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Team Styles and Piggott claim a podium position at Dutch f18 Nationals

2 months ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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2nd overall at the Dutch Nats was a great way to end the international 2008 F18 racing season, after a great worlds in Spain earlier this year coming 5th.

Hugh Styles and Adam Piggott reaffirmed their winning ways in the breeze as they claimed 2 of the 7 races as out right victories over the rest of a strong 50 fleet of F18’s sailing from Medemblik Holland.

Racing was this weekend Saturday and Sunday. With the wind Easterly at between 13 and 20 knots,it provided some great conditions for sailing F18’s. With brilliant blue sky, sun and windy conditions, both days were near perfect for the event.

The team won the 1st and last races and, but for some bad luck they would have been even closer to nailing the title for the overall event.

This is the last of the international events which the team will do this season and it was great to finish on a high note.

Hugh commented” its been a great season sailing with Adam, we’e shown some blistering speed in the windier conditions. We had a few mistakes this weekend because we were a little rusty. Not having sailed since the f18 worlds in July. But the high’s like winning the races were really fantastic.”

There is one event left in the UK calendar in October the inlands. Other than that Hugh will be in Aus over the winter and will be doing some F18 racing down there.

Team Styles and Piggott want to thank all of their sponsors and supporters. Without their help this success would not have been possible.
Tacktick
Nacra Europe
Fat Face
Gill
Marlow Ropes
Sailing Networks

Team Styles and Piggott claim a podium position at Dutch f18 Nationals

2 months ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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2nd overall at the Dutch Nats was a great way to end the international 2008 F18 racing season, after a great worlds in Spain earlier this year coming 5th.

Hugh Styles and Adam Piggott reaffirmed their winning ways in the breeze as they claimed 2 of the 7 races as out right victories over the rest of a strong 50 fleet of F18’s sailing from Medemblik Holland.

Racing was this weekend Saturday and Sunday. With the wind Easterly at between 13 and 20 knots,it provided some great conditions for sailing F18’s. With brilliant blue sky, sun and windy conditions, both days were near perfect for the event.

The team won the 1st and last races and, but for some bad luck they would have been even closer to nailing the title for the overall event.

This is the last of the international events which the team will do this season and it was great to finish on a high note.

Hugh commented” its been a great season sailing with Adam, we’e shown some blistering speed in the windier conditions. We had a few mistakes this weekend because we were a little rusty. Not having sailed since the f18 worlds in July. But the high’s like winning the races were really fantastic.”

There is one event left in the UK calendar in October the inlands. Other than that Hugh will be in Aus over the winter and will be doing some F18 racing down there.

Team Styles and Piggott want to thank all of their sponsors and supporters. Without their help this success would not have been possible.
Tacktick
Nacra Europe
Fat Face
Gill
Marlow Ropes
Sailing Networks

Skippering iShares X40 Kiel

2 months ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Wow what an event Kiel has been. It was fantastic to be performing to a crowd, fly by’s were great fun and it was great to have the crowd cheering us on as we raced round the turning mark just off the beach.

For the ishares team its been a tough event, as in so many races we felt like we had started well and were good as we came towards the first mark. But for a few reasons we struggled to convert this into actual results.

We had some good training before the event against team Origin. We thought we could gain more out of the rig setup, so changed this and unfortunately it back fired. Once we reset the boat we were much faster and easier to accelerate out of boat handling situations.

Day 3 of the regatta, the Sunday was the best day for us, with some good solid race results to start with in the first few races. This set the standard for us and we fought tooth and nail, in the 16th and 17th races where we had some bad luck, to keep climbing the leaderboard.

This got us to the final 18th double point race and all to play for. We won the start at the starboard end of the line and extended on the fleet. Coming into mark one we were in the lead, with JPMorgan second. An issue with the spinnaker furler cost us the lead and by the bottom mark we were on the heels of JPMorgan, with another 2 laps to go. We waited patiently for another lap and then pounced as they had a really bad leeward mark rounding, getting inside their line and then extending up the next 2 legs to cross the finish line as the clear winners of the last race of the regatta, double points and great to finish off the regatta on a real high note! One of the boys on the team commented “your only as good as your last race, so watch out in Amsterdam!!” as we crossed the line.

Thanks to iShares, and all the partner sponsors, without whom we would not have been here and would not have this fantatic event to race in.

All the best.

