Formula 18 worlds at Erquy, France - Overall

Day 3 - The 'Finals' racing begins

With the fleet now divided into Gold and Silver fleets the 9 race finals series began. A disappointing day for Boskalis Team Styles and Van West as a press boat collided with them immediately after start of race 1 of the day causing damage to one hull of their Nacra Infusion. They continued racing, being initially unaware that they were taking on water. This impacted on their performance with their worst result of the week so far, a 12th. Following the race completion it became clear to Styles+Van West that they would not be able to complete any further races that day and returned to shore to repair the damaged hull in preparation for day 4. An appeal to race jury resulted in redress for the 2nd and 3rd races of the day (race 8+9) based on the average of the result of the the 1st race of the day (race 7) and the remaining races due to be run on days 4 and 5. Next highest placed UK helm/team of Wilson and Lynch also suffered disappointment with a 38th, 43rd and a DNF.

Day 4 - Team Styles and Van West in impressive form

Thursday saw Styles and Van West on their repaired Infusion in stunning form with a 2nd and a 1st. The 3rd race of the day was abandoned as the wind disappeared. With these results Styles and Van West moved into 2nd overall with 39 points, only 5 points behind the leading French team of Olivier Backes and Arnaud Jarlegan. With Australian Darren Bundock and UK crew Will Howden also on 39 points there would be everything to play for on the final days racing. Wilson and Lynch had a much better day with an excellent first and a solid 14th.

Day 5 - Nail biting finish for Team Styles and Van West

Friday saw the completion of the F18 Worlds in a thrilling last day of racing in Erquy, France. Boskalis Team Styles and Van West had gold in their hands after the first 2 races of the day with a 2nd and a 4th, but lost out in the final race. The team duelled throughout the last race, 'match raced' by veteran Bundock and crew Howden. This gave Styles and Van West a bad last race result which in turn affected their average points calculation destroying their hopes of Gold. The coveted title and Gold went to the French team of Backes and Jarlegan with Bundock and Howden in Silver and Styles and Van West in Bronze. Heemskerk and Tentijk were 4th, followed by Larsen and Van Leeuwen in 5th. Wilson and Lynch had another great day with a 4th, 1st and a 3rd which moved them into 7th overall.

A disappointed Styles tells his story: "After the first two races today we were in gold medal position, but with only 3 minutes before the expiration of the last race time limit the committee started the race. Darren began to match race us, we fought with them and managed to escape him but our progress in the race had been slowed and the result was we finished poorly." This was devastating for Styles / Van West, as all of their finals races counted towards redress for races 8 and 9 (average number of points for missed races), awarded because on Wednesday they were holed by a press boat. "The redress was calculated on an average of the 'finals races' including a discard race, putting us in a vulnerable situation. One bad performance affected our redress and therefore our series. But outside of this unfortunate situation in the last race we have sailed the regatta of our lives and we are proud of what we have achieved. We know we have the ability to win this event and we will be back next year to take the crown!

Team manager for the Boskalis team Gunnar Larsen had mixed feelings about the end to the regatta but said "I'm proud with the performance of Styles and Van West in such a strong field, the circumstances were very complicated, but the team sailed their best and I'm very pleased they finished on the podium. The regatta was the toughest Formula 18 Worlds yet with numerous Olympic Tornado sailors coming into the class to contest the regatta in Erquy. There has not been a better time to race F18 as it is some of the toughest fleet racing in the world right now.

Overall Results:

1. FRA, Backes / Jarlegan
2. AUS, Bundock / Howden
3. GBR, Styles / Van West
4. NED, Heemskerk / Tentij
5. NED, Larsen / Van Leeuwen

Click here for full results.

A big thank you to all of the sponsors for Team Styles and Van West; Boskalis, Towergate Mardon, Time on the Water, Magic Marine, Pelican Racing, Tacktick and Marlow Ropes.