Bath's time in Greece

Bath University have won the Greek Match Racing National Championships

On 1 May 2006 the University of Bath Sailing Team stormed to victory at the Greek Match Racing National and Open Championships - an ISAF Grade 3 listed event, sailed in J24s. The three day event was hosted by Heraklion Sailing Club, Crete, under the watchful eye of America's Cup umpire Alfredo Ricci.

As part of an exchange programme with the University of Crete, two teams from the University of Bath Sailing Club headed to the Mediterranean for two days of training before the racing began. For many of the team members this was their first keelboat experience.

The first round robin started after the sea breeze filled in, providing ideal match racing conditions of 9-12 knots, 28°C and clear blue skies. The course was restricted to 250m by the harbour walls which kept the water flat, the racing tight and the spectators close.
Skippered by Matt Greenfield, a member of the Volvo RYA Keelboat Squad, Bath 1 stamped their authority early with a decisive seven wins from eight races, including a pre-start black flag against one of their opponents.

Match racing debutant, Chris Sanders, skippered Bath's second team to an impressive three wins, giving them seventh place overall.

As winners of the round robin, the Bath 1 team made up of Matt Greenfield, Ben Wrzecionko, Alex Richards, Hannah Playford and Eddy Atkins chose to race D. Lekkas in a best of three semi final, charging to a 2-0 victory. This win placed Bath 1 in a best of five final against pre-event favourite and 2003 European Champion, A. Tagaropoulos.

After Sunday night's Greek May Day celebrations, the finals and third/fourth place playoffs kicked off at the onset of the dependable Heraklion sea breeze.

In the third/fourth place playoff, D. Lekkas took control against N. Spigos and took third overall, with a score line of 2-0, after two very close races.

Bath once again dominated the pre-start of their first race. However, a poor hoist at the final windward mark let Tagaropoulos steal a 1-0 lead. Irritated by their mistake, Bath sailed two faultless races to bring the score to 2-1. A gruelling tacking duel in the fourth race resulted in Tagaropoulos keeping his championship hopes alive with a slender one boat length win.

With all to play for in the final race and a strengthening wind, the course was lengthened to three laps. Another great pre-start saw Bath lead out of the blocks only to be overhauled by Tagaropoulos as he took advantage of a right hand shift up the first beat.

Bath slowly reeled in the former European Champion to be within striking distance at the final leeward mark. A superb late spinnaker drop put the pressure on Tagaropoulos who left a gap for Bath to squeeze through and regain control of the match. Bath played a covering game up the last beat and a great hoist helped them to pull ahead to win the race and the championship.

Bath would like to thank the University of Crete for their hospitality and look forward to hosting the Greek sailors on their return trip to the UK later this summer. Hopefully Bath will be able to return next year in the hope of defending their championship title.

Results:

1-University of Bath 1
2-A. Tagaropoulos
3-D. Lekkas
4-N. Spigos