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British triumph at the French Access Nationals - 07-07-2008British Triumph at the French Access Class National Championships The 2008 French Championships for the Access Class were held on a lake near Berck, some 50 miles south of Calais, from 27 to 29 June. The closeness to Channel ports led to significant interest from British Access sailors, and 12 boats were entered from Rutland, Frensham Pond, Sussex and Papercourt Sailing Clubs. All the British boats had a Sailability (disabled) sailor aboard but the championship was also open to non-disabled sailors. Racing was for the single sail Access 2.3 dinghies, with separate single handed and double handed classes, and a similar arrangement for the two-sail Access 303 class. The French Access Class Association also invited participation by the larger Access Liberty class, for which the sole entrant was Simon Harle from Rutland in his electrically-assisted boat. He therefore sailed with the 303 solo group. Although the British entrants all brought and sailed their own boats, entrants from Spain and Australia needed to borrow boats so racing was initially arranged in five groups with some 303 boats being used in three different groups both single and double crewed. This was an unusual arrangement for the British contingent, and it took some time for them to appreciate exactly how it would work. When racing was due to commence on Friday afternoon winds were around 25 knots, the limit of what is allowed for Access Class events. As a result only 4 races were held, two for the 303 solo, one for the all-French 2.3 doubles and then one for the largest fleet, the 2.3 solos, which had 7 British competitors. Each race was just two laps of windward/leeward and took 12 to 15 minutes, rather shorter than the UK Access Class norm of 45 minutes. Saturday morning again heralded strong winds and the start of racing was postponed until after lunch. With a slight easing of the wind, racing commenced with the 303 double class. As there were 8 entries (one British) and only 5 boats available, they were divided into two separate groups for their first pairs of back-to-back races. At the end of the day group 1 was headed by a Spanish crew with Andy Sheath and Kate Lintott from Frensham Pond leading group 2 with two wins. The 2.3 solos managed 3 races back-to-back with Clare Andrew of Rutland winning two of them and Barry Coates of Australia the other. Alex Hovden of Papercourt provided the drama in this class as his steering system broke when lying third approaching the finish of the first race and he drifted over the line in fifth place. It was all hands to the pumps to repair this and get Alex out for the third race which was just achieved. With no discards yet, Clare and Barry were tied on points at the end of the second day. The 303 solos also held 3 more races, and David Harris of Frensham Pond was leading the fleet by two points overnight. The international nature of this event was illustrated by the fact that the four classes were won by different nationalities, 2.3 solo Australia, 2.3 double France, 303 solo Great Britain and 303 double Spain. Prizewinners Access 303 solo: Access 2.3 solo: Access 303 double: Access Liberty: Oldest Competitor: Click on these links to see the full results. Results sheet 1 Results sheet 2 Click on this link to see photos of the event more news articles... |
The wind increased for the 2.3 solo fleet, and Chris Emmet of Rutland was tipped out of his 2.3 but promptly rescued. Other boats returned to the jetty full of water and the Race Officer wisely abandoned this race and cancelled racing for the rest of the day. The final drama of the day was a protest by a British 303 solo competitor against a French sailor for barging at the leeward mark. This was upheld but, rather than creating an international incident, was concluded with a friendly handshake!
