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SPA YOUTH REGATTA, BELGIUM, 6-10 JULY 199692 sailors were entered for the Optimist fleet at Spa Youth Regatta in Belgium from 6-10 July. From Britain the Worlds Team, 9 Welsh sailors and 2 others, with only one girl, went off to Belgium in search of high seas, wind and overseas competition. Paul Campbell-James was our most successful sailor coming 3rd overall, with Alex Cherry 9th, Tim Boon 10th, Neil Baker 11th and Mark Richmond 14th. Winds were generally light with the occasional race in bit more wind. The first day we found the bigger seas, and one poor Welsh lad discovered sea sickness. The tide was incredibly strong - on the second race with wind and tide to contend with the Optimists took about 15 minutes to cross the line, sailed for 25 minutes and still had hardly moved from the committee boat - needless to say the race was abandoned! The following day the seas had calmed down and the race was resailed. A good result for Dominic Boon with a 6th, Mark with a 4th and Paul with a 3rd. The fourth race, with a very strong tide now running was such that the windward mark could almost be laid on one tack, but many sailors didn't realise that the tide would have this effect and ended up running in to the mark. Those coached by David Campbell-James got this one right and we had 6 Brits in the first 8 at the windward mark! The starting line used was enormous and the first beat was very important. If you arrived at the windward mark mid fleet it was very difficult to get to the front of the fleet. The one-minute round the ends rule was used in every start and only three of the 10 races went to a black flag. Over on the other courses, however, the 420 fleet averaged 4 or 5 starts for every race! Three races on day 2 and day 3 meant long days on the water. Neil had his best day on day 3 with a 3rd and a 4th. Unfortunately on the 4th day we had good winds but only 2 races were scheduled. Tim enjoyed this day with a 2nd and a 9th and so did Paul with a 3rd and a 2nd. Robert Holmes managed a 12th in race 8. Alex was very consistent and finished between 7th and 14th in 7 of the races, but got caught on a black flag in race 9 along with Dominic and several of the Welsh sailors. Going into the last day Paul was leading but he was also well aware that the 2nd discard would be coming in with the last race. Francis Proot, from Belgium, was chasing hard on his heels and Koen de Smedt also from Belgium had to finish in the top 3 in the last race to beat Paul - he won it! This meant that Paul was 3rd overall. In the last race Tim had a 3rd, Mark a 7th and Edward Green had his best race with a 12th. A good experience for all the Brits who went but we were very glad to have taken a support boat. There were only one or two official rescue boats to cover the whole of the Optimist and Cadet fleets. To get to the course area we had to sail up a long narrow channel and when the winds were light it would have been impossible to reach the start without a tow. Do try and go to this event but for those less experienced sailors perhaps Carantec would be a better option. Jenny Campbell-James Results: 1st Fr. Proot (BEL), 2nd K De Smedt (BEL), 3rd Paul Campbell-James (GBR), 4th M Van DeGinste (BEL), 5th J Spilleboudt (BEL). Other British results: 9th Alex Cherry, 10th Tim Boon, 11th Neil Baker, 14th Mark Richmond, 35th Robert Holmes, 41st Edward Dashfield, 48th Paul Graham, 50th Karen Greenland, 52nd Michael Stone, 53rd Dominic Boon, 54th Edward Green, 63rd Richard Jefferies, 82nd Jonathan Sheldrake, 83rd Hywel Poole, 84th Matthew Jenkinson. |
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