Day 1 B14 Australian National Titles Belmont

7:38 AM Mon 28 Dec 2009 GMT

'World Champ Guy Bancroft and new crew David Grace - B14 National Titles Belmont Day 1' Sophie Hunt Click Here to view large photo

Belmont, Lake Macquarie NSW, Australia. Day One of the B14 Australian titles.

Twas a damp and rainy grey day at Belmont, to the dismay of the competitors from Tasmania and England in particular (having been promised quite the opposite). A gun fleet of 23 boats set off from the beach in a SW breeze, about 5-10kts.

The breeze softened in the first race, and went left at the start, leaving some of us wallowing about and some others struggling to lay the pin. First round the top mark was Chris Wells (TAS), with Rani Dabner crewing, in Epic.

Chris and Rani led the whole way, only to be beaten on the line, as neither had read the sailing instructions and didn't know where the finish was.

Current World Champion Guy Bancroft, (VIC), in Sly Bone with new crew David Grace, had worked through the fleet and took the gun. Second was Epic, and third was Toxic (VIC), skippered by Dave Lorimer and Raf. Steve Miller and Amy Vangelen, in Phantom, (TAS) put in a tremendous performance, taking fourth place.

Ian Cunningham and son David in The Plumbers (VIC) took fifth, and John Tanton and Benn Morgan (TAS) sailed showed great improvement on last year picking up sixth.

In race 2 the breeze had picked up to about 12kts for the first leg. Again there was a big swing with 30 seconds to go, leaving some struggling to cross the line.

Those who got onto port early did well, including Nick Richardson (Tasmanian Sailor of the Year) and Mark Padgett (Padge), in Pig's Arse, who were first around the top mark, followed by Chris Bibby with crew James Huggett (VIC) in Last Gasp, and Sly Bone.

The breeze soon dropped away again in the middle of the race, before picking up a little at the end. The top six had a close fight, right to the finish, with Pig's Arse first, then Sly Bone, Toxic and then three boats crossing within less than a second - Last Gasp, Bonework (VIC) (Scott Cunningham and Jason Walker) and The Nude (NSW)(Richie Reynolds and Lissa McMillan).

by Sophie Hunt

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Day 1 B14 Australian National Titles Belmont

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