44th European Sharpie Championship - Win for GBR

by Pamela Farrell on 14 Aug 2007
In the recent European Sharpie Championship, brothers Chris and Tim Gibbs sailing Winsdpeil GBR125, were crowned European Sharpie Champions of 2007. The Gibbs brothers already hold the British Champion title, which took place at Brancaster Staithe, north Norfolk in June 2007.

They held an impressive 12 points lead ahead of their fellow British competitors James Case and David Frary who sailed Rock-a-bye GBR12. Third place went to the German combination of Clauss Eisenblaetter and Steffen Wussow sailing Bunyip, GER377.

A light 8-10 knot sea breeze with plenty of sunshine welcomed the fleet on their final day of competition with two races being completed. Overall, 9 races were sailed during the week.

53 sharpies were in competition from the UK, Germany, Holland, Portugal and South Africa, which was sailed at Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour.

Weymouth Bay and Portland Harbour are widely recognised as the finest sailing waters in the UK. This together with the development of the new purpose built, on-shore facilities have resulted in the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy being selected as the venue for the London 2012 Olympic sailing events.

Sharpie - Final overall results

1st GBR 125 C Gibbs T Gibbs 1 3 3 1 -9 1 3 3 -4 28 15
2nd GBR 12 J Case D Frary 3 9 -18 4 5 2 1 -29 3 74 27
3rd GER 377 K Eisenblaetter S Wussow 5 4 5 3 3 -9 -10 7 2 48 29
4th NED 119 Tom Weller J V Veen 4 1 2 -8 7 4 5 -13 8 52 31
5th NED 128 P Raalte J V Dorst 2 8 -23 7 2 3 4 8 -9 66 34
6th NED 008 J P Braam I D Boer -12 11 1 2 -27 10 11 1 1 76 37
7th NED 137 E Verkaik N Raalte 7 -13 4 12 -16 6 2 11 6 77 48
8th NED 055 A Vliet J Liesveld 11 6 12 13 4 -16 7 -22 7 98 60
9th NED 049 J Hondel M Hondel 20 -23 6 5 15 -36 13 4 5 127 68
10th NED 181 F Steeneken J Vliet 10 10 -26 9 10 -14 6 12 11 108 68
11th GBR 009 P Spink J Ellison 6 5 8 11 18 -33 -19 16 15 131 79
12th NED 004 A Vosselman A Vosselman 15 7 -33 24 1 13 15 -31 17 156 92
13th NED 174 B Versteeg P V Dorst -28 14 -22 10 21 8 17 6 21 147 97
14th NED 135 D V Vliet M Verlaan 8 2 20 -36 19 15 12 28 -30 170 104
15th GBR 135 M Read O Read 16 54 16 21 14 7 9 21 -26 184 104
16th NED 077 J Volwater T Berkel -25 16 9 15 17 -28 20 20 10 160 107
17th NED 080 G Post G Hamilton 17 54 13 6 12 20 -27 24 16 189 108
18th GBR 134 B Lambert T Adams 9 54 54 27 24 5 8 25 12 218 110
19th NED 138 H Dorst S Mittelmeijer -27 19 11 17 20 18 18 -26 18 174 121
20th GBR 133 J Clark R Howlett 13 17 15 -32 22 -41 23 5 27 195 122
21st NED 219 C Mittelmeijer H Van Halteren 24 21 54 22 11 11 21 15 -25 204 125
22nd NED 192 R Vosselman M Goedvree 22 18 27 23 6 -32 14 -44 23 209 133
23rd NED 129 A V Kouwen N V Vilet -36 28 14 14 30 -39 34 2 13 210 135
24th GBR 13 Alex Scholes Gemma Nye -31 26 7 54 23 24 24 9 24 222 137
25th GBR 61 R Elliott J Crossman 23 54 54 26 25 19 26 14 19 260 152
