B14 open at Weston

Shifty but breezy conditions

The B14 fleet travelled to Weston for the fourth circuit event of the season, with the usual Weston hospitality and promise of tight racing.

Race one and the start caught the fleet napping with Mark Watts and Tim Rogers port tacking the fleet closely followed by the welcome return of Don and Kate Forster. Don and Kate led round the top mark closely followed by Watts and Rogers and Karen Wiseman and JB proving you can race a B14 with under 20 stone onboard. A quick gybe by Watts and Rogers for better pressure saw them lead round the bottom mark with places unchanged going into the final beat. A shifty last beat condensed the fleet giving a tense final run with Watts and Rogers holding on for first followed by Don and Kate and Karen and JB.

Race two and the fleet got off to an even start with differing opinions of which way to go up the beat. Mark Elkington and Chris Lloyd got the best of the beat to lead Watts and Rogers and Karen and JB round the top mark. With the breeze building from behind the fleet condensed for some tight downwind action. Karen and JB came out on top at the bottom mark with some awesome downwind speed followed by Watts and Rogers and Elkington and Lloyd. The next run saw Watts and Rogers take the lead down the left with some anxious moments as the RS600’s converged at the leeward mark in a building breeze, Karen and JB taking a dip to cool off and ending their challenge. Final positions saw Watts and Rogers a comfortable first followed by Elkington and Lloyd and Andrew Gregory and Simon West sealing a well earned third.

Race three and with good twin racking conditions Don showed good speed in the building breeze to lead the fleet followed by Watts and Rogers and Karen and JB. With positions close into the final run Karen and JB and Don and Kate gybed early for the leeward mark but Watts and Rogers holding on for more pressure came in for second. With a tight dog leg to the finish Karen and JB dropped their kite tempting Watts and Rogers and Don and Kate to hold to the finish. A fast, furious and anxious few moments’ saw Watts and Rogers just make the committee boat with Karen and JB just holding on for first and Don and Kate a useful third.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny with the promise of more shifty and challenging conditions.

Race four and an even start saw indecision up the first beat where not hitting the wrong side of the large shifts was key with a number of boats caught out on the right. Karen and JB led round the windward mark followed by a closely packed fleet. The first run lived up to Weston’s reputation for close, high intensity racing with the fleet converging on mass at the leeward mark. Karen and JB maintained the lead to the finish with Elkington and Lloyd chasing hard only to be caught out by a shift on the final run by Watts and Rogers relegating them to a photo finish with Simon Hadley & Pete Nicholson equal for third.

Race five saw Hadley and Nicholson using the new carbon rig to good effect setting up a dual with Watts and Rogers for first. Hadley won the upper hand and both boats breaking away from the fleet leaving Karen and JB leading the pack in third. With these positions enough for Watts and Rogers to seal the event Karen and JB hit the left hard and hitting a shift from the gods put them in first place round the top mark followed by Hadley and Nicholson and Watts and Rogers. With the light wind pairing of Karen and JB showing blistering pace downwind it look set to go to the wire in the sixth race. However, lucky left paid again for Watts and Rogers stealing second and wrapping up the weekend.

With Karen and JB needing a sensible result to secure second and a battle for third with Elkington and Lloyd and Don and Kate the weekend was far from over. In race six Don showed the fleet a clean pair of heals braving port tacking the fleet in the shifty conditions to lead the fleet away. The top mark saw the fleet very closely packed and this continued to the run where tight racing saw the B14’s converge at the leeward mark and Mark (Rocket Man) Elkington live up to his name by exiting the boat and leaving the door open for Don to take third overall needing a third place or better. It wasn’t to be with Watts and Rogers taking the final bullet from Karen and JB and Hadley and Nicholson sneaking in for third to upset the applecart.

Many thanks go to Weston SC for great hospitality and extremely slick race management in challenging conditions. A welcome return to a number of old hands in the B14 fleet and a lot of new faces sees the fleet going from strength to strength. Lee-on-Solent next weekend for the pre-Europeans warm-up looks set to be hotly contested.

1-Mark Watts/Tim(Stig) Rogers, 748-Mayflower SC-1,1,1,2,2 7pts
2-Karen Wiseman/Jon Branch, 764-Whistable YC-1,1,2,3,3 10pts
3-Mark Elkington/Chris Lloyd, 762-Starcross YC-2,3,4,4,4 17pts
4-Don Forster/Kate Forster, 763-Weston SC-2,3,4,4,5 18 pts