55th European Sharpie Championship at Itchenor Sailing Club - Day 3
by David Priscott 21 Aug 2019 14:34 PDT
18-24 August 2019
Jan van Galen NED 14 and Windspiel GBR125 during the Sharpie Europeans © David Priscott
The wait for the sea breeze was worth it. When it came the Southerly wind of about 10 knots provided another perfect day for the 40 strong international fleet of Sharpies.
In the first race, a windward/leeward course, there was no clear pattern. Half the fleet went left and the other half went right. The leading boats from each side came together at the windward mark. At the finish Jan Pieter Braam and Patrick Neal in Bries made it a hat-trick following their two first places on Tuesday. Doordrijver with Tom Weller and Jeroen van Veen on board were next across the finishing line ahead of Joost and Mark van den Hondel in Snark completing a Dutch one, two, three.
Race two developed into a two horse race. Daan Versteeg and Arnold Mulderij took Jan van Galen off the pin end of the line like a scalded cat. They continued deep to the left side of the course. In the meantime Chris and Tim Scott in Windspiel started in the middle of the line and steered a track up the centre of the course. There was little to choose between the two as they came together at the windward mark but Windspiel had a small advantage. To the wing mark and then the leeward mark Versteeg and Mulderij managed to squeeze ahead. A position they held to the windward mark until they mistimed their tack and the Scotts took an opportunity to regain the lead. Scott called a gybe whilst the Dutch pair simply bore away. The proved decisive as it was Jan van Galen in the lead at the leeward mark. A position that was maintained up the final beat despite desperate attempts by the Brits all of which were well covered. Third was the consistent Bries.
Results after Day 3: (top four, 6 races, 1 discard)
1 Jan van Galen NED14, Daan Versteeg and Arnold Mulderij, 11pts
2 Bries NED8, Jan Pieter Braam and Patrick Neal, 12pts
3 Windspiel GBR125, Chris and Tim Gibbs, 14pts
4 Bunyip GER377, Klaus Eisenblatter and Sven Ove Baumgartner, 18pts
Full results on www.itchenorsc.co.uk