Yachts & Yachting – August 2019

CLUBS & CLASSES

MARIE BENOIT

TIM OLIN

e D-One eet was treated to a

Gallic Regatta for the

Champagne Gold Cup at Lac du

Der, with seven nations sharing

close racing on the water and

their cuisine on shore.

A tricky opening day, thanks

to a named storm over Europe

providing dramatic shis under

the clouds, was followed by

another breezy day for the

31-strong eet, with Nick Craig

revelling in the exciting gusty

conditions.

Day three then provided a

classic Lac du Der day, with a

light and shiing wind, before

the nal day nally arrived with

some ‘just right’ Goldilocks

weather and 12 knots of wind.

Each type of condition

brought out the best in dierent

sailors but overall Craig had

done enough to seal the

championship win, with Viktor

Teply (CZE) second, Giles

Chippereld third and Masters’

winner, and Tim Johnson in

fourth winning the Amateurs

Tr o p hy.

D-One Champagne Gold Cup

ere were idyllic sailing

conditions for the

inaugural Wilsonian River

Challenge, also a Great

British Sailing Challenge

event, with 44 boats

competing. Saturday’s

non-discardable, double-

points Pursuit Race took

place in a F2, just enough

to get local sailor Graeme

Oliver and the Musto Skis

at-wire trapezing and

planing, while the Slow

eet win went to Wayfarer

team Brian Lamb and Sam

Pygall.

A F4 on the Sunday then

saw former SailJuice

Winter Series champion

Andy Peake race his RS600

to score 3,1,1, but with a

13th from the pursuit race

he was out of overall

contention. e same went

for father-son duo Richard

and Ian Hudson, who took

a trio of bullets in their

2000 doublehander.

Overall Oliver won the

fast handicap and the event,

with Lamb and Pygall’s

Wayfarer winning the slow

eet. First lady helms were

Jayne orpe in an RS200

(Fast Fleet) and Laser

Radial sailor Steph Wicken

(Slow Fleet).

Wilsonian winds blow fair for

latest GBSC event

Wells SC hosted the British Sharpie

Championship, with race ocer and OK

dinghy stalwart Andy Turner using all his

experience to provide great racing in

challenging conditions. ere were six

dierent winners from the six races held

and it was tight at the top in the nal

reckoning, with Adam Anthony and

Charlie Andrews ultimately claiming

victory but just a point from Martin Read

and Emmy Gibbs, who in turn were just a

point ahead of the next three boats. ese

could only be separated on countback,

with Andrew Cracknell/Justine Sykes

third, Will and Tim Adams fourth and

Alex Smith/Paul Beachell h.

JAMES CASE

with 23 teams competing

for the class inland title.

The six-race series had it all,

from light to moderate to

fresh conditions, and the

fleet was delighted to have

Ovington Boats aboard,

with Graham Vials and MD

Chris Turner (DRSC)

essentially dominating day

one and the first race of day

two to claim the title.

A push from other top

sailors forced a nice mix of

top results from Jeremy

Davy/Martin Huett

(Draycote), who finished

second overall, and Andy

and father David McKee

(Dovestone) with their

respective partners-in-

crime Richard Jones and

Mal Hartland, who finished

third and fourth overall

respectively. World

champion Steve Goacher

with Tim Harper warmed

up with a final race victory

to finish fifth.

Pedro Andrade

Wins Yanmar

Dragon Gold Cup

Pedro Andrade, Star class

veteran Christian Giannini

and Joao Vidinha sailing for

Portugal won the Yanmar

Dragon Gold Cup

convincingly despite

battling several major gear

failures during the week.

Second overall went to

Vendée Globe veteran

Pieter Heerema of the

Netherlands, with 2005

49er World Champion

George Leonchuck and Lars

Hendricksen. The final

overall podium place was

claimed by America's Cup

and World Match Racing

legend Peter Gilmour, his

son Sam, and Yasuhiro Yaji.

Double Olympic gold

medallist and Dragon

sailing legend Poul Richard

Hoj-Jensen, aged 75, who

the fleet refer to as 'The

Man', took victory in the

Corinthian Division, crewed

by friends Hamish McKay

and Chris Brittain, while the

Nations Cup Trophy was

won by the British Team of

Grant Gordon/Poul Richard

Hoj-Jensen/Gavia

Wilkinson-Cox.

Opening round

for Laserfest

The Laserfest Tri-Series

supported by

SailingChandlery.com

kicked oš at Broadstairs SC

with strong winds and tides

and a four-race series for

the 28-strong Laser fleet,

with all four races to count

Sharpies at Wells

Attendance at the Lark nationals was

50% up from last year and with six

former champions in the eet,

competition at Rock in the reborn class

was tight and the venue had it all – a

stunning location, top quality race

management and glamour conditions.

Light breezes on the opening day saw

race wins go to John and Megan

Brickwood and Harry Pynn/Gemma

Cook. A Force 4 with rolling waves on

day two then saw a change with James

Goss and Chris White having a

sensational day, winning three races to

give them a commanding lead. Another

breezy day and two more exciting races,

again won by Goss/White, gave them ve

bullets to wrap up the championship.

On the nal day, a race win went to

Stuart and Nick Hydon. en Goss/

White again demonstrated their speed to

win the nal race, with White having

now won the championship as both a

helm and a crew. Second overall were the

Hydons with Nigel Huon/Matt Wood

third. e longevity of the boats saw a

couple of sub-£600 Larks mixing it at the

front of the eet.

Reborn Larks

enjoy glamour

nationals at Rock

80 Yachts & Yachting August 2019 yachtsandyachting.co.uk