Gul Fireball UK Nationals at Plas Heli - All set for a frenetic final day
by Dougal Henshall 21 Aug 2015 13:13 BST
17-28 August 2015
As the fleet rig and prepare to go afloat for the final day of the Gul UK Fireball Championships, the talk around the dinghy park is the head to head confrontation between the boats for Christian Birrell/Sam Brearey and Tom Gillard/Richard Anderton.
If PRO Peter Saxton and his excellent Race Team can get a third race underway before the 3-pm cut off, then mathematically speaking, the event is still up for grabs for a number of other boats. Realistically though, this event is heading to one of the two front runners. For there to be an upset, not only will one of the other boats in the chasing pack have to sail a blinding final day, but both Birrell and Gillard would have to get the three races wrong, wrong and....wrong.
As we reported last night, Gillard and Anderton had already highlighted how the closeness of the performance between the top boats placed an extra emphasis on limiting the screw-ups and they are the past masters of keeping their heads and the mistake count low. However, Birrell and Brearey, as reigning World Champions, is a pair that relish the challenge and are more than capable of stamping their authority on the fleet.
Of the rest, Ian Dobson and Ben Ainsworth are more than capable of spoiling the duopoly at the front of the fleet, but the real dark horse in today's contest has to be newcomers to the fleet James Peters and Fynn Sterritt. If Birrell and Gillard are to be challenged, then it is going to take something special and with Peters and Sterritt possessing that 'star' quality, they could well be the team to back as an 'each way' bet.
Elsewhere in the dinghy park the competition for top ten places is hotter than ever. One long term team is that of David Hall and Paul Constable who have been racking a consistent run of good results. They will have to contend with the young French pairing of Remy Thuillier and Mathieu Corruble, who, had it not been for an unfortunate error in Race 5, would be very handily placed.
Clearly they are a team to watch out for in the future, though they are easily identifiable courtesy of their boat being the leading composite. Remy's father took a bare Duvoisin hull, and then added in his own stiffening before finishing the boat with some very nice ply decks. In a fleet dominated by the all FRP boats, it is good to see that there is still a place for the amateur completed 'woodie', all the more so when the boat is showing good boatspeed.
Finally, keeping David Hall company in the wheelchair stakes is another long-time favourite within the fleet, Tim Rush, crewed by Tim Saunders. Using a slacker rig than many in the fleet Tim has been showing some great upwind speed, once he remembers how to start. Having only sailed 4 times in the last 2 years, Tim is understandably a tad rusty, plus he had to contend with a BFD result yesterday..
With a forecast of 12 to 18 knots, which may build bringing some rain later, there should be little to stop the fleet getting in another full on day out on the water. If the breeze does build it may bring to the fore the Australian team of Ben Schulz and Doug Sheppard, who are keen for some real breeze to demonstrate their own brand of heavy weather sailing. Sadly, they may not get that today, but the forecast for the World Championships suggests that there may well be enough wind to bring a smile to their faces.
Right now the fleet has left the beach with only very short delays as the Measurement Team carried out a number of spot checks. Racing should be starting soon, with regular updates being loaded to the event Facebook page.
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