So Friday morning in Lyme dawned with Matt Burge and Dan Schieber the overnight leaders after the most consistent day across the 3 races on Thursday.
The forecast came in exactly as predicted, a lovely late summers day with wall to wall sunshine and unfortunately not a breath of wind. The AP was promptly raised ashore, initially with a 1 hour delay which was subsequently extended to a further 2. It was looking unlikely that any sailing was going to happen.
With the series stuck on 8 races completed, just one more race could have shaken things up considerably by allowing a second discard. But it was not to be and as the club called it there were already a number of boats who had stolen the march and struck their masts to make a swift departure.
The prize giving was brought forward by an hour and a half and the considerable prizes were allocated to their numerous recipients. There has probably never been a championships with so many prizes and there were still a load more to allocate, including hundreds more pounds worth of Gul and Allen Vouchers, a 50% North sail voucher and other North goodies plus an incredible array of serious silverware. The club also provided some lovely keeper trophies. In the UK Nationals it looked like this:
1st Overall Matt Burge / Dan Schieber GBR 15123
2nd overall Ian Dobson / Richard Wagstaff GBR 15141
3rd overall Christian Birrell / Vyv Townend GBR 15144
4th overall Tom Gillard / Geoff Edwards GBR 15127
5th overall David Sayce / Nick Rees GBR 15112
6th overall Dave Wade / Ben McGrane GBR 15143
7th overall Paul Cullen / Adam Whitehouse GBR 15147
8th overall David Hall / Paul Constable GBR 15122
9th overall Chris Gill / Jon Gill GBR 15083
10th overall David Winder / Ben Rayner GBR 15130
Lowest placed boat completing all races Barbara Newson / Guy Newson GBR 14872
1st Lady helm Derian Scott GBR 14891
2nd Lady helm Christine Slater GBR 15045
3rd lady helm Georgia Booth GBR 14940
1st lady crew Torie Morley GBR 14804
2nd lady crew Andrea Willcocks GBR 15075
3rd lady crew Jo Line GBR 14889
So with a scorecard of 29 points and a series of results that included a 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 2 fourths it was overnight leaders Matt Burge & Dan Schieber who took the Euros from Christian Birrell & Vvy Townsend on 35 points in 2nd and Ian Dobson & Richard Wagstaff with 39 in 3rd. Overall the Europeans prizes winners were:
1st Overall Matt Burge / Dan Schieber GBR 15123
2nd overall Christian Birrell / Vyv Townend GBR 15144
3rd overall Ian Dobson / Richard Wagstaff GBR 15141
4th overall Tom Gillard / Geoff Edwards GBR 15127
5th overall Paul Cullen / Adam Whitehouse GBR 15147
6th overall David Sayce / Nick Rees GBR 15112
7th overall Ludovic Alleaume / Loic Berthelot FRA 14783
8th overall Dave Wade / Ben McGrane GBR 15143
9th overall David Hall / Paul Constable GBR 15122
10th overall David Winder / Ben Rayner GBR 15130
Lowest placed boat completing all races Eric Lewandowsk / Anne Lewandowski FRA 14702
1st Lady Helm Derian Scott GBR 14941
2nd lady helm Johana Koranova CZE 15109
3rd lady helm Christina Haerdi-Landerer SUI 14859
1st lady crew Torie Morley GBR 14804
2nd lady crew Andrea Willcocks GBR 15075
3rd lady crew Jo Line GBR 14889
1st all female team Louise McKenna / Hermine O'Keefe IRL 14691
1st Over 50 helm David Hall GBR 15122
1st Over 50 crew Nick Rees GBR 15112
1st Over 60 helm David Sayce GBR 15112
1Over 60 crew Steve Chesney GBR 14791
1st Helm under 25 Alois Verkest FRA 14973
1st Crew under 25 Jakub Kosvica CZE 14551
Classic boat (Euros and Nationals) James Cuxson / James Arnott GBR 14388
1st Silver Jaroslav Verner / Jan Will CZE 15110
2nd silver Frederick Le Bas / Ludovic Collin FRA 15053
3rd silver Matt Foskett / Simon Foskett GBR 14870
1st Bronze Charles Le calvez / Minet Gael FRA 14403
2nd Bronze Christophe Brigaudeau /Adrien Humeau FRA 15001
3rd Bronze Denis Lucet / Françoise Lucet FRA 15065
The class now looks forward to the Inland Championships on the 14th/15th of October in Draycote, the Nationals next year ion Looe and a world Championships in Carnac next August.
The fleet has had a super championships with amazing prizes across the fleet from some incredibly generous sponsors and Lyme Regis Sailing Club, their volunteers and members have been brilliant, delivering a great on and off water experience despite the challengingly light wind conditions on some days. Lyme is beautiful, the hospitality is great and come Tuesday morning I have a funny feeling that the whole fleet will be feeling the sailing blues.
Full results here: http://www.halsraceresults.com/crs/crs.aspx?ClubKey=1140
Words by Andy Robinson
Photos credit Andy Wilcox
