55th European Sharpie Championship at Itchenor Sailing Club - Overall

The forty strong international fleet have experienced a range of conditions this week - starting with blustery Monday, through near perfect Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to a light airs Friday.

Overnight the top of the leader board was poised between Windspiel sailed by Chris and Tim Gibbs and Jan van Galen in the hands of Daan Versteeg and Arnold Mulderij - both on 17 points. So Friday's races were to be decisive.

Race one was won by Doordriver (Tom Weller and Jeroen van Veen), followed by Bries sailed by Jan Pieter Braam and Patrick Neal who had some disappointments on Wednesday following an excellent run of results on Monday and Tuesday. Spotvogel was having a good Friday with third place. Windspeil came in fifth whereas Jan van Galen could only make 8th - a result that was subsequently discarded.

So to the final race. Team Gibbs made no mistake by taking the bullet with Spotvogel second. Jan van Galen came in third place. Meanwhile Bunyip helmed by Klaus Eisenblatter and crewed by Sven Ole Baumgartner scored a fourth and sixth to continue their consistent series - nothing lower than eighth. This gave the German boat third place overall.

The European crown therefore goes to Chris and Tim Gibbs with the Dutch pairing of Daan Versteeg and Arnold Mulderij a very competitive second.

Crews were fulsome in their praise for the race management and for the support facilities provided by Itchenor Sailing Club both on and off the water.

Overall Results: (top three, 10 races, 2 discards)

1 Windspiel GBR125, Chris and Tim Gibbs 15pts
2 Jan van Galen NED 14, Daan Versteeg and Arnold Mulderij 20pts
3 Bunyip GER377, Klaus Eisenblaetter and Sven Ove Baumgartner 31pts

Full results on www.itchenorsc.co.uk