Smith and Meldrum into the lead

After day one of the Fireball Europeans in the unlikely venue of the Shetland Isles

Sunny warm weather with a steady force 4 greeted the competitors for the first race of the 2003 NorthLink Fireball European Championships which started on Sunday in Lerwick, Shetland. The 48 boat fleet representing nations from around Europe, including France, Germany, Ireland, Slovenia, Switzerland and Great Britain.

From the start of race 1 the British pairing of Curzon & Elver led, showing that 11 year old boats can still be on the pace. By lap two Wade & Wagstaff had pulled through on the beat and established a race winning lead, followed by Smith & Meldrum.

Day two opened again with blistering sunshine; unfortunately following a drop in wind strength, race two was abandoned after one lap, much to the disappointment of  Ireland's Miller & Bishop who were in the lead at the time. After a lengthy delay in sub-tropical heat the race was restarted. Smith & Meldrum led from the start closely followed by Wade & Wagstaff. A tactical duel developed in which Wade & Wagstaff took the lead on the penultimate beat with Horey & Tillison overtaking Curzon & Elver to claim third.

With the fleet establishing that the left side of the beat favoured, race three became a closer affair. Horey & Tillison led at the windward mark, being pushed hard by Smith & Meldrum. Wade made a complete mess resulting in penalty turns and amusement for the rest of the fleet. the wind became less constant causing many place changes. Horey & Tillison held off the efforts of Smith & Meldrum to take line honours while the Shetland pairing of Leask & Stirling made good use of local knowledge to claim third, squeezing past the Scottish pairing of Ladd & Summers.

Results

place	Nat	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	total	SCORE
1	GBR	A SMITH	J MELDRUM	2	2	2	6	6
2	GBR	V HOREY	G TILLISON	6	3	1	10	10
3	GBR	D WADE	R WAGSTAFF	1	1	10	12	12
4	IRL	S MACCARTHY	R GILBERT	4	6	6	16	16
5	SUI	E MOSER	R MOSER	7	5	7	19	19
6	GBR	B LEASK	E STIRLING	11	7	3	21	21
7	GER	J NOLLE	R LEMAN	8	8	5	21	21
8	GBR	J CURZON	P ELVER	5	4	12	21	21
9	GBR	C LADD	M SUMMERS	3	15	4	22	22
10	GBR	D SMITH	M RICHARDSON	10	9	8	27	27
11	FRA	F JUIN	P PERDON	13	11	9	33	33
12	GBR	P GIBBS	I GIBBS	14	10	11	35	35
13	FRA	A QUENTRIC	J NOUEL	9	12	16	37	37
14	SLO	H GOLIAS	Z PEROVIC	12	13	13	38	38
15	GBR	M MASKELL	S MASKELL	16	4	24	44	44
16	GBR	M TAIT	R TAIT	15	16	14	45	45
17	GBR	M SCARTH	N SHEPPARD	18	17	18	53	53
18	IRL	C DONAGHY	S DONAGHY	20	18	20	58	58
19	GBR	S NICOLSON	A GRANT	19	23	17	59	59
20	GBR	W MOUATT	N FRASER	25	19	19	63	63
21	GBR	E GEORGE	A FRASER	21	20	23	64	64
22	GBR	A SIMPSON	S LEASK	17	32	15	64	64
23	IRL	L SMYTH	J O-REILLY	22	25	21	68	68
24	GBR	B COKAYNE	H COKAYNE	23	22	25	70	70
25	IRL	P HOULIHAN	V HAULMARK	49	41	37	78	78
26	IRL	L MCKENNA	M DUNN	24	33	22	79	79
27	IRL	F MILLER	L BISHOP	26	27	26	79	79
28	GBR	L IRVINE	G WILLIAMSON	30	21	31	82	82
29	IRL	J EVANS	A CAULFIELD	28	24	32	84	84
30	GBR	R FRASER	A STRONACH	29	29	27	85	85
31	SUI	R SCHELLER	L EBERLE	27	31	28	86	86
32	GBR	C SANDISON	G SANDISON	36	26	29	91	91
33	SLO	S JADEK	M RAVNIKAR	34	28	30	92	92
34	SUI	M SUTER	C HARDI-LANDER	32	30	38	100	100
35	IRL	J WALSH	N O-ROURKE	33	35	35	103	103
36	GBR	R TAIT	R YEAMANS	35	38	33	106	106
37	GBR	B NEWSON	G NEWSON	37	36	36	109	109
38	IRL	D COLMAN	G O-CARROLL	49	34	34	117	117
39	GBR	G FOSTER	I THOMSON	39	39	40	118	118
40	SUI	K PLETSCHER	G SAUER	40	40	39	119	119
41	SLO	D KARNSKY	P POMPE	42	37	41	120	120
42	GBR	D SCOTT	M PHIMISTER	38	42	43	123	123
43	GBR	L LINGARD	M RAILTON	41	45	42	128	128
44	GBR	H SALISBURY	M SHREEVE	31	49	49	129	129
45	GBR	M SUTCLIFFE	M COX	43	44	49	136	136
46	GBR	H WISHART	I JOHNSON	49	43	49	141	141
47	GBR	S GREENHALGH	T GREENHALGH	49	49	49	147	147
48	GBR	A MARSHALL	M SCHOFIELD	49	49	49	147	147