B14 Nationals at Brightlingsea Sailing Club

Jono Pank & Andy Ramus win the B14 Nationals at Brightlingsea © Derek Gentry / www.fotoboat.com

Jono Pank & Andy Ramus win the B14 Nationals at Brightlingsea © Derek Gentry / www.fotoboat.com

Brightlingsea Sailing Club hosted an awesome 10th Anniversary B14 Nationals over an extended August bank holiday weekend with 11 races scheduled across the four days. Reigning National & European Champions Dave Hayes & Sean Dwyer sailing Sea-Sure were there to take on the challengers, with the main contenders expected from; World Championship bridesmaids Matt Searle & Rich Bell, Brightlingsea local & Hornet class legends Chris Bines & Dave Gibbons sailing CSC plus others who had shown sporadic form across the season but failed to shine at the worlds in the shape of Mark Barnes & Tom Pygall sailing Readycrest. Jono Pank & "Top Gun" Andy Ramus sailing Ronstan and Nils Jolliffe & Jon Branch sailing Boatracer.

The racing kicked off just outside the river mouth at 1pm on Friday in a consistent 10knots. Jamie Meers and Matt Gill sailing Pica trading place with Readycrest till the final lap clearly demonstrated "you're only as good as your last race" to follow up their final race win at the recent world championships by leading at every windward mark with Ready crest fading on the last lap to take the first championship bullet from Hayes & Dwyer in SeaSure who pulled back from 15th at the first mark with Matt Searle & Rich Bell completing the podium. Race 2 saw some defining moments in the course of the championships as a very packed start line saw the fleet pushing hard. A closely fought race saw Searle & Bell just edge out Readycrest for the bullet however the elation was to be short lived as both boats were deemed OCS, handing the race victory to Jono Pank & Andy Ramus in Ronstan closely followed by Piers Lambert & Tim Bees and the reigning champions in Seasure, showing great consistency to post another podium position in 3rd. Aids Williams & Paul Hobson sailing SP Systems had also begun their charge, sporting the classes new prototype carbon rig, claiming 4th place. Race 3 kicked off in similar conditions with SP Systems continuing to demonstrate their mastery of the conditions to claim the final race of the day to edge out the consistent Searle & Bell with Ronstan holding off the reigning champions in Seasure for the final podium slot. So at the end of Day 1 with all races to count, consistency was the name of the game for the leaders. 1st Seasure - Dave Hayes & Sean Dwyer (2,3,4) 2nd= CSC - Chris Bines & Dave Gibbons (4,5,6) 3rd= SP Systems - Aids Williams & Paul Hobson (10,4,1)

Day 2 dawning with beautiful sunny weather but a notable absence of wind. Following a 2 hour postponement, the fleet headed out in the slowly building sea breeze for the scheduled 3 races. Race 4 kicked off and the slightly biased line handed the upper hand to those able to tack onto port early. At the first mark, Readycrest led from a very tightly bunched pack and continued to extend with Ronstan bridging the gap on the run to follow round in second place. These two continued to match race away from the fleet throughout the race with Ronstan gaining the upper hand on the final lap to record their second race win. Alan Davis & Alison Wilson started an impressive day's form with their first podium finish of the regatta to take third ahead of the rapid Dan Willett & Stuart Phillips. Race 5 kicked off in quick succession and Readycrest continued where they left off to lead at every mark and claim their first win of the regatta, behind them the pack fought hard for every inch and places changed frequently. Pica came back to form on top of the scrum ahead of the ever constant CSC who were claiming their first podium of the championship although had not yet put a foot out of the top 6. Race 6 saw a repeat of race 5 as Readycrest stormed away again to round out their day with yet another victory and to bring themselves right onto the heels of the leaders. Meanwhile, behind their dominance, the pack fought hard again. Seasure emerged the best of the rest with the next 5 boats finishing within 10 seconds of each other. Davis & Wilson grabbed another 3rd ahead of the rapid fleet newcomers Will Davis & Mike Robbins in 4th whilst Ronstan launched in at the finish from a one gybe run to round out the top 5. At the end of Day 2, with one discard, the championship's form was becoming clearer. 1st Seasure - Dave Hayes & Sean Dwyer (17) 2nd Ronstan - Jono Pank & Andy Ramus (18) 3rd= CSC - Chris Bines & Dave Gibbons (23) 3rd=Readycrest - Mark Barnes & Tom Pygall (23)

Day 3 dawned with rain, a solid 15 knots and plenty more in the forecast to build during the day. The previous evening's pub crawl seemed to have had some impact on the fleet as very few were actually at the line for the scheduled kick off time... Thankfully the PRO postponed the race slightly to allow the fleet to gather! Race 7 finally got going and Ronstan's pre race dip seemed to have woken them up first! They led by the first leeward mark and held out to bag another race win ahead of the resurgent Pica edging out an overlapped Readycrest who were maintaining their championship charge in third. Race 8 and the breeze was already up to 18 knots, the skiffs now fully flying on all legs of the course and a few swims were starting to appear within the fleet to mix up the standings. Seasure stamped their authority on the race from the first windward mark and never looked back with CSC taking up the chase, Readycrest and Nils Jolliffe & John Branch in Boatracer chased hard, all revelling in the huge but steep waves. Searle & Bell's charge was thwarted as they sent their boat 6 ft. under a wave on the first run as kites flapped regularly across the course! Throughout the race, the racing was furious with Ronstan edging back into the mix for the podium by the last lap only to over stand the finish line in the increasing pressure and were forced to drop the kite, Readycrest and Boatracer.co.uk stormed back through to claim 3rd and 4th respectively. The final race of the day (Race 9) started in a solid 20 knots and the windy weather pace setters Searle & Bell soon had the lead and this time kept their mast above the boat to romp home for their first win of the regatta. Behind them, the solid pressure and steep swell begun to take it's toll on the chasing pack. The first run saw SP Systems and CSC both checking out their centreboards whilst the second saw Readycrest and Seasure also looking at the wrong side of their hulls wondering what just happened!? By the finish it was Boatracer taking 2nd just ahead of Ronstan in 3rd. Locals, newcomers and ex I14 sailors Mike Bees & Martyn Worth showed very competent boat handling to come in fourth, just edging out Wayne Dixon & Joel McDonald sailing Rogate into 5th.

At the end of Day 3, the wind and waves had taken it's toll with several boats claiming to be non-swimmers but grins plastered all over the fleet after an awesome days blasting. The second discard kicked in, mixing up the results and the form was set for the final days 2 scheduled races.

The fleet awoke to 20 knots in the dinghy park on the final day with full bellies from the previous nights excellent roast diner. The confident race officer decided that the fleet would be fine with 25 knots on the course so following a short postponement he released the fleet from the beach. A very apprehensive fleet edged down the slipway, holding boats down as the sails were raised. First out on the race course were Bines & Gibbons who reportedly "got the kite to the first set of spreaders" before being laid flat just in front of the committee boat. Thankfully, the PRO then took pity on the fleet and all racing was abandoned for the day much to the delight of most of the fleet who hadn't got off the beach and especially Jono Pank & Andy Ramus who were delighted with their first Nationals title.

Brightlingsea Sailing Club must be congratulated on hosting a fantastic 2004 National Championship throughout which everyone felt that family atmosphere that really makes a great, great sailing venue just that little bit more special. The circuit now moves on to Weston Sailing club on the 18th September where a large turnout is expected.

Overall Results: