Tasmania 2018
REGISTRATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED
Who's Registered (Updated 23/12/2017)
Country/BoatBoat NameSkipperCrewState/ProvenceClub1AUS 351The BanditGlen CardwellDylan CardwellNSW - AUSIllawarra Yacht Club2AUS 780The NudeRichie ReynoldsLissa McMillanNSW - AUSWoollarah Sailing Club3AUS 369Postage StampRichard McMinnLucy ReesTAS - AUSRoyal Yacht Club of Tasmania4AUS 367PhantomSteve MillerLauren BirdTAS - AUSMidway Point Yacht Club5GBR 753Half BoatJames LohreyCharlie HadleyGBRWhitstable Yacht Club6AUS 250B AlertTim GrantTony ButlerTAS - AUSMersey Yacht Club7AUS 793BonusGuy BancroftLouis ChapmanVIC - AUSMcCrae Yacht Club8GBR 770TBCSimon HadleyNikki HadleyGBRWhitstable Yacht Club9GBR 796
Harken/Sandline
Nick CraigTobytastic LewisGBRFrensham Ponds Sailing Club10AUS 371Bang BangStephen MitchellAdrian BellTAS - AUSMidway Point Yacht Club11AUS 376Usain BoatNathan ReynoldsSara SimmondsACT - AUS Illawarra Yacht Club12AUS 379The Last GaspRon KaneAlex AlbertVIC - AUSMcCrae Yacht Club13AUS 375SnatchCraig GarmstonNick DarlowVIC - AUS McCrae Yacht Club 14GBR 786Leaky PipesGeraldine Fermour Chris FermourGBR Whitstable Yacht Club15AUS 359 Epic Chris WellsPeter Girling TAS - AUS Deviot Sailing Club 16AUS 313 Misunderstood Michael JonesSamuel Jones TAS - AUS Port Dalrymple Yacht Club 17HKG 792RocketshipMartin MokAdrian BeswickHKGRoyal Hong Kong Yacht Club18GBR 795 Team Gul/North Sails Mark BarnesLauren KeilGBR Whitstable Yacht Club 19 AUS 372 The Hitcher Robbie Hunt Ben PriceTAS - AUSKingston Beach Sailing Club20 AUS 152 Jumpin Jack Tony Van GalenPerry CaufieldTAS - AUSMidway Point Yacht Club21 AUS 368 Pinky and the Brain Kirsty Gray Julian Salter TAS - AUS Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania 22AUS 794 On The EDGE Andrew Jones Josh Jones TAS - AUSPort Dalrymple Yacht Club 23AUS 364 Why? Geoff JakinsGlenn Stewart NSW - AUS Teralba Yacht Club 24 AUS 156 Bluey Ewan Campbell Tori Campbell VIC - AUS Safety Beach Sailing Club 25 AUS 781Side EffectsDavid Loutit David Grace VIC - AUS McCrae Yacht Club 26 AUS 159Cripps 2.0 Fynley HardingIsaac Shipp TAS - AUSLeven Yacht Club 27 AUS 373 Bone Work Ian Cunningham David CunninghamTAS - AUS McCrae Yacht Club28 AUS 103The Turtle David BoxJody Bush TAS - AUS Deviot Saiiling Club 29 AUS 366The Cunning Plan Ryan Moreton Rob Moreton Tas - AUS Port Dalrymple Yacht Club 30 AUS 374ToxicAllen GrahamColin GrahamACT - AUSIllawara Yacht Club31 AUS 182Power PlaySimon BakerJoshua BakerTas - AUSDeviot Sailing Club32AUS 252Miss ConductIsaac MearnsTom KillaleaTas - AUSLeven Yacht Club33 AUS 779RoxanneFindlay CrispMorgan DaviesTas - AUSDerwent Sailing Squadron34AUS 355Bondi TramJosh HarrissBailey EdmundsTas - AUSPort Dalrymple Yacht Club
World Championships Prelude
The Tamar Cove CST Composites B14 World Championships are starting on 2 January. Following the lead up regatta, crews will have a better idea where they will place in the field and will be looking to capitalise on the local conditions which they have learnt across the two days racing had thus far.
Tassie favourites, Hunt and Price following their second at the Australian Championships mixing it up with the competing British crews have proven they are a threat to snag the world title. Champion Crew Beswick is teaming up with Hong Kong Skipper Martin Mok to representing the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club its unknown where they will place into the world championships. Mok and Beswick between them have about 6 hours sailing time up their sleeve together and haven’t competed against a number of the top level combinations.
With moderate to strong sea breezes forecast throughout the regatta it’s going to be a bit different without the Richardson/Beswick combination as the only heavy weights remaining are the Father Son Combination of Ian and David Cunningham sailing AUS373 Bonework from McCrae Yacht Club and Local sailors, Chris Wells and Peter Girling sailing AUS 359 Epic from Deviot Sailing Club. Mok and Beswick are sailing 30kgs lighter at 145kg in the main event less than Rocketships previous combination which clocked in at the top of the range at 175kg. This will put them back into a similar range to second and third place getters Hunt/Price and Bancroft/Chapman leading into the first day of racing tomorrow.
The British combination of Nick Craig and Toby Lewis sailing Harken/Sandline will be looking forward to varied breezes, having proved their ability to mix it at the varying wind speeds across the open championships. The other top combination from Britain is Mark Barnes and local crew, Lauren Keil sailing Team Gul/North Sails have shown their skills in the lighter breezes but are yet to prove they can match the pace in the stronger breezes. Now the pair have a few days of sailing under their belts, this should help with their placings leading into the World Championships.
Filming by Tim Harris Video begins tomorrow morning thanks to all the regatta sponsors, but in particular to the West Tamar Council who have backed filming with a small project grant for the World Championships. daily filming of each race will be uploaded nightly following racing to the class AusB14TV youtube channel.
Tomorrow's race day sponsor is Tasports, Mok and Beswick will be wearing the Suenami Leaders Jersey leading into the championship and the crews union address will follow after racing on the club balcony.
Spectators are encouraged to check out racing from the club, inspection lead wharf or on their own vessels noting to keep a safe distance from competitors and racing lines. See you soon.
Details
Published: 31 December 2017
B14 2018 World Championships | Preview
AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Team GB B14s Head down under for Worlds (The Ashes)
Whilst many have packed up for the winter with their the precious racing dinghies in garages or under cover, a sizeable hardy lot enjoy the GJW Sailjuice series thought the bleak winter. However, a group of B14s have headed down under to Port Dalrymple Yacht Club at Beauty Point in Tasmania for the Petuna and Bell Bay Aluminium B14 Open Australian Nationals from the 28 – 30th December and Tamar Cove and CST Composites B14 Worlds from the 02– 06th January 2018,
Team GBR is aiming to wrestle the B14 Ashes off of the Aussies who won the last event at Lake Garda in 2016.
The event will be held in waters similar to that of Whitstable Bay/The Swale at the top of the Tamar River in Bell Bay.
Led by GBRs two current quickest B14s, Team Harken (Nick Craig/Toby Lewis) and Team GUL/North Sails (Mark Barnes/Lauren Keil (guest crew for Char Horlock)), they will be taking no prisoners. Some stealth training may well be in order prior the shout out
The question is, will the two top GBR teams be able to do make a successful raid and catch the Aussies on the hop. With little to chose between the top 2 GBR and top 5 Aussie teams, there will no doubt be an element of luck as well as skill to see who stands tall come the final showdown. One thing is certain the fat lady will not be singing till the last throw of the dice.
Lets hope Team GBR can do a better job than our cricket team
During the events there will be daily script and video reports from Team Beswick (Adrian and John) our formidable hosts snd Chairman for the stopover
Enjoy a great Christmas in Blighty and we’ll be enjoying an Aussie Christmas down under
Details
Published: 26 December 2017
Day 1: Rock and Roll Your Way to Heaven
One thing was certain, it was going to be a close fought event. First out of the traps were the Aussie team in Rocketship (AUS - Nick Richardson/Adrian Beswick) giving a master class in local knowledge and raw speed for the conditions. A number of the front runners pushed the left hand side a bit to hard and clipped the bar, so pushing them back a bit. At the finish the Aussies had it with a photo finish (1 second) between the first Pommies Team Harken (GBR - Nick Craig/Tobby Lewis) and Team GUL/North Sails (GBR - Barnsie/Lauren Keil) in 6 and 7, with the result going to the prior.
Race 2 and more of the same, but this time with a guard boat on the bar, it was all to play for. Top dog in this one would again coming from the left being Bonus (AUS - Bangers/Louis Chapman), squeezing through the swarm of starboard tackers heading into Inspection Head Wharf, Port Dalrymple, providing grandstand viewing for the spectators on the shore. Over the race Bonus got richer, as the next 4 compressed and had their own battle coming into the finish with seconds between them at the line. Top Pommy was Team GUL/North Sails in 4.
Race 3 and moving the course more up into Bell Bay as the breeze steadied and depth of water in the upper bay increased as the tide came in, battle royal recommenced. This time it was to be another Rocketship fest, with Team Harken hot on their heels, followed by local team The Hitcher (AUS - Robbie Hunt/Ben Price). These three had their own battle, whilst a tight compact group behind led by Team GUL/North Sails were having a right old ding dong going into the last round. The front three remained in formation to the finish, but the following group saw some changes. Team GUL/North Sails in going for leverage upwind on the group, lost 2 places in a very tight rounding to the finish, where pressure lines proved king, especially downwind as Pinky and the Brain (AUS – Kirtsy Gray/Julian Salter) proved by ripping round the group in their own pressure to finish 5th.
On arriving ashore, the Crew’s Union kangaroo court was convened and warning penalties handed down on the first day. More severe penalties will be handed down on day 2.
Day 1 to the Aussies with Rocketship 1, Snatch (Craing Garmston/Nick Darlow) 2, equal 3 Bonus/The Hitcher, Team GUL/North Sails 5 and Team Harken 6
With a few swimmers during the day and stories to be told of how it could have been if only, the fleet retired to the Tamar Cove restaurant for their first of the Nats/Worlds tour of our sponsor’s eateries. The big issue looks like how will we retain our sleek physics with so many great meals, great wine and beer to be experienced here in the NE of Tassie
Tomorrow looks to be slightly windier with some cloud cover and very tight racing. Who will reign supreme will depend on whether the heavier teams grind it out or light stealth teams get the jump. One thing is for certain, there will be many teams arriving ashore with grins from ear to ear at the end of the day
Details
Published: 28 January 2018
Day 2: Rocketship Launches into final day 4 points clear
Day two of racing at the Petuna Bell Bay Aluminium B14 Australian Championships got underway in an easing moderate northerly breeze of around 5-10 knots. Leaders from yesterdays racing Nick Richardson and Adrian Beswick were wearing the Suenami Leaders Jersey after winning the last race of day one. Photos: Jack Wells
Race Officer, Peter Sluce set an ambitiously long course and despite waiting for the breeze to settle a significant shift forced him to put out the green change of course mark for lap two and back to the main top mark for the final lap to shorten things up in a softening breeze. The fleet split left and right in the first race once things got under way and out the front at the top mark after hitting the hard right was Isaac Mearns and Tom Killalea on their boat Miss Conduct. Mearns usually has his feet on two hulled boats called catamarans but couldn’t resist the urge to jump into the B14 class to compete in a World Championships, both him and Tom have had a haphazard training regime in the lead up to the championships which consisted of cancelled training due to wind, a delaminated hull and to top it off a broken boom. Despite all this they managed to hold onto 12th position at the finish which is a solid effort considering the time they have had in the boat. Mearns was closely followed by Simon and Josh Baker in their boat Power Play, only one of two boats in the fleet with a carbon mast. The Bakers are brothers who sail out of the Deviot Sailing Club.
