Andrew Thompson and Dan Hollands

 2011 Events

B14 TT - 14-15 May - Flying Circus arrived at Whitstable to Sun, Wind and Eurovision!

Sunshine and the usual warm Whitstable welcome greeted the B14 Fleet for the third TT event of the year. With 8 races scheduled and many of the top teams in attendance the scene was set for a classic weekend.

Race 1 and “772 - Ullman Sails” (Mark Watts/Chris Bishop) were fast out of the blocks to lead what proved to be an eventful race. First to fall victim of the gusty, shifty conditions were local team “784 - Seavolution” (Mark Barnes/Paul Smith) who capsized due to new class supplier Mark Barnes “walking into the tiller on a gybe!” whilst vying for the lead, and were very unfortunate to break the tip of the mast in the process. The second lap saw confusion as 3rd placed “758 - Anthill Mob” (Tim Harrison/Johnny “Duracell” Ratcliffe) assumed a shortened course and sailed through to the finish. Momentary panic from Ullman Sails and 2nd placed “771 - Ronstan” (Mike Bees/Ferret) led to them returning back to the finish. Sanity did eventually return and the 3 returned back to the track for lap 3. Ullman Sails taking the bullet from Ronstan and the Anthill Mob.

The conditions remained gusty and shifty for the rest of the day with some great white water action when the breeze was up. Ullman Sails showed consistency and pace to take the day with 3 bullets from Anthill Mob second closely followed by Ronstan showing they have lost none of their form to follow closely in third.

With the fleet suffering from 4 hard races in the Whitstable chop and the prospect of more of the same on Sunday limbs were stretched out in a short pub crawl followed by curry and Eurovision based fun back at the club. Eurovision will never be the same again!

Sunday dawned with white caps galore but this faded for the first start to leave a soft and lumpy racetrack. Anthill Mob showed their pace to take the first race from Ronstan and Ullman Sails third.

Race 6 saw Ullman Sails and Ronstan take a commanding lead over the fleet with “764 – FlowerPower” (Tony Blackmore/Chin Scar) leading the charge from the main pack. Sadly just as the battle for first was hotting up Ronstan were forced to retire with rudder damage, leaving Ullman sails to take the win. The Anthill Mob fought back through on the last beat to take 2nd from “709 – All good fun” (Dan Hollands/ Andrew Thompson) who won the photo finish for third as the fleet bunched at the finish in building pressure.

Race 7 saw the Anthill Mob ace the first beat to sail away to win from Ullman Sails and increasingly quick newcomers “777 - Team Hair” (Daniel and Jamie Hare) in third.

Race 8 and with the Anthill Mob needing a win it was all to play for. The Anthill Mob led the fleet off the line out to the left to round first closely followed by Team Hair. Ullman sails having been bounced right after a poor start rounded deep in the tail end of the fleet following a big left hand shift. As the breeze built Ullman sails fought back to third but the gap was too big to close to 2nd. A tense 3 laps saw the Anthill Mob battle with Team Hair but it was the Anthill Mob that held on to take the win and the overall event on countback.

A huge thanks to the race team for extremely slick race management and to the Whitstable YC for their hospitality.

The next event for the B14’s is the much anticipated Nationals at Porthpean SC. Bring on the pasties!

Overall Results:

B14 TT - 9-10th April - Champagne sailing on the Solent

The B14 Flying Circus arrived at Stokes Bay to glorious sunshine and a building breeze. The schedule was for 7 or more races over the weekend.

Race 1 was to show the closeness of the racing throughout the day. Seavolution (Mark Barnes/Paul Smith) led Ronstan (Mike Bees/Martin Worth (Ferret)) off the pin with the race to the shore to get the favourable tide. At the windward mark, Seavolution lead from Ronstan, The Anthill Mob (Tim Harrison/Johnny Ratcliffe) and Axicom (Mark Emmett/Bob Millar). With the following group hot on their heels, the race had many changes but Seavolution held on to take the race from Ronstan and The Anthill Mob.

Race 2 and more of the same with the same front four leading the charge led by Seavolution over lap 1. However, on lap 2, Seavolution took the middle and the tide downwind, but Ronstan and The Anthill Mob went for pressure inshore. Coming into the leeward mark, with little to choose between these 3, Ronstan popped out in front just ahead of The Anthill Mob and Seavolution. With less than 10 seconds between these 3, it was game on for race 3.

