K6 Eurocup at Fraglia Vela Riva, Lake Garda, Italy - Overall
by Fraglia Vela Riva 8 Jul 2011 12:17 BST
27 June - 1 July 2011
A glorious day with southerly 20+ knots winds kicked off the 2011 K6 Eurocup. The event takes place every two years at Fraglia Vela Riva in Trentino Garda with participants mainly from Germany and Great Britain. It is always a popular event with the fleet enjoying a short break with their families to enjoy the sun, wind, food, wine and good company!
The first of the 5 day 14 race series gave a hint of what was to come, racing got off to a great start with three exciting heats. The clear skies let in the warm thermal winds, which reached 20+ knots. This proved a challenge for some of the teams on the downwind leg as they over stood the lay line. High downwind speeds were reached and it was soon evident who was in the running for a place on the podium. Leading at the end of the day was last event's winner Ian Robson from Great Britain with two firsts and a third. There were however, at least six crews who were in contention for the top places at this stage. With two seconds and a fourth and lying in second place is the other Brit Peter Kirby followed by Dave Smithwhite, who after a sixth took a first and a fourth. In fourth place and one point behind is Jonathan Calascione. He achieved a solid second place in today's first race. Also in the running was Neil Fulcher who finished the day with two thirds.
Day 2 provided another splendid day at Riva del Garda, with sunny skies and strong winds. Three races were completed with southerly winds of 16 to 18 knots. Ian Robson and his crew (Ian Johnson and Andy Carroll) seemed intent on repeating their success of two years ago. They had two firsts and a second giving them a solid six point lead ahead of Jonathan Calascione in second place. Four points behind is Peter Kirby and fourth is David Smithwhite.
On day 3 and with two days remaining the crew of Ian Robson - Sandy Johnson and Andy Carroll built up a lead of eight points. Today's calmer winds gave the competitors few problems and allowed the lighter and lesser experienced crews to race competively. Neil Fulcher and crewman Laurence Crispen had a great day winning both of the 2 scheduled races closing the gap on third place held by Peter Kirkby. Remaining in second place at this stage was Jonathan Calascione who had a third and a second.
Ian Robson made sure of his win on day 4 by taking 2 of the three races, however there was now a real battle for the top four places. With more discards coming into play and after a few ‘eventful’ races Neil Fulcher was now in the hunt.
There were good southerly winds which reached 20 knots giving great conditions for the 3 final races. After leading from day one it was a clear win for Ian Robson together with Sandy Johnson and Andy Carroll repeating their success of 2009. After a faulty start at the beginning of the week, Neil Fulcher and Lawrence Crispin pulled it together and sailed a series of excellent races towards the end of the regatta . They had been gradually gaining ground in the table and finished in 2nd place overall beating Jonathan Calascione, Piers Tucker and Myles Mence on count back. In 9th place was Heather Chipperfield, the hard working secretary for the K6 who celebrated her birthday during the event.
All the races were run according to schedule: 14 races with 3 discarded. The week included a fun pursuit race (not counted in the overall results), in which the boats started one by one, 1 minute apart according to their current standings. John Tabur who was lying in last place ended up winning the race much to everyone’s approval.
A big thanks to Fraglia Vela Riva for once again putting on a superb well organised event.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | GBR 162 | Ian Robson, Sandy Johnson, Andy Carroll | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | (dnc) | 1 | 1 | 1 | (dnf) | 1 | (dnf) | 15 |
| 2 | GBR 208 | Neil Fulcher, Lawrence Crispin | 3 | (dnf) | 3 | (dnf) | -10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 28 |
| 3 | GBR 156 | Jonathan Calascione, Piers Tucker, Myles Mence | 2 | -5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -8 | 2 | -7 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 28 |
| 4 | GBR 126 | Peter Kirkby, Richard Barker, Giles Chipperfield | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | -5 | -5 | 4 | 3 | -5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 35 |
| 5 | GBR 166 | Dave Smithwhite, Alison Smithwhite, William Smithwhite | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | -9 | 3 | (dnc) | (dnc) | 7 | 3 | 3 | 46 |
| 6 | GBR 2 | Dave Hall, Laura Hall, Matt Mould / Tom Hall | -8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | -11 | 7 | -8 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 56 |
| 7 | GBR 213 | Nick Jones, George Jones, Mike Butler | 7 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | (dnc) | (dnf) | (dnf) | 64 |
| 8 | GBR 206 | Julian Cook, Caroline Aisher, Will Hussey | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 3 | (dnc) | (dnf) | (dnf) | 76 |
| 9 | GBR 124 | Fraser Elms, Georgie Smith, Heather Chipperfield | (dnf) | (dnf) | 9 | 8 | 7 | 10 | -11 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 81 |
| 10 | GER 145 | Sydney Gottschalk, Thorsten Seglitz, Jens Zuppke | 9 | (dnf) | (dnc) | 9 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 5 | -10 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 86 |
| 11 | GBR 135 | Phil Waterfall, Christopher Gorner, Peter Degg | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 | -11 | 9 | 10 | -11 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | (dnf) | 100 |
| 12 | GBR 122 | John Tabor, Simon Tabor, Carolyn Tabor | (dnf) | (dnf) | (dnc) | dnf | dnc | dnc | 14 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 133 |
| 13 | GER 111 | Seep Haag, Erika Aidelsburger, Robert Kellner | 11 | 9 | (dnf) | (dnf) | 12 | 12 | 12 | (dnc) | 12 | dnc | dnc | dnf | dnf | dnf | 143 |
| 14 | GBR 143 | Paul Wallis, Rod Turner | (dnf) | (dnf) | (dnf) | dnf | dnf | 13 | 13 | dnc | dnc | 11 | dnc | 10 | 11 | dnf | 148 |