Hugh

Texel

5 months ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Since last weekend Adam Piggott and I have driven the X40 to Hyeres for the next Extreme 40 event, and then travelled the length of Europe to come to Texel for the 31st edition of the Round Texel race, on Saturday the 7th June. The day was a mixed affair, with light offshore wind from the North East to begin with, and tide underneath the boats at the start. This pushed a big group of boats over the line early and a few black flag infringements were signalled. But for the Fat Face team, of Hugh Styles and Adam Piggott, they benefitted from the situation, with a near perfect start, and a clear lane off the line, they were with the leading boats for the first mile. The sea breeze started to kick in and made for tricky tactical decisions, either staying in by the beach with a good angle for the breeze, or going off shore for the building sea breeze. Hugh and Adam positioned well and rounded the first gate, first F18 with a 100m lead, they extended this to 200m by the next mark the VC bouy. The downwind did not go so well and the team were not able to maintain the lead and dropped, back. But put in a late charge through into the finish, when the wind increased in the last 5 km to the line. Finishing 10th the team were pleased and gutted all at the same time. Hugh commented “Through to the half way point we were sailing really well together and this maintained, but we just couldn’t get going on the downwind. The good thing is this regatta has given us lots of good training time and we feel we are right on top of our game on the boat. When we get to Vigo for the F18 worlds in 3 weeks time we will be well prepped and on fire, watch this space!!

All the best and many thanks to all our sponsors:
Fat Face
Nacra Europe
Gill
Tactick
Marlow Ropes
Towergate Mardon

San Francisco Extreme 40 sailing

7 months ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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I was in San Francisco last week, which is one of the windiest sailing venues i have ever been to!!

Great, but it did cause plenty of problems as i was there running a weeks worth of corporate sailing for iShares, as the Skipper of their Extreme 40.

San Francisco bay is amazing and the wind generally blows from the West through under the Golden gate bridge and down the harbour side, most days. usually with the wind speed of around 20-30 knots. fine if your sailing a laser, but when trying to sail an Extreme 40 catamaran which is one of the most powerful boats on the planet, it is rather problematical.

We had a great week with the 1st April a media and promotional day with the press, we were main line NBC 11 TV and in all of the major local papers, thanks to our friends at Ogilvy PR agency. Then we did 6 days of corporate guest sailing, out around Alcatraz and across the bay to Sausalito.

The team worked hard all week and id like to thank them for their efforts, Hugh Fletcher, Adam Piggott, Andrew Macphereson and Nick Moloney.

Now we have the boat in a container being sent to Europe and it should arrive in the first week in may for an event in Valencia. this will be the first chance to sail against the likes of Alinghi and other boats since last year in Amsterdam.

Thats all for now.

Hugh


Garda Centomiglia

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Yesterday was the first time for me racing the centomiglia race100km of long distance
race on lake garda in the north of Italy. Wow what an amazing place, huge mountains
come down to the waters edge with sheer cliffs. At the top of the cliffs in one section
you can see some crazy Italians have built houses which perch atop the sheer cliff.

We raced in the most awesome of conditons, 25 knots on the nose just after the start
and steep chopppy waves which felt like brick walls to the iShares Extreme 40 I was racing on.

The conditions worsened as we went further up the lake, and all of a sudden the main halyard
blew and at the same time the jib sheet blew off the clew. Maybe game over but no we fixed it reefed
the main and off again.

This meant we could continue but had been a setback and lost us ground to the eventual winner
Tommy Hilfiger Extreme 40. The wind died through the rest of the race and we maintained our
position to the finish, and a 2nd for the first attampt for the Centomiglia regatta.

Not bad for a first attempt and lots more fun to be had if we do it again next year.

Ciao for now Hugh

Formula 18 Europeans Lake Como

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Lake Como was a great location for the Formula 18 Europeans last week. The organisers did a great job with 14 races over 4 days, after we lost the first day of the regatta to no wind.

Sailing with Ryan Crawford as the Fat Face Team, we had a blinder of a week with several race wins to our credit and a host of 2nds. We found the conditions just to our liking with a mix of shifty and gusty northerly winds on the first day and then the southerly breeze kicked in for the last 3 days of the regatta and it was a get to the west shore for more pressure.

The sun shone and the wind blew we had a great time and no injuries for the crew this time (Ryan kept all his teeth in his mouth rather thn loosing some like he did at Texel when he bit the front beam).

The Nacra Infusion was great and we felt fast all week and this combined with a bit of punchy starting and some good positioning everything came together well.

We went into the last race day with all to play for, a point off the lead. Unfortuantely we were scuppered on the second and third races just off the start line and this hampered us a lot. We finished the last day with a solid 5th place in the last race.

This put us in 2nd overall, really pleasing and a great way to finish off the second major F18 regatta of the year after the F18 worlds in AUS in February. Just as good was that our fellow Nacra Infusion team mate Mischa Heemskerk and Sebastian Tentij won the event, big up Team NACRA!!!


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Marseille X40 Hughs team podium

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Today the first day for the iShares Cup Marseille Extreme 40 catamaran regatta.

I was tactician trimmer up and downwind and had plenty on. We had 15 knots in the early morning and this gradually died through the day and we ended with a 5 race series with us finishing the day in 3rd position overall with Sunday and Monday to go. Another 10 races planned and all to play for!!!

We are pleased so far and fired to don better tomorrow as we had a few elements of our racing game which needed improvement for this regatta. Namely the starts and this has been a whole lot better than in Munich.

I was calling the shots and enjoyed it very much with the guys Nick Malone (Vendee Globe yachtsman), Seb Josse (ABN Amro 2 fame), and David Carr of Victory Americas cup challenge. Now looking forward to tomorrow and the fun starts at lunch time.


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Styles and Crawford win Texel Dutch Open

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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On Friday June 22 2007, the British Fatface-team Styles/Crawford won the Texel Dutch Open after an exciting conclusion. In the end, the gap to Dutchmen Heemskerk and Tentij was only half a point. The British F18 Capricorn duo Gummer/Burke were third. The Open Class I showed new leaders, as both F18 Nacra Infusion teams Huntelman/Van der Kamp and De Koning/Van Leeuwen took a bullet. Thanks to a moderate south-western wind, the course was laid out along the coast, which gave a good view for the people on the Texel beach. They witnessed the battle against the current while beating upwind. The consideration whether to choose for less current or more pressure, made it an exciting game. In the very last race, Hans Primowees was finally beaten once in the Open Class II. He finished second after the British Nacra 500 of Luke and Adam Butler, but he won the overall series. Later in the afternoon, Heemskerk and Tentij won the TNG Short Track Races.

Dutch Open day 1

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Today was the first day of the Texel Dutch Open, this is the regatta just before the round Texel Race this weekend.

We were onfire won both races today, sailing the Fat Face boat. Racing was postponed for 3 hours and so we went out and did 2 hrs of training with our Nacra Infusion team mates Mischa Heemskerk and Sebastian Tenji. This really paid off as once the racing got underway at 4.30pm we has very good speed.

We started really welll, punchy some might say, but then sailed conservatively which worked to our advantage, taking places in race 1 and leading from the front in race 2.

Looking forward to another good day tomorrow.

Ciao for now.

Hugh

Geneva Bol D'or X 40 racing

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Today saw us launch the Offshore challenges X40 onto the waters of lake Geneva. This is rather a relief for me as this week has been a bit epic. Monday saw 24 hrs of travelling picking up vans, trailers and sorting out Swiss customs for an X40 container.

We have managed to get the boat all tickled and out for a sail on the lake. We have seen some wacky cats out there sailing, some 28 ft cats and then the daddy of the lakes catamarans the, One Design 35’s. Ernesto Bertarelli’s (of Alinghi AC fame) boat, and his sisters boat with its all girl crew were also out training for the event. They are amazing machines completely over canvassed and doing 3 times the wind speed up and downwind, in what most of us in the UK consider to be un-sailable conditions.

Funniest of the day was upwind hull flying past this motorboat which was drifting in the middle of the lake and we interrupted a couple naked as the day they were born in a rather compromising position. Didn’t stop them though and the cheeky bloke gave us a wave too.

Tomorrow is corporate sailing and training prior to the BOL D’OR which starts this Saturday with 530 competing boats and a race up and down the 83 miles of lake. Shouldn’t take too long, but last year some of the fastest boats took over 17 hrs to complete the course!! Aaargh hope its windy this year!!


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Munich X40 cat sailing

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Out in Munich Germany with the Offshore Challenges X40 for the first of the iShares cup events of 2007.

We arrived Sunday it took about a day and a half to rig and for the last 2 days we have been training, here on Lake Starnberg.

We have racing and corporate entertainment each day corporate in the morning and racing in the afternoons.

Carnac & Raid Bleu F18 racing

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Winning the land yachting section of the Raid Bleu Normandie was the Fat Face racing team of Hugh, Mischa and Bastian!

The last weekend was racing in Carnac on the coast of Brittany in France. 300 catamarans were involved in both fleet and long distance racing from 11 different countries. For the new Nacra Infusion F18 racing team consisting of Hugh Styles and Ryan Crawford, it was their first international regatta.

Racing was tight as usual and we had a great regatta improving with each race. The highlight was our winning race 8 of the nine race series. The other was the speed we managed to get out of the Infusion in the long distance race in the light winds.

Since Carnac the Nacra race team has been training preparing for this seasons events. We had a great camp in Carnac with three days good sailing before travelling to Normandie for the Raid Bleu long distance race.

The Raid Bleu is a new event in the cat racing calendar. The event involved 20 – 45 km coastal races based from Omaha beach the location of the D-Day landing near to Caen. This was a departure from our normal style of short course windward leeward racing. The long legs of the course allowed us to refine our trimming and steering coordination, like a glorified training session. We finished 6th overall and manged to fly the Fat Face flag up and down the Normandie coast.


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Hyeres Olympic classes regatta

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Little or no wind has characterised the regatta so far. Racing has been delayed till the early evening on most days now to get the best wind and tomorrow looks no better.

The Laser Radial course where I have been coaching Laura Baldwin again has bee unpredictable to say the least. Laura has had some great individual race results and is poised to setp it up with the onset of the finals racing tomorrow. She is in 26th. I am the best coach on the water though, as i win the towing race into the harbour for her each day, He who dares wins!!

Team GBR are doing well with several of the sailors on the Podiums going into the finals racing stage of the week.

Notably John Pink in the 49er leading the way equal points with Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks also of GBR.

Coaching ladies is always amusing as this evening we were treated to a Canadian treat for desert, Schmaws, biscuits, sandwiching hot marshmellow and chocolate, VVVVV good!! The things you have to try to be a supportive coach!!

All the best

Hugh

Extreme 40 sailing

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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I had to got to the top of the mast of the Extreme 40 yesterday, even in no wind and relatively flat water your getting thrown around like a rag doll. Think ill leave that to the expert bowmen!! Im better to keep to the back of the boat where its dryer and less chance of falling off!

Some more coaching F18 in the next day or so but got to find some wind for it first, we have been waiting since Monday so far and it doesnt look any better today either.

Big Cat sailing

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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The ast couple of days have been sailing Extreme 40 catamarans, these things are amazing and even in 2 knots you are sailing along at double the wind speed.

palma mallorca rain wind no wind and somme sun

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Palma is the location for the Princess Sofia Olympic classes regatta.

I am coaching Laura Baldwin and we are making great progress on the goals and Laura has had some great individual race results and some excellent moments in the other races..

Palma is a real mixed bag of sailing conditions this year with day 1 and 2 with ramdom and variable winds coming and going so that we only had 2 races of the 4 scheduled.

Today was a great day for racing and the race officer did areally bad job, we had an ok race which he abandoned with 2 legs to go and then took 3 hrs to get another start away!! rediculous when all the sailors are freezing cold and tryingto saty focussed. Laura had a good day with 5th and 6th.

We have the cut for the Gold and Silver fleets this evening and then into finals racing and then medal race on Friday.

This weekend I am racing doing tactics on the Farr 45 “Fortis Ecxel” at the Red Funnel Regatta sailed from Cowes. The second picture is me steering Atomic the Farr 45 winning the Nationals a couple of years ago, so it will be a good feeling to get bnack into racing the Farr 45 to see if we have the old skills still.

All the best and hope to see plenty of you on the water this weekend!!


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Portugal Coaching via Holland to F18 racing Datchet

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Its been a whirl wind since last week. I flew back from coaching Laura Baldwin and team (in the picture, Hugh, Laura and Ben Paton) last week in Portugal on Wednesday night.

Thursday at 0600 on the Eurotunnel to Europe to go pick new Nacra Infusion from Holland. Build, load and back to Uk for the 2300 eurotunnel.

Friday build as much of boat as possible and off to Datchet for the weekend event. Saturday finish building in time for the first start at 1200. Just squeeked it and started the first race 2 mins behind. Plenty of catching up to do!!

The weekend sailing with my new F18 crew Ryan Crawford we finished 2nd, but oh so close to winning!! the Datchet F18 20007 Europeans qualifying event. It was down to the wire in the last race we lead at the last leeward mark. Stuart Gummer had to try something different and punted hard right, it hadnt paid all day so i was happy to let him go and it turned out to be the winning call. Bagging him the race and the event.

Gutted but, loosing refocusses the mind and we will be on fire at the next event Carnac at the end of April.


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Cascais Portugal windy as ever

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Its dawned a really windy day here in Cascais and will be a full rollercoaster ride for the sailors downwind today.

