Down to the wire

Superb conditions for last day of B14 Nationals

The final day of the B14 Nationals saw a classic championship show down in stunning conditions. The ENE breeze, which had blown for the last 24 hours, had built large wave trains which set against the ebbing tide out of the Swale produced breathtaking downwind conditions. The breeze was up to 18 knots to give the 43 boats a final day to remember.

With four boats in with a shot at the title, there was no room for error. Overnight leaders, Dave Hayes and Sean Dwyer nailed the first beat and went on to take the win from Matt Searle and Rich Bell with Tim Fells and Dave Cunningham recovering from an awful start to take third from Jono Pank and Rich Edwards.

Fells / Cunningham then battled boat for boat, jybe for jybe with Hayes and Dwyer to take out the penultimate race. With Searle and Bell missing in action and Pank and Edwards fourth the calculators came out and Dave and Sean decided they had just done enough.

Fells / Cunningham sealed a great final day with another bullet in the final race to take second overall from Pank and Edwards who were black-flagged.

Dave Hayes and Sean Dwyer therefore took their first ever B14 Nationals title after 6 attempts, Dave having successfully completed the transition from championship winning crew to championship winning helm.

By everyone’s assessment this was the best B14 Nationals ever. Congratulations to the new champions and to Whitstable for running a storming event.

Overall:
1st Dave Hayes / Sean Dwyer (Southport) 16 pts
2nd Tim Fells / Dave Cunningham (Oxford) 17 pts
3rd Jono Pank / Rich Edwards (Tamesis) 22 pts
4th Chris Sallis / Matt Frary (Yarmouth) 35 pts
5th Matt Searle / Rich Bell (Hayling) 36 pts
6th Mark Barnes / Tom Pygall (Whitstable) 48 pts