Sharpies in heavey weather

Jimmy Goodley reports on an action packed first day which saw half the fleet finish

In an unusually blustery southerly wind it was certainly a day for the Sharpie sailing heavy weights. In continually gusting winds the conditions provided an exciting opening of the 40th European Sharpie Championship hosted by Brancaster Staithe Sailing Club, North Norfolk.

In increasingly difficult conditions, the fleet of 55 was rapidly depleted to 25 finishing boats.

One of the favourites, Chris Gibbs of Wells Sailing Club, broke his gaff when he was in the lead and had to retire. This led to a series of impressive mishaps and provided those spectating with an incredible exhibition of top level dinghy sailing, led by eventual winner Brian Lambert, Brancaster Staithe Sailing Club.

The top five boats represented most of the European entrants, UK, Holland and Germany.

The second race with a favourable forecast will provide a fantastically exciting spectacle taking place off just north of Brancaster beach.

Many spectators benefiting from the fantastic standpoint of Brancaster beach were given a classic demonstration of heavy weather sailing.

Jimmy Goodley GBR 101

		Yacht	Helm	Crew	Practice Race	Race 1
1	GBR	Poejse	Brian Lambert	Tim Adams	6	1
2	NED	Jan Van Galen	Daan Versteeg	Marcel Ver Laan	1	2
3	NED	Doordrijver	Tom Weller	Jeroen Van Veen	11	3
4	NED	Typhoon	Bart Kraan	Ton Van  Berkel	7	4
5	GER	Bunyip	Klaus Eisenblatter	Peter Hauschildt	4	5
6	NED	Sirius	Dennis Van Vliet	Oscar Van Kouwen	24	6
7	GBR	Annamarie	Paddy Spink	John Ellison	9	7
8	GBR	Rock-a-Bye	James Case	James Nye	18	8
9	NED	Spotvogel	Patrick Van Raalte	Jamie Van Dorst	22	9
10	NED	Snark	Joost v.d. Hondel	Jan Willem v.d.Hondel	5	10
11	GBR	Miranda	Richard Major	Geoffrey Kemp	13	11
12	GBR	Poelsnip	Martin Read	Ollie Read	16	12
13	NED	Donderstein	Bart Versteeg	Floris Licht	14	13
14	NED	Tyche	Jos Van Wyk	Cees Mooij	31	14
15	GBR	Ghost	Jerry Clark	Rob Howlett	8	15
16	NED	Geep	Frank Steeneken	Gitze Hazendonk	20	16
17	GBR	Albatross	Ben Cracknell	Miles Hodges	41	17
18	GBR	Rakker	Ros Spink	Henry Burkitt	32	18
19	GBR	Houri	Tim How	Cliff Nye	25	19
20	GBR	Madrigal	Richard Cracknell	Gemma Nye	3	20
21	GBR	Tiger Shark	Stewart Oliver	James Herbert	44	21
22	NED	Mustang	Henk Van Dorst	Sander Mittelmeyer	39	22
23	NED	Albatros	Huib Schoonhoven	Karen Kuiper	35	23
24	GBR	Sea Witch	Kiki Spink	James Goodley	RET	24
25	NED	Sagitta	Fred Shutten	Jos Voorbij	27	25
26	GBR	Patience	John Fillingham	Terry Angles	48	26
27	GBR	Titania	Bob Curtis	Alex Curtis	30	RET
28	GBR	Vixen	Jim Crossman	Robbie Robson	26	RET
29	GBR	Tern 1	Alex Scoles	Ben Williams	DNC	RET
30	GBR	Maid of Arnhem	John Gibbs	Robin Howes	23	RET
31	GBR	Garganey	Michael Farrell	Edward Farrell	40	DNS
32	GBR	Tern III	Simon Spink	Sally Spink	37	RET
33	GBR	Kelpie	Charles Bennion	William Bennion	12	RET
34	GBR	Rose of Sharon	Will Ellison	Claudia Spink	42	RET
35	GBR	Pitzi	Alex Cox	Roger Keeling	DNC	DNC
36	GBR	Southern Cross	Gary Anthony	Rodney Crafer	28	RET
37	GBR	Fortuna	Jamie Borthwick	Jim Herculson	49	RET
38	GBR	Dragonera	John Hall	T.B.A.	DNC	DNC
39	GBR	Ula	Andrew Graham	Helen Graham	DNC	DNC
40	GBR	Windspiel	Chris Gibbs	Tim Gibbs	2	RET
41	GBR	Skybird	John Laflin	Charlie Borthwick	36	DNS
42	GBR	Capella	Julian Jesson	Alex Smith	47	RET
43	GBR	Pericles	Ben Goakes	Paul Goakes	10	RET
44	GBR	Maid of Amsterdam	Bill Offord	David Jacobs	DNC	DNC
45	GER	Himpamp	Steffen Wussow	Ernst-Peter Wussow	29	RET
46	GER	NoWo	Norbert F. Steiner	Wolfgang Frank	45	RET
47	GER	Ulenspegel	Egon Horst	Gunter Daubenmerkl	19	DNC
48	NED	Brandaris	Arie Van Vliet	Birgit Plate	15	DNS
49	NED	Baroeboe	Richard Mulderij	Jeroen Liesveld	17	RET
50	NED	Hartenaas	P. V. Dorst	N. Van Vliet	46	RET
51	NED	Tramp	Marc van der Zande	John van Zelst	43	RET
52	NED	Bliek	Flip Koome	Martijn Cornelissen	38	RET
53	NED	Qui Qui Bio	Charles Mittelmeijer	Pim Van Dyk	21	RET
54	NED	Fuut	Dick Mulderij	Arnold Mulderij	34	RET
55	POR	Neo	Nelson Machado	Joao Cavaz	32	DNC