Counting 6 firsts and 2 seconds all I can say is simply awesome...
Worthy Champions Tim Harrison and Johnny Ratcliffe!
Roll on Melbourne in 2015 and a massive massive thank you to all the volunteers, staff, and sponsors at Centre Nautique de Plerin and in particular Sophie and Sebastien Le Cam that made this event so special...
"A truly great event"
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It’s been emotional... with sub 5 knot breeze, wall to wall sunshine, weed on the course and plenty of pot holes on the race track most teams have found themselves at some point deep in the pack, struggling to stay calm and work on recovery.. The difference between 5th and 15th at the top mark often not more than 30 boat lengths...I could sit here and give a blow by blow report of each of the 6 races over the last 2 days but there is only really one story to tell.
One boat has utterly dominated... whilst World and European champions and pre event form teams have bounced around the top 10 or worse, one team has strung together a dream score line, with the only blip a 6th in race 8!
They haven’t had it all their own way with GBR 774 Ben/Roz Mcgrane taking race 1, GBR 785 Peter knight/James Wilkinson taking race 3, the supposed heavy breeze specialists GBR 784 “Neil Pryde” Mark Emmett/Allan Stuart taking Race 6 and FRA 773 Alain Cadre/Francois Cadre doing a horizon job in Race 8.
With a day 4 score line of 4 firsts, 2 seconds, a 3rd, and 6th they are 14 points clear of second place and with 2 discards GBR 758 Tim Harrison/Johnny Ratcliffe are already unreachable at the top of the scorecard.. Unprecedented in B14 history. Tonight will see them crowned as the new champions.
However the interest is not over.. The battle for second is on.. Today we are looking at a solid 10-13 knots and with 2 races and only 4 points separating second to fourth the rest of the podium is firmly up for grabs. The battle will be between our newly crowned European champions GBR 774 Ben/Roz McGrane, Australian lightweight fliers of AUS 780 Richie Reynolds/Lisa McMillan, and class supplier/noise machine GBR 788 Mark Barnes/Jeremy Williamson... We can expect to see fireworks!!
www.b14world.org/en/Results.html
Photos on B14 world.org
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(Possibly the first attractive shipping container photo ever taken? And for team Australia you will be pleased to know the bar is pretty much where the cameraman is stood!)
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Day 0
Many teams (including 2 boats from France) arrived early for some pre-event practice, only to be met by a warm 40 knot welcome from Whitstable. So it was an early start in the bar for many, enjoying the usual Whitstable YC hospitality.
Day 1
Friday dawned with gusts well into the 30's and, following a less than optimistic briefing from PRO Dave Curno, the fleet set about bimbling and relaxing.
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