Penultimate day

The B14 World Championship is drawing to a close

Day four of the B14 World Championships served up another challenging range of conditions. The off-shore south-westerly was fluctuating between five and 14 knots with major shifts making race strategy hard to plan.

Race seven saw Tim Fells and Shaun Barber win the congested pin end start under a black flag and lead the fleet into good pressure on the left. From this position they were able to hold a comfortable lead from Bangers and James Patterson. These two extended away from the fleet to take the first two places but behind them a battle royal was ensuing with ten boats in the mix. Chris Bines and Dave Gibbon did very well to pull through to take third from Mark Pollard and Richard Hingston and Chris Bishop and Christian Humphrey having their best result of the week.

At the start of race eight the wind went hard left allowing Tim Harrison and Jonny Radcliffe and Mark Barnes and Pete Nicholson to escape on port tack into the right where with more pressure they were able to consolidate a useful lead at the first mark. By the top of the fourth beat Barnes and Nicholson had taken the lead and the usual suspects – Bines and Gibbon, Fells and Barber and Bangers and Patterson – had pulled through to complete the top four. The final run proved decisive with Barnes and Nicholson breaking a trampoline and capsizing on their final gybe to the finish. Bines and Gibbon grabbed the lead and Bangers and Patterson managed to out-gybe Fells and Barber to take another second place. Harrison and Radcliffe recovered to pip Fells and Barber for third on the line.

Overall and with two discards in play it couldn’t be tighter at the top with only one point covering the first three boats. The final day, Friday the 13th, will see a shoot-out between the top three teams. Conditions are forecast to be a strong southerly and the race committee are contemplating bringing the course into Carrick Roads, which should be great fun for competitors and spectators alike!

Results:

1-AUS 373 (Bone Works), Guy Bancroft and James Patterson, 13pts
2-GBR 773 (AT&T), Tim Fells and Shaun Barber, 14pts
3-GBR 775 (CSC), Chris Bines and Dave Gibbon, 14pts
4-GBR 772 (Ince & Co), Mark Watts and Stig Rogers, 30pts
5-GBR 758, Tim Harrison and Jonny Radcliffe, 31pts
6-GBR 768 (Seavolution), Mark Barnes and Pete Nicholson, 36pts
7-GBR 757 (MJF), Dave Hayes and Rich Bell, 40pts
8-AUS 368, Richie Reynolds and Lissa McMillan, 53pts
9-AUS 370 (The Plumbers), Ian and Scott Cunningham, 54pts
10-GBR 764, Mark Pollard and Richard Hingston, 54pts