Felgate and Gould beat 75 teams

at the Laser 4000 European Championship

If you were to sum up large European fleets, hot sun, varied wind conditions, high octane racing and large beach parties in just three words then it would be ‘The 4000 Europeans’.

The location this year was Bandol in France, and the 76 competitors that arrived from England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and other parts of France were greeted with perfect sailing conditions.

Racing during the week proved to be, one of the closest and most competitive ever seen in the 4000 fleet. It was only rivalled by the buzzing social scene which included the infamous ‘White House Beach Party’, pole dancing, skinny dipping, champagne cocktails and the daily Duckham’s Awards.

With varied winds producing conditions from light tactical racing at the beginning of the week through to adrenalin fuelled downwind legs at over 25knots on the final two days; the 4000’s really came into their own and planed around the course from start to finish. Racing was competitive throughout the fleet, but within the top ten it was fierce with places swapping regularly.

The race was on for ninth and tenth place between team racing legends Eaton and Edwards, Italian Champions Luca and Nicola, Laser Radial Supremos Stothert and Kilsby and 420 stars Rix and Alp. However, it was Rix and Stothert who eventually pulled ahead, with Rix showing consistency and adding a bullet to his results. A broken mast in the final race (after taking team racing against the Scottish to the extreme) meant Rix and Alp had to settle for tenth.

Congratulations though to ‘new kids on the block’ Stothert and Kilsby, who secured ninth position after some impressive sailing, only dropping out of the top ten in two races and beating their pre-tournament goal of tenth spot.

One of the biggest battles in the fleet was for fourth to eighth place, when Scottish National Champions McPhail and Marshall, 49er Gold fleet stars Wilson and Barker, Scottish 420 Stars Hepplewhite and Greer all locked horns together with ‘Legends’ Thomas Glanfield and Kevin “The Stud” Barnard. Places swapped throughout the regatta with all boats sailing fast and consistently.

49er gurus Wilson and Barker flagged in the lighter breezes, but came back with phenomenal speed in the stronger winds as they got the boat speed dialed down. The four boats almost became locked in a mini racing competition between the Scottish and English. With Glanfield and Barnard securing a bullet in the third race, things were looking good for the English until a snapped tackline on the final day meant counting a 14th and winning a Duckham’s in the process. This allowed the relentless and (dare I say it?) ‘stylish’ Scotts to deservedly nail fifth and sixth place.

The fight for first to fourth place was where big names stepped up to the European stage. Clashing head to head were Laser 2 stars Palmer Felgate and Gould, Team racing gurus ‘The Bakers’, 470 stars Watson and Bickford and the infamous ‘Team Control’ pair Cotgrove and Gotts.

During the lighter winds at the start of the week, Watson and Cotgrove pulled ahead proving the point that experience in the boat, tactical genius, having awesome boat speed as well as some ‘early nights’ is definitely the way forward.

As the wind increased in linear fashion during the week so did the intensity. Most prolific were the Bakers, who rose from the dead with the strength of the wind and showed the fleet just why they were current European Champions, nailing three straight bullets in the heavier conditions of the penultimate day.

But it was Andrew Palmer Felgate and Chris ‘The Lever’ Gould who showed that this event was a ‘marathon not a sprint’. A constant worry to all, the lurking shadow of this dynamic pairing proved that being the most consistent team in the fleet and not necessarily a ‘rock star’ is the way to win. So a big Congratulations to Tara and Chris, crowned 2005 European Champions.

In his post event speech, (translated into four different languages: English, Italian, French and Scottish) Felgate echoed the thoughts of the entire fleet by thanking Bandol Sailing Club for hosting such a phenomenal event. The Europeans had had quick succession racing, excellent entertainment as well as generous prizes. Felgate finally spent a few moments saluting the sea front for its mirage of bars that were so welcoming and which helped with the total desecration of most of his competition.

Congratulations must also go to Jody and Emma Warner for gaining the title of 4000 European Female Champions. At the post event press conference, Jody was delighted and summed up the race for her.

“Racing was close and with the Italians showing awesome pace we managed to get ahead on the second day when Emma got the oscillating shifts dialed down, so a big thank you to my sister for her technical brilliance”.

Eaton, too was keen to praise his crew Lizzie Edwards for their 12th place: he spoke at length about the advantages and disadvantages of having a ‘fit’ crew, especially one in bikini bottoms at the front of the boat and the overall impact on one’s concentration.

Lastly and perhaps most importantly were the Duckham’s nominations. The first was awarded to Tom Glanfield, for almost being run over naked and then waking up in a wetsuit with no knowledge of how it had got on his body. Paul Whitesmith and Ian Collis Smith also did well for pile driving their mast (and shattering it in the process) into a pay toll on the long drive down.

Iain Macintyre deserved a Duckham’s for walking into a glass wall and John-Paul Marks was duly given an award for watching a morning ‘fleet’ practice session from his sea front villa only to find out that it was in fact a race - and one that he had clearly missed the start of.

Results:

1-Andy Palmer Felgate & Chris Gould
2-Hugh Watson & Susannah Bickford
3-Mark Cotgrove & Ian Gotts
4-Doug & Hillary Baker
5-Sandy McPhail & Andy Marshall
6-Crag Hepplewhite & Colin Greer
7-John Wilson & James Barker
8-Thomas Glanfield & Kevin Barnard
9-Alex Stothert & Dan Kilsby
10-Jon Rix & Nick Alp