26th NED 160 F Koome E Berendsen 19 15 -38 29 8 31 22 -39 38 239 162
27th NED 141 H Schoonhoven K Kuiper 21 54 19 16 -37 35 31 10 34 257 166
28th NED 230 J Woertman R Woertman 14 12 -43 18 29 26 36 -37 32 247 167
29th NED 094 D J Konijnenberg J Hazendonk 32 54 17 -39 31 23 25 34 14 269 176
30th POR 51 Nelson M Jogs C 26 22 -44 19 35 29 16 30 -41 262 177
31st GBR 105 R Spink W Ellison -50 20 10 20 33 45 33 23 54 288 184
32nd GBR 002 B Cracknell Sally Wayne 29 54 29 30 26 12 28 -48 33 289 187
33rd GBR 003 R Bradshaw A Borthwick 18 54 54 44 13 37 44 18 22 304 196
34th GBR 129 R Cracknell W Wynne 33 24 54 35 28 22 30 32 -47 305 204
35th GER 122 U Peters K Kulle 37 54 21 25 32 25 35 -42 37 308 212
36th GBR 015 C Hardy N Hardy 54 54 24 31 41 42 40 19 29 334 226
37th GBR 077 T Andrews M Healing -44 54 25 38 38 17 29 41 39 325 227
38th GBR 132 K Spink J Groome -40 27 30 37 34 30 37 36 -43 314 231
39th NED 229 J Berkhof M Willekems 43 54 34 33 40 38 54 33 20 349 241
40th NED 062 D Mulderij R Mulderij 54 54 28 54 36 21 32 27 54 360 252
41st GBR 063 E Farrell J Nye 35 54 40 42 42 27 38 -47 35 360 259
42nd GBR 128 A Smith P Beachell -48 54 31 34 43 44 47 35 28 364 262
43rd GBR 068 H Burkitt G C-Smith 39 25 -45 -50 45 34 42 40 40 360 265
44th NED 108 M Zande J Zelst 42 54 35 28 39 -48 43 46 36 371 269
45th NED 126 F Schutten J Voorbij 34 54 42 40 -48 47 41 43 31 380 278
46th RSA 1 J Fowler B Beech 49 54 37 45 -52 46 48 17 44 392 286
47th GBR 016 B Curtis C Crawford 38 54 39 41 47 40 45 38 54 396 288
48th GBR 096 J Mcewen G Daubenmerkl 30 54 36 43 46 49 46 -51 42 397 292
49th GBR 136 C Spink Oggy 41 54 32 46 44 43 39 -49 49 397 294
50th GBR 124 A Graham H Graham 47 54 41 49 -51 50 50 45 48 435 330
51st GBR 118 J Pigney H Pigney 45 54 47 48 49 52 51 -53 46 445 338
52nd GER 215 N Steiner W Frank 54 54 46 47 50 51 49 52 45 448 340
53rd NED 092 B Hoogen W Hoogen 46 54 54 54 53 53 54 50 50 468 360

12m2 Sharpie Background:

The original International 12m2 Sharpie was designed in Germany by Herr Kröger in 1930. After winning a design competition, the boat gained instant popularity both at home and abroad as a cheap but exciting class of boat with a shallow draft and good speed. The boat was used for German Officer training in the pre war period on the lakes of North Germany.

The first 8 boats were brought into Kings Lynn Docks in 1931(North Norfolk) in Mahogany Boxes. They were then sent in pairs to four different sailing clubs around the country including Barnt Green Sailing Club and Ouse Amateur Sailing Club.

The class continued to grow and by 1956 became an Olympic Class at the Melbourne Games. This was the Sharpie’s first and last appearance at the Olympics and the popularity of the class faded in the following 40 years.

However, interest in Sharpie racing is growing again and yachtsmen from around Europe are taking on many Sharpies as restoration projects.

The British Sharpie Championship is organised by the Sharpie Association.
For more information visit www.sharpies.org.uk