B14 World Championship at Woollahra Sailing Club - Overall

We weren't sure what sort of weather we would get for the final day of the B14 Worlds in Sydney. Dark clouds to the north, light clouds to the south, some rain, some very little sun. The Race Officer held us on shore as a storm cell passed, skirting us to the north. Then out we went.

Again it wasn't the promised 10-12 knots, but less for a change (probably 7-10 and ranging from NE to SE). A possible three races were planned for the day, but the delay in the start meant the final day cut off time came into play and allowed us only two races.

After the sailing to the start of the day, the podium was secured, but the order could change, as it could in the many private battles throughout the fleet, with everyone having their personal targets of which boats they had to stay ahead of.

Coming into the day, Chris Bateman and Lucy Loughton on Squirrel (IRL774) led over Craig Garmston and Paul Fleming (Snatch AUS375) and Nick Craig and Tobytastic Lewis (Harken GBR801), with five points separating the top three.

The fleet was keen, resulting in our first general recall of the regatta. But once under way, Squirrel and Harken sped away with the superior speed they have been showing all regatta. Chris Bateman was looking good at snakes and ladders in the shifty and challenging conditions, but Harken worked the headland on the last work, cementing their gain on the final run, taking out race one ahead of Squirrel, followed by local lightweights The Nude (AUS800 Richie Reynolds and Lissa McMillan), who also had a great last run to pick up a few spots. The Aussie hopefuls Garmo and Flemo finished 5th in Race Eight.

A few boats had their best race of the regatta so far, with Townsville team RCS AUS280, Renee and Robert Cordingly (new to the B14s and a very good fit with the class!) coming 6th, Simon and Nikki Hadley (Captains Bunk GBR770) finishing 10th.

Race Nine, again the fleet was edgy and another general recall. Off the start, the few boats that tacked away early to hit the shore of Point Piper made some big gains, leaving many playing catch up. Squirrel came out with a good lead maintaining it until the finish line, ahead of Harken.

Building on their solid result in the previous race, Captains Bunk came in 3rd, ahead of Snatch. Other notable performances in the final race were Leaky's Bunk (GBR 786 Gerry Fermor and Leaky). Brady Tassicker and Nathalie Wisniewska (On the Edge AUS794) finished in 10th. Anthony House and Natasha Pollette (Yellowbone AUS357) finished on a strong note in 13th.

Final results were Chris Bateman and Lucy Loughton 1st, Nick Craig and Toby Lewis 2nd, Craig Garmston and Paul Fleming 3rd.

The B14s partied in their normal fashion after the presentation, with celebrations, dancing and even impromptu karaoke well into the night.

Many thanks to all the many volunteers, sponsors and the club for what has been a memorable regatta.

Overall Results:

Event website: www.b14worlds.com