Formula 18 Worlds at Hyeres, France

A very big congratulations to Chris Rashley and Marcus Lynch for their fantastic 23rd place out of an official 152 competitors at this year's F18 Worlds in Hyeres, France. They were not only top youth, but also best placed UK team!

It was a tough event; qualifying was long and arduous with plenty of heat and not much wind. Day 1 had a short delay waiting for the wind but when it arrived it was enough for us to get in 6 races, 3 for each fleet.

Day 2 unfortunately we were not so lucky. The morning arrived with not a breath of wind but the sun baked down leaving us all hiding behind sails and in the water. After being sent out on the water after a long postponement we were returned to the beach due to lack of wind. Much later on in the afternoon we were sent out to get in 2 quick races for each fleet in near drifting conditions.

Day 3 dawned another sunny windless day. By this time there were many sunburnt faces and many sunburnt legs from waiting for the racing the day before. After another long postponement we were sent out onto the water, waited around for a couple of hours and then sent back to the beach without any starts. Less than half an hour of returning to the beach we were sent back onto the water to try again. Fleet 1 managed 2 get in 3 general recalls before the wind died off again and we were sent back to shore. No completed races for the day.

Day 4 was starting to feel a little familiar to the rest... no wind and suffocating heat. The Race Officer posted a notice that we could possibly have a long distance race on this day and we all had to have our paddles checked to ensure they complied to the F18 Association requirements. After having had 4 days of watching boats being weighed and not making the legal weight, this didn't come as much of a surprise for the sailors, although it did bring out some interesting looking paddles... (a paddle with a hammer wedged in the back to make it long enough??). We were sent out to race with barely a ripple on the water, fleet 1, once again, had a few general recalls. We finally got in 1 race for each fleet. With a thunderstorm imminent we were sent off the water.

We now had our 6 races to allow us to split the fleet into Gold and Silver. With all the light and shifty races, there were quite a few boats 'out of position', and a few that expected to be in the silver fleet when arriving at the event saw themselves in the gold fleet and some that we all expected to be in the gold weren't.

Fortunately the menu for day 5 was different. Although it started off windless and hot, the sun burnt off the light layer of clouds and we watched a light breeze strengthen to a force 2 - 3. Due to a protest still being heard, racing got off to a late start. Three quick races were completed in dying, shifting conditions and the championship winner was decided.

Overall Results: