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French Access Championships
Click this link to go to the UK Manufacturer of Access Dinghies French Access Class Championships 2010 At the club of Vichy. Friday 18th, Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th June Please Note: These dates are not yet confirmed - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - French Access Class Championships – 26 to 28 June 2009 Report Held on the river Erdre at La Chapelle-sur-Erdre near Nantes in western France, this event gave the small UK contingent an excellent experience of international competition, with competitors from The Netherlands and Australia as well as the host country, especially as Team-UK all came away with prizes for finishing in the first three. Racing started with light winds in the late afternoon of Friday, 26 June, with three races, each of about 25 minutes duration. At the end of the day, Keith Harris of New Forest Sailability was at the top of the 2.3 class results with a first and second to count, ahead of last year’s French champion, Barry Coats (AUS), Vera Voobach (NEL) and with current UK champion, Ann Lewis, fourth counting two second places. In the 303-Solo class Paul Holzherr, Frensham Pond, led with two first places with club-mate Tessa Watkiss next having two seconds to count. There was UK interest in two of the 303-Double boats with Rory Morrison and Tom Glasson sailing a New Forest boat and Mac Stowe of Rutland sailing with Maxime Stephan of France. Mac and Maxime were just ahead after three races, despite losing a protest to Rory and Tom! Day 2 proved very frustrating for competitors and Race Officer alike as a very fickle wind refused to settle and, after attempts to get a race started in the morning and the afternoon, racing was abandoned for the day. In the very warm weather, the hosts arranged a tour by water along the Erdre into the centre of Nantes as compensation. In the evening a Championship supper was held for all competitors and helpers. Mac Stowe joined the group to play a few numbers on his trumpet. Sunday, 28th, produced a steady wind and three more races were held. In the 2.3s Ann Lewis found her form, recording two firsts, and a fourth which she discarded. Vera Voorbach who, like Keith, uses full servo control recorded another first place which was enough to give her second place on a tie break with Keith. Barry Coates sailed the wrong course at the end of the last race and this robbed him of a probable second overall pushing him down to fourth. The ability of Vera and Keith to achieve second and third overall should give great encouragement to all who have to use servo control systems! In the 303-Solos, Paul Holzherr finished with five first places to win overall, but Tessa found the hot conditions very trying and was just beaten for second overall by Cedric Castaldi of France. Mac and Maxime stayed ahead to take the 303-Double class from Rory and Tom. Two Dutch Liberties also competed with Jan Holtrop beating Wilma van den Broch, again on a tie break as they had three wins each. The day finished with a long distance fun race up the River Erdre and back which was won by Paul Holzherr. The full results can be found via http://cvannantes.org/joomla/; some photos are attached. Richard Smallwood - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The 2009 French National Championships French Open Friday 26 June, Sat 27 June, Sun 28 June UK sailors are invited by the French Access Association to enter this competion. Contact: Richard Smallwood An invitation from Richard Smallwood. Hello all, A message from Keith Harris has prompted me to send a message to you all to ask you to think about participation in the 2009 French Nationals to be held near Nantes from Friday, 26th, to Sunday, 28th June inclusive. We all had such a good time in 2008 that I hope that you are at least considering taking part again in 2009. Clearly the distances and ferry fares are more than last time and the £/€ exchange rate is less favourable right now (but this might change for the better before June). I have done a check of the most likely ferry routes and attach a summary for your information. If anyone is definitely going and wants to use the Portsmouth-St Malo route (with cabin on the way over) it is important to book very early as the cabins get booked up. The High Speed ferry routes also get booked up. Note that these are also subject to cancellation or delay in event of bad weather, but hopefully this is not so likely in June (but take your sea-sickness pills as they have a funny motion). To answer Keith's point, it seems impractical to make a group booking as we all have different requirements, and discounted group bookings only seem to be available if 10 or more vehicles travel together. However, if addressees reply to me indicating the route they prefer, and there is a clear preference for one company, I will approach that company to try for a discount. In 2008, most of us went by P&O from Dover, and they were most unsympathetic. Keith, there was only Simon Harle's Liberty there in 2008 as the French have not taken the class up. You may wish to liaise with Gordon/Simon and any other possible UK Liberty sailors before committing yourself to this or the September European event. I feel sure the French will lay on races if there are two or more Libertys there. I am waiting for information about accommodation from Marie-Claude of the French Access Association and will distribute this to those who express interest when I get it. I am not able to make a preliminary visit in 2009 as I did in 2008 and hope that, after your 2008 experience, you will all feel confident to make your own bookings, although I will try to help anyone who has real difficulty, especially those who need a special room with Wetroom facilities. I tried the Mister Bed website http://www.misterbed.fr/ today but it was down for maintenance. Follow this link for Ferry Options for Nantes – Typical Costs for Car plus 3 Passengers Will anyone interested please let me know whether they are on richnang@btinternet.com : Your earliest reply will be much appreciated, and I will then keep those in categories 1 and 2 above informed of any developments. Please also forward this message to anyone not included who has heard about the 2008 event and might wish to join in the fun! Best Wishes to all for Good Sailing in 2009. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Read below Richards report on the 2008 event and be inspired Richards 2008 Report British Triumph at the 2008 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. 2008 Prizewinners Access 303 one person: Access 2.3 one person: Access 303 two person: 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 Click this link to read Alex Hovden's report on the 2008 event
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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!
