Int.14 Winter Bastardo race at Queen Mary Sailing Club
by Dave Spragg 5 Feb 2003 13:20 GMT
Over seventy International 14 sailors unearthed their wetsuits and dinner jackets for the inaugural 'Winter Bastardo' race at Queen Mary Sailing Club on Sat 1st Feb, followed by the prizegiving dinner at the Royal Thames. The original 'Adolfo Bastardo' long-distance race is held over a 20-30 mile course around the North end of Lake Garda; in deference to the season and venue the course for the Winter version was set rather shorter but the course was still designed to make best use of a range of geographical features, including pontoons and dredgers, and covered just about the whole reservoir.
As race officer Karen Evans sounded the start signal Colin Smith and Peter
Helm in 'Enormous Crocodile' made the best of the 10-12 knot winds and took
a very early lead. Although Dave Spragg and class newcomer Veryan Ridler, in
'Pantomime Horse', hooked into their own private lift it was only enough to
get them to the mark in second place. Smith and Helm extended their lead
downwind as the fleet rounded the end of the breakwater, but by the end of
the next beat Spragg and Ridler had regained enough distance to put the
pressure back on. A slow kite drop by the Crocodile was all the Horse needed
to sneak through, and as the fleet came back round the breakwater towards
the end of the first lap the order was Pantomime Horse 1st, Enormous
Crocodile 2nd with Mango Chutney, sailed by the infamous Mark 'Mad Jack'
Nicholson and Louise Hickey, snapping at their heels in third place.
As Spragg rounded the leeward mark he sailed straight into an enormous hole,
and could do nothing but look on as Smith tacked clear and regained the
lead, which he was to hold and extend over the remaining two laps. The race
within the race was now for second, with Nicholson and Spragg exchanging
places on almost every leg. In the end it was a poor tack from Nicholson and
Hickey which sealed their fate, allowing Spragg and Ridler just enough
breathing room to hold their position to the finish.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Boat Type | Helm | Crew |
|---|
| 1st | Enormous Crocodile | Bieker 2 | Colin Smith | Peter Helm |
| 2nd | Pantomime Horse | Bieker 3 | Dave Spragg | Veryan Ridler |
| 3rd | Mango Chutney | Morrison 10 | Mark Nicholson | Louise Hickey |