The picture is of a bit of class room debrief and this is being mixed with days which include, weights cardio and 3 hrs sailing for physical activity followed by debrief and office work and the essential eating regime for Laura and training partners.

They are burning loads of calories and seem to need lots of protein to keep building muscle whilst reducing the body fat.

Ill be back mid week for collection of the new Nacra Infusion Formula 18 from holland and then the first event with the new boat at this weekends F18 event at Datchet.

All the best, hope to see you all at Datchet!!

Hugh


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Laser Radial coaching Laura Baldwin

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Back Laser Radial coaching for Laura Baldwin again which is good. I really enjoy helping to imporve someones performance and working closely with Laura we are making some real gains.

We are out in Cascais where the ISAF World Sailing Championships will be held this coming July. Then all of the Olympic classes will be in attendance and the world will be watching. Everyone will be keen to see who are the runners and riders who are in with a shout for medals. As this will give the first signs of who are potential medallists for the Olympics in Beijing 2008.

We are here in Cascais training early to get a really good steer on the conditions which the sailors will encounter for later in the year. Its a bit tricky though as being in a different season you dont always get the same type of conditoons as that will be experienced during July for the worlds.

The facilities here are being built around us, the slip ways are inadequate at the moement even for the small amount of people who are here training preparation for the worlds. How they hope to get all of the 80 tornados, etc, etc all accommodated here i have no idea. looks like it will be a full bun fight!!

At the moment there is a 470 and finn regatta happening, with Ed Wright GBR sailing in the Finn class and winning overall. In all there is representation from Poland, Japan, United States, Portugal, Spain, Great Britain, to name but a few. So all is hotting up down here and i can only assume it will be getting busier and businer in between the times when there are Olympic ragattas going on around Europe.

This all starts again in palma in the start of April, to be followed by Hyeres regatta in the south of France late in April. May is Holland regatta at Medwemblik and then more training before the worlds in cascais. A busy period, intense and hard to make sure that sailors take enough down time during their time off between regattas.

Ciao for now from Cascais, which is near Lisbon on the West Portugal coast.

Sunny day in weymouth

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Funny how the weather can dictate your mood of a day!! Like in the picture attached Im in Bondi near Sydney Australia on my way back home from the Formula 18 Catamaran Worlds in Yeppoon last week.

Today here in Weymouth has already been a good day and im only half way through the morining. Having managed to get a run in first thing im on the charge now with the follow ups from the Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace at the weekend. To those of you i have not managed to get to catch up with the show sorry and I will get to you later. If not contact me through messaging me through this site.

We had a great show on the F18 catamaran stand with the new Nacra Infusion, lots of interest in that boat. It will be being raced at the Datchet F18 Travellers Trophy event 24/25 March at Datchet, be there for a demo sail!!!!

Cheers

Hugh

Hugh Styles and Tom Peel end the F18 Worlds 2007 on a high!!

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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It was tight at the top on the final day of racing at the Seawind F18 World Championship, being sailed in the waters off Rydges Capricorn Resort, Yeppoon Queensland.

The week had been dominated by winds blowing anywhere from 14 to gusting 30 knots.

The outcome of the regatta was a close fought affair all the way through the competition, coming to a climax on the last day with the overall title still up for grabs between AUS Darren Bundock and NED Mitch Booth. Close behind saw a fight between Nacra Infusion team mates FRA Billy Besson, NED Mischa Heemskerk and GBR Hugh Styles vying for the remaining spots in the top 5 overall.

The competitors had been blessed by good strong winds all week, intermingled with sunshine and 77 boats to compete against which made the regatta a heady mix of exhilarating sailing, competitive racing and a little sun burn.

The Rydges resort in Yeppoon hosted the 2007 Formula 18 Worlds. All the competitors stayed in the resort and enjoyed the fantastic facilities and welcomed the fact that the beach and boat park were a meagre 5 mins walk from the door of the apartment.

Many of the competitors had had ups and downs in their results during the course of the competition, with the windy conditions proving too much for some bodies and kit alike. Hugh and Tom were unlucky enough to fall victim of this on the first day, having to retire from the first race after the kite managed to wrap itself up so badly that they struggled to get it down and when they did the pole broke. This set back did not deter the team; they battled hard from there on in coming from behind in the rankings to be in contention for the top 5 at the start of the final days racing.

