathanael and Cassandre Payen got it right and took first, with the MacLarens second and Greenfield/Lyle catching up well from the wrong turn to take third.

Race two saw Greenfield/Lyle take first, with David and Tom Bridle taking advantage of more wind on the right hand side of the course to slot into second, just ahead of the Gates. In race three, David Haughton and Alex Cramp played a similar blinder on the last run, this time down the left side, to come from nowhere and take first, followed by Greenfield/Lyle and the Gates.

The first day's force two looked like repeating itself on day two. Race four was started in light airs, but as the sea breeze filled in for the finish it was the Gates in the lead, with the MacLarens second and the Payens third. Race five was sailed in a good force four, with Greenfield/Lyle taking line honours with the Gates second and the MacLarens third.

After a day off to recover from the Breton dinner on the Tuesday night, racing resumed on Thursday with the fleet finding almost perfect conditions in the Baie de Quiberon with 15-20 knots of wind. Greenfield/Lyle were in overall lead at this point, with the Gates challenging hard in second and the MacLarens third. After some close and spectacular racing, the overall positions didn't change, despite the breeze bringing some of the heavier crews to the fore.

Race six was won convincingly by Graham Wright and Brian Sanderson, with the MacLarens second and Andy Holmes and Chris Crabb in third. The Gates took race seven, followed by Greenfield/Lyle and Holmes/Crabb, with Greenfield/Lyle taking the day's final race from Holmes/Crabb and the Gates. This race resulted in a protest from Holmes and Crabb over an incident on the line with Greenfield/Lyle; it was thrown out to leave the latter with a four-point lead going in to the last day.

Race nine turned out to be the last race of the championship, as the combination of an early prizegiving and a strong, gusty breeze led the race officer to set a long, three lap course for the only race of the day. Greenfield/Lyle, the Gates and Holmes/Crabb set off at a blistering pace and arrived at the windward mark together, at which point fair bit of shouting ensued! The latter's charge for a possible third overall was later thwarted by a broken main halyard, leaving the Gates to hit the line first, followed by Greenfield/Lyle and, in third, Severin Obellianne and Lionel Michon.

So it was well-deserved overall honours to Greenfield and Lyle, who were rarely out of the top three and demonstrated good boat handling and some great turns of speed, especially under pressure. They were also one of the lightest (at around 17 stone) and youngest crews in the competition. However, no single weight/age/sex combination dominated and the Buzz showed its versatility with sailors in the top six aged from 13 to retired and weighing anything from six stone to 12 or 13 (after a week of French cooking, it was good job the wind increased towards the end!). Two of the oldest boats in the fleet finished third and fourth. Special thanks go to sponsors Bank of Scotland, which has sponsored the Buzz fleet for 2001 and the team at Carnac, which provided excellent racing in sometimes difficult conditions, attentive safety boats (complete with Renault the Rescue Dog!) and some fun social evenings. The fleet now heads for less exotic waters at Datchet on October 13 & 14.

Overall Results:

More Information:

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