French Nationals report 2008
French Nationals report 2008
French Finn National Championships, Quiberon, Brittany. 12-17th July.
53 Finns travelled to the beautiful Baie de Quiberon for the French National Championship, including 14 visitors from the UK.
A high-pressure system provided sun and light airs for almost all the four days of racing with some very shifty and unpredictable winds.
Jonathan Lobert ( FRA) made clear his intentions by taking 1st place in both of Monday's opening races in a variable 6-8 knots south westerly. France's light airs expert, Laurent Hay (FRA) claimed 2nd in race one but slipped to 7th in the second as many lost ground in the sudden and localised ‘snakes & ladders' shifts. The race officer had major problems trying to start races with the breeze moving 20 degrees either side of the mean with numerous subsequent general recalls. He did well to squeeze in a third race that day, starting at 6pm. The sea breeze finally overcame the synoptic wind with a sudden and dramatic right hand shift. Neil Robinson, (GBR) proved he had recovered from the major bang on the head the week before at the UK Nationals by winning the race from Allen Burrell (GBR) and Laurent Hay in third, pushing Jonathan Lobert back to fourth.
Tuesday dawned hot and sunny with the now customary wait for the breeze to arrive at 1pm. The event was hosted at the French national sailing academy near Saint-Pierre Quiberon and the sailors enjoyed a daily detailed weather briefing from the French sailing meteologist which included an eye-opening review of the previous days wind direction. The wind for race for was as unpredictable as ever, with the left hand side of the track paying for some and the far right for others as the southwesterly breeze bent around the Quiberon peninsular. David Potter (GBR) read it right to win from Adrian Brunton ( GBR) and Marc Allain Des Beauvais (FRA) who had worked hard at his pre-race weather strategy. The second race saw another GBR sail number first around the windward mark as John Heyes (GBR) led for most of the race before finally being overhauled by Jonathan Lobert who just managed to gain the inside overlap at the last mark as the wind built to12 knots. The race officer called a halt to the days racing as the championship dinner beckoned, or was it because the British boats had enjoyed too good a day!!?? The dinner proved to be a really fun evening with champagne and wine provided by the sponsor Aquarelle and a good chance to swap tales from the days racing.
Races 6 to 8 again saw numerous general recalls as the race committee struggled to find a period when the wind was stable enough in direction to lay an unbiased line. With a major pin end bias, Henry Bagnall (GBR) the previous years champion nailed the pin to lead at the windward mark and was never headed. The consistent Jonathan Lobert, runner up in the French Olympic trials followed in second ahead of Vincent Lesage (FRA) in 3rd.Allen Burrell took race 7 from Jonathan Lobert and cemented it with a 3rd in the final race of the day to lie second overnight ahead of Bagnall and Laurent Hay.
Apart from the lightweights, everyone eagerly anticipated the final days racing with the sea breeze forecast to make an appearance with winds of up to 15-18 knots rumoured. Cloud cover again delayed it's appearance and a battle with the sou'westerly gradient breeze made for a tough time for the race officer as he tried to keep up with the persistent left movement of the 8 knot wind. After several attempts with a huge pin end bias he eventually got a start off, with those right at the pin only having a short time on starboard before they were able to tack and lay the mark. Neil Robinson (GBR) Laurent Hay, Adrian Brunton and John Heyes were first around the mark with a sizeable lead on the rest and all came from the pin end with those on the right anticipating the sea breeze left frustrated. Even Jonathan Lobert had been tempted off to the right and despite his great downwind speed could only pull up to 5th. Robinson sailed well and managed to hold the lead despite the big shifts and localised pressure differences that were impossible to avoid at times.
With the championship now in the bag for Lobert, the final race in the long awaited stronger sea breeze saw some tough battles for the other podium places with boats from 2nd to 9th all very close on points and with much to play for. Laurent Hay had obviously been adding up the points and decided to sail Allen Burrell down at the start and tried to apologise for his actions before he began. With Bagnall, Burrell and Hay all within a point it was winner take all for the silver position. Hay tailed Burrell closely in the pre-start with the British boat forced to tack and head off to the un-favoured committee boat end to start. Burrell soon burned off the French ex-Olympian as the breeze freshened to around 14 knots but could do little to catch the leaders who again came in from the left hand side of the course. Henry Bagnall, having won the battle for the pin sailed away with a big lead to round first, followed by David Potter, Neil Robinson and John Heyes. Lobert and Burrell soon pulled through downwind and with Laurent Hay in a photo finish with Heyes and amazing veteran Pierre Mondeteguy (FRA) on the line no one knew their final positions until the results came out ashore.
In the end, Laurent Hay somehow won the photo to edge out Henry Bagnall and Allen Burrell by a single point and Neil Robinson's race win put him above Marc Allain des Beauvais with both on 48 points.
It was a great weeks racing in a beautiful venue and with next years event planned for La Rochelle even more visitors will no-doubt be putting it in their diaries.
1st Jonathan Lobert FRA 14pts
2nd Laurent Hay FRA 30pts
3rd Henry Bagnall GBR 31pts
4th Allen Burrell GBR 31pts
5th Neil Robinson GBR 48pts
6th Marc Allain des Beauvais FRA 48pts
7th John Heyes GBR 58pts
8th Adrian Brunton GBR 60pts
9th Stephane Alexis FRA 73pts
10th Jean Paul Gaston FRA 74pts
