Beneteau 25 European Championships Overall
by Nigel Biggs 12 Oct 1999 09:33 BST
Following the superyachts which raced during the Rolex Cup the week before, a fleet of 30 Beneteau 25's from 8 nations competed for the classes 1999 European Championships in the beautiful Gulf of
St Tropez. The event was well organized by CN Cogolin and the Beneteau 25 class with excellent support from sponsor's TBS.
A welcome development for the class was the strict pre-registration measurement undertaken by UNCL chief measurer Raymond Carpentier. With all the entries being individually weighed there was obvious surprise when one Italian boat was found to be missing the appropriate corrector weights!
The Mistral which blew throughout the earlier part of the week was replaced by a gentle and shifty breeze when racing commenced. Race one was won by the British entry Dickies Yacht Sales, sailed by Nigel Biggs and his Checkmate Sailing Team from Le Coq Hardi and La Revoltosa of Italy.
Whilst the conditions remained remarkably unchanged for the duration of the event, the British crew suffered mixed fortunes, finding it difficult to adapt to the shifty Mediterranean breeze. Despite showing impressive boatspeed, matched only by the eventual winners Le Coq Hardi, Dickies Yacht
Sales struggled to find the consistency which has marked their successful entry into this highly competitive class, eventually finishing fifth.
Le Coq Hardi were the only boat to avoid a double figure result during the 9 race series, indeed their worst finish of 4th gives an indication of the complete mastery they demonstrated in the
testing conditions.
Whilst these high performance racing boats undoubtedly reward the best crews, the racing was always extremely close throughout the fleet, with those at the back often finding themselves crossing
tacks with the winner of the previous race! The final 7 places were filled by boats representing 6 different nations, proving the true international flavour of the class.
FINAL RESULTS:
1. Le Coq Hardi ITA
2. Sagenhalf GER
3. JOJO GER
4. Seeport BEL
5. Dickies Yacht Sales GBR
Dickies Yacht Sales is campaigned by the Checkmate Sailing Team with support from Banks Sails and Compaq Computers.