Dart 18 Belgian Nationals at Knokke Yacht Club
by Dave Roberts 11 Sep 2004 00:01 BST
16-18 April 2004
Action from the Dart 18 Belgium Nationals © Royal Belgium Sailing Club
A large British contingent of 17 boats joined teams from Belgium,
Holland, France and Germany to make up a fleet of nearly 70 boats. The
location of Knokke is the venue for next years European Championship, so
many competitors were using this weekend as a training session.
The event started with 20 knot winds and waves in excess of 2 metres,
causing a delay due to the dangerous launching conditions. Eventually,
the winds eased to 15 knots allowing competitors to take to the sea
although the waves seemed just as daunting. One race was held and Dave &
Louise Roberts arrived at the finish first, although unable to find the
finish line! The confusion allowed the recently crowned World
Champions Thierry & Christine Wibaux of France to win the race, followed by
Alan & Fiona Kernick with the Dave & Louise Roberts finally crossing the
line in 3rd place.
The next day started with a steady offshore breeze of 8 - 10 knots and
the race was won by Dave & Louise Roberts with the Dutch sailor Niels
Oostenbrug coming in 2nd, just ahead of a large group of boats.
The offshore breeze then started to die, whilst a sea breeze tried to
establish itself and this caused a long delay. Eventually, after 90
minutes the third race was started in very light and fickle winds. The UK
teams of Paul Wakelin and Jo Cole won with Alan & Fiona Kernick in
second place, both well ahead of the fleet.
With a very large fleet expected for the 2005 Europeans, tidal flows
will obviously play an important part in the outcome!
Overall Results:
1st 7738 'Red Insurance' Alan Kernick and Fiona Kernick (Stokes Bay)
2nd 7712 'www.sailingbooks.co.uk' Dave Roberts and Louise Roberts (Stokes Bay)
3rd Thierry Wibaux and Christine Wibaux (France)
4th Niels Oostenburg (Holland); 5th Marco Manganelli (Stokes Bay)