Three races were sailed yesterday Thursday at the Fireball Worlds in Carnac, France resulting in big changes in the pecking order. Matt Burge and Daniel Schrieber now lead the pack after an exciting day's racing which saw overnight leaders Ian Dobson and Richard Wagstaff relegated to fourth place. The day started with a planned earlier start time but the fleet was kept ashore in bright sunshine with the forecast breeze feeble and fickle. Finally, around lunchtime, the sailors were sent out as the breeze improved. Starts were under the U flag followed by a black flag for the day. In race one, the wind was good enough to allow trapezing and this breeze built throughout the afternoon. Race one saw a biggish shift to the right which caught out several of the front row sailors overnight leaders Ian Dobson and Richard Wagstaff ended up in 21st while Tom Gillard and Geoff Robinson won the race.
This was followed by a race win for Gillard/Robinson in the second race of the day just ahead of Dobson/Wagstaff. In that second race, Burge/Schrieber got a solid fifth while the extremely consistent team of Penny and Russell Clarke got 6th. The wind had pipped up nicely by race two with flat-out trapezing and terrific reaches with some good waves but the day had more to give and counter to most forecasts race three saw things ramp up further with winds in the 15-knot range and gusts touching 20 knots. In that final race of the day Dobson/Wagstaff ran into difficulties, reportedly a messy capsize, and scored a DNF while Burge/Schrieber won the race and took the overall lead by two points over the Clarkes with Gillard/Edwards in third and Dobson/Wagstaff fourth. Top Irish boat Barry McCartin and Conor Kinsella are now lying in 12th position squeezed out of top ten though on equal points with 10th and 11th position boats.
The pair were amongst several top boats caught out by the right-hand shift in race one scoring a 33rd with a 9th and a 6th in subsequent races. McGrotty/Cramer still lead the rest of the Irish with Miller/Butler just behind them after an improved days work and McKenna/O'Keeffe a few places behind having suffered a black flag in race one. Today Friday is the last day of racing - with thin winds forecast and a cut off of 3 pm it will be a nail-biting morning for those on the top of the leaderboard with just 2 points separating Burge/Schrieber and the Clarkes.
Additional report by Fireball Int
Gul Fireball World Championship at Yacht Club de Carnac - day 5 ( Thursday)
The International Fireball fleet got down to the boat park after their lay day early this morning in preparation for a 3 race day. However, they were greeted by a fickle offshore breeze and a pessimistic forecast that caused many a Gallic shrug. But the sun shone and the temperature rose so much that even Geoff Edwards took off his puffa jacket.
The breeze flicked to the west, strengthened and the fleet were released. The first race started after the obligatory 3 attempts and six boats (including your author) in the black flag sin bin, although all the big names escaped censure. It did at least give us a chance to spectate an interesting race, dominated by Tom Gillard and Geoff Edwards, but with most of the contenders relegated to mid-fleet by an almighty shift on the first beat. That did give a few unfamiliar faces the chance to shine and Frederic Le Bas and Ludovic Collin (FRA 15053) wore the biggest smiles after hanging on to a well deserved 2nd place. Race 2, and by now the wind was blowing F4 and Fireballs were raking their rigs and stretching their legs. Gillard and Edwards won again closely pursued Dobson and Wagstaff and Penny and Russ Clark. Dave Sayce and Nick Rees had their best race so far with a 4th.
The final race and whitecaps were present and correct across the bay. Penny and Russ shot out of the start and into the lead, harried by Dobson and Wagstaff, but their bid for the lead was halted by a kite-up capsize and subsequent tangle at the gybe mark. Burge and Schieber chipped away (probably, I was far too far back to see) and wrested the lead from the pacey Clark’s, to go on to win. These results puts the Burge and Schieber boat into pole position leading into the last day, but assuming we sail tomorrow (and the forecast isn’t good) and get a second discard then it all tightens up with Burge, Clark and Gillard all within a few points of each other. Bring it on.
Results here
