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Fireball Europameisterschaft / La Rochelle (FRA)

15. - 20. August

Vince Horey/Rob Gardner (GBR) holen sich den EM-Titel vor Martin Kubovy/Martin Cap (CZE) und Tom Gillard/Francis Rowan (IRL). Die 8 schwierigen, eher wenig windigen Läufe führten zu hohen Punktzahlen. Viele Favoriten leisteten sich mehrere Ausrutscher. Suter/Schluchter, einzige SUI, wurden 67. (89 Teams, 8 Läufe

Bericht der Schlusstage von Maja Suter:

Während es am ersten Tag zum Teil noch kräftig wehte, liess der Wind nachher täglich nach.
Tag drei (Mi) begann immer noch warm und sonnig, jedoch ohne Wind. Es kam zu einer Startverschiebung von ca. 1 Std. Dann wurde bei wenig Wind (schätze 5-8 Knoten)und doch recht viel kurzen, zerhakten Wellen (da es nachts gewindet hatte) gesegelt. Die Strömung wurde wenig stärker. Schwierige Bedingungen für uns Schweizer. Zwei Läufe wurden gesegelt, jeweils immer nach allgemeinem Frühstart.

Der Schlusstag (Do) begann sehr früh. Auf zehn Uhr war Start angesagt und da wir bei wenig Wind eine gute Stunde bis an die Startlinie brauchten, fuhren wir vor 9 Uhr aus. Es sah gut aus, da es schon jetzt Wind hatte (ca. 10 kn). Doch als wir im Regattagebiet waren, war der Wind eingeschlafen. So wurde draussen ca. 45 min gewartet. Dann kam eine feine Brise auf, die am Ende des zweiten Rennens auf schätzungsweise 10-12 Knoten auffrischte. Wieder gings zuerst mit normaler Startsequenz, dann mit 1-Minuten-Regel und schliesslich mit der Black-Flag (im 2. Renne sogar 2x) auf den Kurs. Wie schwierig die Bedinungen waren, zeigt, dass über alle Rennen jedes Team, auch die Cracks, mal ein schlechtes Rennen absolvierten (Horey/Gardener 27.; Kubovy/Cap 31.; Gillard/Rowan 28.). Dann kam's zur Rangverkündigung, dem Ende einer feinen Europameisterschaft mit guter Beteiligung. Ausgezeichnet, dass drei verschiedene Länder sich die ersten drei Plätze teilen - 1. GBR, 2. CZE, 3. IRL Nun freuen wir uns auf die Weltmeisterschaft, für welche noch einige super Teams anfahren werden. Das Regattakommittee und die Helfer an Land sind sehr kompetent. Hier werden den ganzen Sommer grosse Regatten durchgeführt. Die Einrichtungen sind ideal. Es macht deshalb sehr Spass.

Rangliste

Berichte von Tim Saunders (uk fireball):

Europeans Day 1: Excellent conditions for racing today in La Rochelle. 2 races were sailed in warm and sunny conditions with the wind slighty better than forecast and temperatures slighy lower than the previous few days!
Race 1: After a short wait for the wind to settle the opening race of the French National and European championships was away. Flag O was flying. After several attempts at starting the fleet were away under the black flag. Those who took advantage of the pin end bias lead at the windward mark. Ludovic Alleaume and Etienne Perdon lead round until the leeward mark at the end of the run where Chips Howarth and Vyv Townend squeezed in front. Dave Wade and Ben McGrane were 3rd and these places were held until the finish with Kevin Hope and Russell Thorne 4th and Becky Priest and Tim Saunders 5th.
Race 2: The wind had built slighty for the 2nd race of the day and the sea slighty rougher. On the third start the fleet were away. Chips and Vyv again took the gun again but they along with 10 other boats had been caught by the black flag. This handed the race to Vince Horey and Rob Gardner with Dave Wade and Ben McGrane 3rd which gives them the overall lead.

Overall Results after 2 races:
1st Dave Wade and Ben McGrane 5pts
2nd Tom Foskett and Tim Needham 11pts
3rd Martin Kubovy and Martin Cap 14pts

Europeans Day 2: The 89 boat fleet were again treated to excellent conditions on the race course.
Race 3 started in 10 knots of breeze and bright sunshine. Once again Chips Howarth & Vyv Townend lead and after a tussle with Vince Horey & Rob Gardner they took the gun. Wade and McGrane worked their way past several boats to take 3rd with Becky Priest and Tim Saunders 4th. The consistent Czech team of Martin Kubovy and Martin Cap 5th and Phillipe Collard and Gabriel Thuillier 6th.
Race 4 was away after several recalls with again lots of black flags. At the finish Howarth & Townend were again first to the line but again were over at the start. This gave the race win to Martyn Lewis and Richard Bailey with Jaroslav Verner & Pavel Winkler in 2nd with a 3rd for Kubovy and Cap giving them the lead overnight. Things could all change on Wednesday as the discard comes in after five races.

Europeans Day 3: Warm and sunny again with a slightly delayed start at around 3pm.
Race 5: The lighter shifty conditions made for tricky racing. Race 5 started in 6-7 knots of breeze. Bart Meyendonckx and Francu De Roeck from Belgium lead at the windward mark. Behind Tom Gillard and Francis Rowan battled hard with Vince Horey and Rob Gardner and it was these two who pulled through to take 1st and 2nd. Chips Howarth and Vyv Townend had an excellent last beat to take 3rd on the line from Petr Koran and Milan Kvasnik. The Belgian team held on for 6th.
Race 6: Conditions started similar to race five but with the wind dropping as the race went on. Kevin Hope and Russell Thorne lead all the way from start to finish to pull themselves up the leaderboard. Matt Findlay and Richard Anderton had their best race yet of the championship passing Eva Skorepova and Victor Tkadlec (3rd) and Ludovic Alleaume and Etienne Perdon (4th) to take 2nd. Horey & Gardner took 5th to lead overnight.

Overall after 6 races (8 races scheduled):
1st Vince Horey & Rob Gardner GBR
2nd Tom Gillard & Francis Rowan GBR/IRL
3rd Martin Kubovy & Martin Cap CZE

Europeans Day 4: Vince Horey and Rob Gardner win high scoring championship.
With two races to be sailed on the final day but no more discards to come in, it was very tight at the top of the leaderboard. The majority of the top 10 were still able to claim overall victory. Dave Wade and Ben McGrane, out of the running overall, won both the day's races.
The first race of the day was a difficult one for many of the title contenders. Vince Horey & Rob Gardner and Tom Gillard & Francis Rowan both had poor races. Gillard and Rowan could only manage 25th in the last race to leave them 3rd overall. Martyn Lewis and Richard Bailey strengthened their position with a 3rd but a 21st in the race 8 placed them fourth overall.
Martin Kubovy and Martin Cap were again consistent with 10th and 14th leaving them on 57 points just three behind the winners Horey and Gardner, who were 3rd in the final race. Ludovic Alleaume and Etienne Perdon claiming the French National title in 7th overall.

Final results:
1st Vince Horey & Rob Gardner GBR 54pts
2nd Martin Kubovy & Martin Cap CZE 57pts
3rd Tom Gillard & Francis Rowan GBR/IRL 67pts

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