Fast behind these guys was the front bunch in the regatta after day one mixed in with a combination of light weight combinations ready to strike when conditions eased. By the second lap and following the wind shift to the North, the British champion combination of Nick Craig and Toby Lewis sailing Harken Sandline managed to slide into first position and finished 30 seconds clear to claim the Suenami Leaders Jersey of the next light weight combination of Richie Reynolds and Lissa McMillan who sail in The Nude from New South Wales. Rounding out the top three for the race was the British team of Mark Barnes and his local crew, Lauren Keil sailing Team Gul/ North Sails.
Race two was dominated by light weights sailing Nude (Reynolds and McMillan) finishing just under a minute clear of local favourites, The Hitcher (Hunt/Price) and Bonework (The Cunninghams) who both snuck through Rocketship on the final Downwind to take out second and third leaving Rocketship languishing in light air following a gybe out into pressure on the middle island side of the course and losing out on the final leg to finish in fourth. The Southern Tas Combination of Kirsty Gray and Julian Salter sailing Pinky and the Brain were also closing in fast on Rocketship and were only 15 seconds away in fifth position. Bonus (Bancroft/Chapman) was a bit further back and crossed tight for sixth with fellow Victorian Rivals, Snatch (Garmston/Darlow) a second back in seventh.
The final Race of the day got underway in a strengthening but still patchy Northerly Breeze. Bonus (Bancroft/Chapman) lead the fleet off the line with Rocketship (Richardson/Beswick) tailing just behind. After the first windward, Rocketship managed to get the lead from Bonus and held this into the second lap before getting rolled by Bonus on the second downwind after some sloppy crew work from Beswick (Still attempting to masquerade as a crew). Bonus went on to win the race convincingly whilst the breeze continued to soften and Harken/Sandline (Craig/Lewis) got through Rocketship (Richardson/Beswick) on the final downwind or second place after Rocketship had to gybe to clear a wineglass in their spinnaker in softening breeze. Lucky for Rocketship, they were able to find the breeze and get moving to fend off the fast approaching Hitcher (Hunt/Price) to finish third only 7 seconds ahead of Hitcher who finished fourth over the line.
It as for certain that day one’s racing favoured the heavier crews and the same could be said for the lighter crews as racing today levelled the playing field and opened the door for the light weight flyers. Overall the biggest pain on the score sheet was felt by Two Victorian Combinations in Craig Garmston and Nick Darlow sailing their boat Snatch who fell back after a race drop from 2nd after yesterdays sailing back into 6th overall and Father Son Combination, Ian and David Cunningham sailing Bonework after taking a hit following a DNS in the last race of day one and having a shocker 13th in the first race has not allowed them to capitalise on their solid first two races from yesterday and send them into the final day with two drops already named up.
Rocketship (Richardson/Beswick) lead into the final day of racing with 11 points, a 4 point buffer over The Hitcher (Hunt/Price) on 15 points and Bonus (Bancroft/Chapman) two points further back on 17 points. British Combination Harken/Sandline (Craig andn Lewis) are on 19 points before a bigger jump back to the next British combination Team Gul/North Sails (Barnes/Keil) on 26 points.
The forecast for tomorrow is for freshening westerly winds of around 20 to 25 knots. This will be above the limits of a number of crews competing and will undoubtedly push the best and most experienced crews to their limits. Conditions will undoubtedly suit the heavier combinations of Richardson and Beswick in Rocketship, the Cunninghams in Bonework, Garmston and Darlow in Snatch along with class legend Bancroft and his crew Chapman. Other heavy weather specialists including Chris Wells and Peter Girling on Epic, Father Son Combination Glen and Dylan Cardwell on The Bandit and Brothers Allen and Colin Graham sailing Toxic will be ones to watch for in these conditions.
To date the Suenami Leaders Jersey has been shared around a number of crews with no crew wearing the vest more than once. In the boat park talk suggests that superstition could be getting the better of those wearing the vests. With Current National Champion Bancroft donning the vest for race 7 tomorrow the question remains, can he hold it for a back to back result? Tune in to find out.
Check out more photos and stay updated on our Facebook page B14 Skiff Sailing.
Details
Published: 28 December 2017