SLAM (AUS) wins 18ft Skiff European Championships

by Event media on 8 Jul 2008
Before the final day of the 2008 18ft Skiff European Championships, the race committee of the Yacht Club Six-Fours, under the exemplary leadership of Principle Race Officer Guy Guermond and Assistant Race Officer John Coveney, had already managed to hold 12 races, despite losing the previous day to the Mistral winds.

Even so the decision was made to bring forward the start of racing on the final day to 11.00am to potentially sail a further four races before the 2.30pm deadline for the final start. This they were able to do comfortably, despite a number of course resets as the thermal breeze clocked right during the day. With only 12 points separating the top 5 boats in the competition and an extra discard kicking in on the 16th race the pressure was on for the fleet in extremely tricky conditions with a fickle 8-10 knot sea breeze and a large sea way left over from the previous day's strong wind.

Leading into the final day, Australian Grant Rollerson with his crew Anthony Young and Tom Partington on the brand new Slam relished the conditions. The only boat in the fleet to carry the new hi-modulus carbon mast from CST they started cleanly in each of the first three races and quickly pulled out a comfortable lead to dominate the day's racing and claim the overall event title with a race to spare. They seemed to be enjoying themselves so much that they stayed out for the final race, only to end up entertaining the fleet by pitch-poling when in the lead in the steep waves left over from the previous day's wind. Recovering quickly they still went on to record a sixth place. Danish team Bodotex sailed by Jesper Broendum, Jan Saugman and Martin Friderichsen benefited from the error to take their first race win of the event.

Placed third overall at the beginning of the day and second in the European classification, Ian Turnbull, Paul Constable and Alec Mckinlay on Ronstan UK steadily went about working their way back up to the European title. A fifth, third and fourth in the first three races brought them back to the top of the European ladder and second overall, but they left themselves with everything to do in the final race, after a dreadful start saw them round the windward mark in 13th. They steadily worked themselves back through the fleet until in sailing through the lee of Wild Oats Chardonnay on the final beat they climbed back up to third place to take second overall by a single point and as well as the European Championship title for 2008. It was almost not to be as they came very close to copying Slam's trick on the second run, burying their bow almost to the mast as they came extremely close to pitch-poling in the back of a steep wave on the second run

Australian skiff legend and previous JJ Giltinan Champion John Winning with his crew David Gibson and Andrew Hay on Yandoo Ssangyong were always near the front of the fleet and had a very consistent day counting a fourth and two second places, but a seventh in the first race of the day left them having to settle for third overall.

Howie Hamlin, sailing Wild Oats Chardonnay with Mike Martin and Paul Allen, won last year's event at Lake Garda so decisively he discarded a first place in his final results. This year he had to be satisfied with a single race win for the week and fourth place overall.

Going into the last day in second place and leading the European standings the experienced UK team of Andy Richards, Andrew Fairley and Dave Richards on Pindar had what was for them a disastrous day. Despite being the first on course and looking eager to capitalise on their overnight position, they chose to go hard right out of the start of the first race, a decision that was to prove very costly to them although they recovered to 6th overall. They were not able to improve much on that result in the following races eventually had to settle for fifth overall.

The 2008 18ft Skiff European International Championship has been one of the highest quality and most successful events held by the class in recent years. It will be remembered both for the quality and intensity of the racing, with 16 races over 7 days run to a first class international standard by the Yacht Club de Six Fours Race Committee and also for the standard and competitiveness of the fleet with eight separate race winners from 4 different countries.

The European fleet now moves on to Weymouth in the UK for the next round of the European Grand Prix circuit and UK National Championship, commencing August 10th.

Top Ten Results:

1 AUS 91 SLAM - ROLLERSON Grant, YOUNG Antony, PARTINGTON Tom

2 GBR 12 RONSTAN - TURNBULL Ian, CONSTABLE Paul, MCKINLEY Alec

3 AUS 002 YANDOO.SANGYONG - WINNING John, GIBSON David, HAY Andrew

4 USA 001 WILD OATS CHARDONNAY

5 GBR 6 PINDAR

6 GBR 47 TMF

7 DEN 1 GP COVERS

8 GBR 40 PICA

9 DEN 29 BODOTEX

10 GBR 11 GILL, WET & WILD