B14 State Titles 2015-16

Day one

With a shifty WNW breeze it was tricky but good racing on day one the the B14 State Titles.

Great to see some new faces in the class this weekend with Matt Schofield and Mat Te Hau in Catharsis, Finlay Harding and Isaac Shipp in The Turtle and Orange Crush having a test sail.

The first heat got away at 13:06 in a 14-15 knot breeze with gusts to 20 early and as the day went on slowly died.

The fleet of 11 with 2 on shore got a good start and by the top mark it was Phantom from Epic with Rocket Ship surprisingly back a bit.

By race end it was Epic through for the win with Phantom second and Rocket Ship moving up to third and a great sail by Misunderstood to take 4th a few seconds clear of Bondi Tram.

Race two got away at 14:15 in similar conditions but this time Rocket Ship got away to be first round the top mark followed by Phantom who both went right while Epic and Get Nicked who were next around went left picked up a beautiful bit of wind and Epic soon had an unasailable lead.

At the finish it was Epic first from Rocket Ship who recovered well in third Get Nicked and then Phantom.

Race three got away at 15:10 Rocket Ship soon cleared out to lead the entire race, Bondi Tram had a great race and held second for some time finally letting Epic slip through for second just four seconds astern with Phantom hot on their tails a further six seconds back.

The fourth race again saw the NNW breeze but by now it was a bit patchy and finding the presure was critical.

Rocket Ship found every bit of breeze on the track to be first at the top mark and stretch their lead all the way to the finish being a whopping 4min 26 sec ahead of Phantom who was a good 2 min 10 sec ahead of Epic who had an issue at the start and came from the back of the fleet and fourth home was Early Warning.

Overall after four races locked together on 7 points at 1-1-2-3 each are Epic Chris Wells and Rani Wells and Rocket Ship Adrian Beswick and Jono LeBis with Phantom Steve Miller and Lauren Bird third on 12 with 2-4-4-2.

Another four races tomorrow and it is going to be tight racing.

Day two

An interesting day with a light breeze to start that became a drifter and then an almost blow out.

But later after all boats returned to shore we were able to get another two races in for a total of seven races.

Firstly let me congratulate Adrian Beswick and Jono LeBis for an outstanding regatta and deserved State Champions for 2015-16.

The first race of the day got away at 12:02 in about 6 knots of breeze from the NW but it was swinging gradually to the W.

The boats got away to an even start and by the top mark it was Rocket Ship first followed by Phantom then a group of boats including Epic, Bondi Tram, Get Nicked and Misunderstood.

The breeze continued to fade and slowly shift to the left and at the top mark the final time Rocket Ship was in the lead from Phantom followed by Bondi Tram and Epic.

Epic went the deep route Bondi Tram high and fast and Phanton in between. As the leg progressed the breeze continued to die and shift toward the south.

At the finish Rocket Ship retained the lead from Epic who squezed through below Bondi Tram and in fourth Phantom.

Once the initial few boats had finished the breeze swung right into the south and picked up very quickly to gust well into the high 20's. This caught a few of the less experienced sailors off gard and there were a number of capsizes.

After the finish the Committee boat sent all boat ashore to asses the weather and rescue those sailors still in the water.

After a hot drink and a quick warm up seven of the boats agreed to go back out and finish the racing as the breeze has then droped to 11-15 knots building with gusts to around 18 knots.

So after the break race 6 got away at 14:28 with the reduced fleet of 7 boats in a cool southerly and drizzle.

It was a good even start and by the top mark Rocket Ship had again established a reasonable lead from Epic and Phantom locked in a great battle.

With the fresh breeze the boats were flying down wind putting on a great show for those watching on shore.

At the top mark the final time Rocket Ship had a sizable lead and Phantom managed to tack just inside Epic to be second round followed by Bondi Tram.

At the finish Rocket Ship had a clear win from Phantom who just held of Epic (by four seconds) for third Bondi Tram had a good lead over Get Nicked who just piped Good Question by five seconds.

The final race got away at 15:03 with the base breeze gradually droping from 15 knots at the start to around 12 but the gusts were still at 18 knots meaning finding a gust was the goal.

Yet another even start with as usual Rocket Ship slipping away to be first at the top mark followed by Epic and Phantom and Get Nicked having a close tussle.

At the the bottom mark second place was up for grabs with Epic and Phantom both delaying the drop and both overshooting the gate to let Get Nicked right into the equasion.

At the top mark the final time Rocket Ship had a commanding lead and this time Epic tacked inside Phantom to be second around both closely followed by Get Nicked.

At the finish Rocket Ship had a clear win and Epic was well clear of Phantom who held off the fast finishing Get Nicked.

Overall results

First Rocket Ship Adrian Beswick and Jono LeBis on seven points with 5 wins, second Epic Chris and Rani Wells on 12 points and third Phantom Steve Miller and Lauren Bird on 17 points.

Handicap winner was Get Nicked Richard McMinn and Lucy Rees from Bondi Tram Stephen Mitchell and Adrian Bell and in third Good Question Grant Atherton and Finlay Cooper.

Finally it was great to see Matt Schofield and Mat Te Hau competing and a sensational effort by Fynley Harding and Isaac Shipp in their first sail in a B14 going out for the late session and finishing both races, well done.

One last mention for Tony & Brioney VanGalen who had a tough regatta after timing out in some of the Saturday races they were caught in the big end first southerly and spent an extended time in the water.

View Gallery

Photos courtesy of Lynn Keil and the MPYC facebook page plus a couple from Kelly Beswick

Note the last photo of Adrian Beswick and Jono LeBis with the next generation of B14 sailors getting a feel for the podium.