Gutted Hedgehog takes two

One boat won both of the opening races at the B14 European Championship in Whitstable, UK

The day started with a building Easterly sea breeze at the B14 European Championship at Whitstable SC.

Race one got off at the first attempt in a force three and glorious sunshine. The fleet split to either side of the course. Nils Branch and Jon Branch led from the left followed by CSC (Chris Bines and Dave Gibbons) and 763 (Don Forster and Kate Forster) and from the right Gutted Hedgehog (Matt Searle and Rich Bell), 744 (Guy Whitby and Anna Payne) and Readycrest (Mark Barnes and Karen Wiseman). The first four powered away down the reach with the rest of the fleet bunching up. During the race there were a few place changes with Jolliffe and Branch being passed on the layline gybe by Gutted Hedgehog who once they took the lead were never to relinquish it though closely tracked by the following two. At the finish, Gutted Hedgehog won from Jolliffe and Branch followed by CSC in close formation.

Race two and the breeze was up to a force three to gour. Jollife and Branch won the start and held the left hand side of the beat with Readycrest and the bulk of the fleet. CSC and Gutted Hedgehog broke out to the right. At the windward mark, it was CSC followed by Jollife and Branch and 763. On the downwind leg it was full on with the bulk of the fleet heading to the layline. At the leeward mark CSC led from Jolliffe and Branch and Gutted Hedgehog. These three were to have a close race till the finish with Gutted Hedgehog gradually picking off the opposition to take a closely contested finish followed by CSC and Jolliffe and Branch.

The fleet then retired to the bar for a night of Moby Dick cocktails and hopefully more champagne sailing tomorrow.

Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	Boat	R1	R2	Tot
1	Matt Searle	Rich Bell	Gutted Hedgehog	1	1	2
2	Chris Bines	David Gibbons	CSC	3	2	5
3	Nils Jolliffe	Jon Branch		2	3	5
4	Mark Watts	Tim Rogers	PICA	4	5	9
5	Mark Barnes	Karen Wiseman	Readycrest	7	4	11