Breeze up in Garda

B14 Worlds going to the wire

The fourth day of the B14 World Championships was another classic Ora day, this time at 18-20 knots. The Aussie team continued as they had finished day three with some devastating pace around the course. Martin Johnson and Mike Halkes (AUS 367) followed up their win in race 6 with another start to finish win in race 7. Mark Barnes and Tom Pygall (GBR 768) were one of the few teams to pioneer the right hand side of the track and were rewarded with second ahead of Jono Pank and Rich Edwards (GBR 771) and overnight leaders Tim Fells and Shaun Barber (GBR 758).

Race 8 started with a bit more pressure and again the Aussies jumped into the lead with Johnson / Halkes leading fellow countrymen Richie Reynolds and Lissa McMillan around the first two laps. However Matt Searle and Andy Ramus (GBR 725) never gave up the chase and picked up some great shifts on the third beat to take the lead which they held to the finish. Pank / Edwards followed the two Aussie boats in fourth with Jason Andrews and Joel McDonald (GBR 756) keeping their hopes alive in fifth. Fells and Barber struggled for an 8th place that was a counter and closed the gap on the chasing pack.

With two races left, the overall result could not be closer with five boats in with a realistic shot at the title and only 1 point covering the first three teams.

Overall after 8 races:
1stGBR 758, Tim Fells and Shaun Barber (1,9,1,3,2,12,4,8) 19 points
2ndGBR 725, Matt Searle and Sandy Ramus (5,4,4,6,3,2,10,1) 19 points
3rd AUS 367 Martin Johnson and Mike Halkes (4,13,5,7,7,1,1,2) 20 points
4th AUS 368 Richie Reynolds and Lissa McMillan (11,17,6,2,1,4,9,3) 25 points
5thGBR 756, Jason Andrews and Joel McDonald (9,6,3,1,4,10,7,5) 26 points
6thGBR 771, Jono Pank and Rich Edwards (6,1,OCS,4,DSQ,13,3,4) 31 points