Garda RS400 Eurocup

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This year's continental leg of the Fat face Euro Cup was held at Riva on the Northern end of Lake Garda. How to describe Riva del Garda to someone who has never been there, now that's a problem. Imagine a 30 mile long lake where everyday a warm thermal wind blows from the South starting at about midday and building to force 4/5 most afternoons. The 3000 foot mountains tower above the lake and as the wind funnels through the narrows ( 3 miles wide) the venturi effect builds the pressure under the cliffs even more.

It's detractors will say that with the wind bending off the cliffs the beats are a one sided slog and the downwind not the most tactical but the excitement of around 200 RS boats all fighting to be in the best position on the favoured side and the huge gusts of warm wind make for all the excitement most of us can handle. Add to that excellent pasta, good cheap wine and temperature that hit 40C one day and it adds up to one of the best sailing venues in the world.

This year 27 Rs 400s made their way to the start line for the first race, not a huge number but up on previous years and a continuing trend among the 400s of making this a holiday with some good competitive sailing. The series was scheduled from Monday 25th to Friday 29th, two races a day so a 10 race series with 8 to count.

Monday morning and the Riva virgins were complaining at the lack of wind, those of us who had been there a few times just sat back, waited and smiled. Sure enough the Riva doctor came down the lake dead on schedule and the scramble to launch and get to the race area was on. After two excellent races in the honking thermal wind the pattern for the week was set. David Jones and Mark Hogan won the first from Tom Halhead and Chris Bishop with Halhead/Bishop reversing the positions in the second race. This set up a duel that was to continue for the whole week and was not resolved until the last mark of the last race of the series.

In the first race third place was taken by the brothers Grimm (Baileys) who with a 4th in the second race were right on the pace. In the second race Leighton King and Rich Brown grabbed third, making up for their OCS in the first.

Tuesday was a straight repeat of Monday with maybe a tad less wind. Again Jones/Hogan won the first race from Halhead/Bishop who again won the second but this time a starting infringement had Jones/Hogan sitting on a DSQ.

Third place in the first race went to King/Brown who with a fifth in the second were looking very solid. Second place in the second race was taken but the father and son team of Chris and Rob Martin recovering from a disastrous first day when their main halyard had broken. Third place went to John Cooper and Becci Wigley who with a fifth in the earlier race completed a good day at the office.

Wednesday proved that even the Riva doctor sometime has an off day. First sign that things were not as usual was when Halhead/Bishop clocked up their third win Jones/Hogan could only manage a twelfth after a terrible start. The Martins grabbed their second consecutive second place and David Cheyne and Stephen Kane brought cheer to the Irish camp with a third place.

As we waited for the start of the second race a Caribinari boat come up along side the Committee boat. At first it was just assumed that the Grimms had been up to their usual tricks and were about to help them with their enquiries but it turned out a thunder and lightening warning had been issued and the racing was abandoned for the day. As the boats came ashore they were treated to a spectacular firework display by mother nature after which no one could have any real argument with the race committee's decision.

Thursday and the situation got back to normal with Jones/Hogan winning the first race and Halhead/Bishop the second. The third place in the first race for Halhead/Bishop was their first result outside the top two for the week which showed their incredible consistency. Splitting the two leaders with a second place in the first race was Cheyne/Kane bringing yet more joy to team Ireland and proving that Guinness really is the food of champions.

Entering the last day it was everything to play for but with the dice loaded heavily in favour of Halhead /Bishop. With discards of 2 and 3 against Jones/Hogan's DSQ and 12 they only had to win one of the last two races or see Jones/Hogan have a result out of the top two. After a long delay waiting for the 800's to decide to launch and get to race area the racing got underway later than usual. The result of Jones/Hogan beating Halhead/Bishop into second place kept the series alive to the last race. With everybody looking their watches to see if the race officer would make his 4 o'clock deadline for starting a race on the final day the fleet got away at 15:58. Halfway up the first beat it was apparent that all was not well with groups of boats becalmed and other pointing at rather strange angles. Finally boats on the right of the beat hoisted their spinnakers and the race officer admitted defeat and flew the N over A.

Even then the drama wasn't over. with the results as they stood the two leading boats were level on points but with Jones/Hogan winning on count back. Once ashore Halhead/Bishop put in a protest over an incident at the leeward mark rounding in the first race and it looked as if the whole week was going to be decided on a protest.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your point of view Halhead/Bishop had failed to inform the Committee boat on the water of the intention to protest as required in the sailing instructions so the protest was dismissed and the results stood. Third place was also tied and decided on count back in favour of Cheyne/Kane with King/Brown in fourth.

A very exciting week of fantastic sailing and tough competition all the way down the fleet. Those who missed it start saving your pennies and booking your holiday now to make sure you don't miss the best sailing in the world next time round.

Overall Results:

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