Race 3 and Ronstan led off the pin and up the first beat followed by All Good Fun (Dan Hollands/Andrew Thompson) and Dynamic Sails (Dan Hare/Jamie Hare). With many place changes, on the beat, Seavolution led from Ronstan, All Good Fun and The Anthill Mob. Down the run the fleet split and closed by the leeward mark. The first 6 boats had nothing between them going into lap 2. Up the beat Ronstan and Seavolution swapped places with The Anthill Mob and Axicom hot on their heels, but the places did not change with each loose covering the boat behind. At the finish Seavolution piped Ronstan and The Anthill Mob to another tight finish.

Race 4 and with the tide in full flood. Ronstan again took the pin with Seavolution driving low underneath. The fleet hit the shore with Ullman Sails (Kathy Sherratt/Mark Watts) mixing it on the front row. Up the shore short tacking, 5 boats took turns leading as hitting the North Channel tide killed you. At the top the fleet were still very close. Some headed inshore for the pressure, others offshore for the tide. The leaders coming into the bottom mark had hit the channel led by Seavolution, Ronstan and The Anthill Mob. Up the shore for another nail biting beat and Ronstan again took up the charge only to lose out to Seavolution approaching the top mark. On the charge downwind, the fleet covered the boat behind and though there was a fag paper between them at the leeward mark the places remained the same with The Anthill Mob rounding up to the reach on the outside of Ronstan but getting the jump on them. Ronstan responded and eventually got the better just before the finish.

A great day on the water. That evening Dan Vincent put on a pub quiz to follow the food. The fleet partied late into the night and the new members to the fleet had a day to remember both on and off the water.

Sunday dawned and no wind. So it was to bimbling the latest editions to the fleet and sorting through their questions and boats. At 1230, the R/O abandoned for the day. A great Saturday’s sailing in near Champagne conditions with slick management on and off the water.

Seavolution won from Ronstan and The Anthill Mob. Promising performance from All Good Fun, and several new crews going away from the event with some great memories of the weekend.

Overall Results:

B14 TT - 26-27th March - Rutland

The first B14 Ullman Sails TT event of 2011 took place at Rutland Sailing Club on the 26th and 27th March 2011.

It was a light forecast but on the Saturday the fleet were greeted by a Force 3 easterly which gave the crews a chance to blow away the cobwebs in which most cases it was their first outings of the year. The race officer made a call to do 4 races on the Saturday while the conditions were good. Conditions were gusty which gave a lot of opportunities for overtaking downwind making the racing very close with frequent place changes and most races getting decided on the last run.

Notable performances on the Saturday came from Daniel and Jamie Hare in their first competitive races in the B they were close to the front all weekend and took their turn at leading races on several occasions. Will Mcgrath and Harry Reece in Seavolution 1 put a very credible first day score line of a 1st and 3 2nd places leaving them just 1 point behind Tim Harrison and Jonny Ratcliffe with 3 bullets.

As predicted the conditions for Sunday were very light. Some teams struggled to make the first start on time due to the changing clocks. For those that made the start the race was very open with everyone getting a share of the lead, Barry Price had the best start and also lead on the first run but it was Will and Harry at the end of lap 1 that got away and held on to take the race from Tim and Jonny which levelled the points.

In the decider it was Will and Harry who took the early and lead round the first lap of this 2 lap race closely followed by Tim and Jonny. It was a tricky last beat with boats splitting tacks in the hope of finding clear air amongst the Musto Skiff fleet. Will and Harry picked there way through the middle, Tim and Jonny went out left and brothers Daniel and Jamie went right all in hope of that favourable shift. At the top mark it Daniel and Jamie in the lead from Tim and Jonny and Will and Harry in close pursuit. It was Will and Harry who gybed off first in a last attack as they needed to win the race, unfortunately for them there was not enough pressure to support this last move and Tim and Jonny were left to chase down Daniel and Jamie managing to snatch the race on the line. Daniel and Jamie could not have been closer to getting a race win in their first B14 event. These guys are definitely going to be ones to watch when they get a bit more time in the boat.

Next event for the B14s is at Stokes Bay in a fortnight. There are some top skippers in need of a crew for this event so if there are any B14 crews or potential B14 crews who think they may have what it takes to sail these performance boats then make yourself known on the class website.

Overall Results:

Photos