In each of the 3 races on the final day the fleet was so eager to get away that there were numerous general recalls. Bundock and Booth were at each other as soon as their boats touched the water, chasing each other pre start to get the upper hand. Hugh and Tom opted for a more conservative starting approach and with three solid starts they rounded the windward mark in the top 3 in all of the races.

Billy Besson was sailing very well, making it difficult for Styles and Peel to take their 3rd position overall, by taking line honours in the first race of the day, with Booth second and Styles third by a whisker.

The second race was very close fought between Booth and Bundock, with Styles biting at the heels of these two round the track, eventually taking thrid with Besson fourth.

The last race of the regatta was the crowning glory for Styles and Peel. Starting well they used their superior upwind speed on port tack to extend on the fleet to round the first mark with a comfortable lead. From this point onwards they were never headed, sailing away from the opposition. Hugh Commented “We said this morning that we wanted to win a race this week and it was fantastic to finish on such a high by winning the last race, helping us clinch 4th place overall.”

The overall title went to Aussies Darren Bundock and Glen Ashby, with a sterling effort in the last race to defend their slender 1 point lead over Mitch Booth and Pim Nieuwenhuis.

As F18 2007 worlds drew to a close, it was good to have seen such great racing in Australia, and it can only bode well for the rest of the season of F18 racing back in Europe. Carnac is the next big event, followed by Texel and then the F18 Europeans in Italy in July.

Hugh Styles and Tom Peel would like to say a big thank you to Nacra, Fat Face and Mardon Marine for making this event possible for the team. To Sailing Networks, Sail.TV and The Daily Sail for helping with the teams coverage through out the event. Lastly to all of the teams friends and family for their support and encouragement.

Hugh Styles
Olympic Sailor and Coach
Tel +44 7712760524
Email: hugh@hughstyles.com
Skype: hughstyles

Sponsors:
Fat Face, Gill, Holt Performance Hardware, Marlow Ropes, Nacra Europe, Mardon Marinne Insurance, Tacktick.

Associates:
Sailing Networks


Day 1 F18 worlds Yeppooon AUS

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

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Today saw the first race proper for the worlds, with a 77 boat fleet from countries as far afield as Chile to Belgium. It was windy as today, a big surf to get through when leaving the beach. Its good that the beach is very soft sand, it means that you dont have so much of a worry when you are getting into the surf. At least the boat doesnt get too scratched and at least everyone is in the same position.

The conditions looked worse than they were and on the Hugh wind speed guestimation gauge i think it was 15 – 25 knots depending on gust or lull. However, the waves were whoppers, with the downhill ride being a full roller coaster affair. it often felt like it was too full on. I had a number of situations where i thought we just couldnt avoid the next wave on the downhill ride. We would pile headlong into the next wave, everything would load up, stretch and if it was a really big wave Tom, my crew would stagger forwards a bit. Fortunately for him he was held firm by his chicken line (retaining line, attached to the rudder fittings to stop him getting thrown forward during a nose dive).

We were a bit unfortunate with our race as we approached the leeward mark getting the kite down, it went over the front of the pole as we turned into the wind. This lead to all sorts of issues as we couldnt get the kite down after that and had to retire from the race. Gutted.

Back on the beach we heard of tales of woe as the stories of peoples wipe outs and crashes spread like wild fire. It was a day with a few injuries to people and boats, but fortunately most of the injuries were only superficial and the boats have all been mended now and will be fine for the morning. We have a 4 race schedule tomorrow, first start 10am. it will be a good busy day as the forecast is for at least as much wind as today. Hopefully people will have learnt how to deal with the conditions better and we will get more races in. It was probably good for most of the fleet that racing was abandoned after the 1st race, breakages could then be fixed.

We decided that a bit more practice was in order for Tommy and I to get used to the Nacra we are sailing here. It was the boat handling we needed to get sorted. So we went out and did another hour of tacking, gybing, windward and leeward mark roundings. This was great as it made us sort out the routines, especially for the windward and leeward marks. I came off the water feeling like we had really pushed ourselves on and have made some big gains for our racing tomorrow. Good job that we went out practicing, because we had a bit of a gear failure issue with Toms trapese harness breaking.

So all sorted with a good nights sleep ahead now and looking forward to getting into the racing tomorrow.

The first of many Hugh's news

about 1 year ago by Hugh Styles | permanent link | comments (0)

Today has been a busy day tidying up all the loose ends here in Weymouth.

I have also hooked myself up with all of the organisation with the Sailing Networks team, which is all very exciting.

I have the weekend up in southampton and then fly out to Australia from Heathrow on Sunday night.

All the best for now.

Hugh

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