Light but lumpy

Archie Masey and Matt Noble took the first race of the International 14 World Championship in Germany

British team Archie Massey and Matt Noble won the first race of the International 14 World Championships in perfect skiff conditions in Warnemünde today.

The wind was a moderate 11 to 15 knots from the west, but a choppy and wavy Baltic Sea made it feel stronger as crews struggled to keep their hi-tech, wing-foiled boats at full pace. Massey and Noble held a narrow lead around the first mark of the four-and-a-half-lapper which took not much short of two hours to complete.

Massey overgybed on the layline to the first leeward mark, but fortunately for him so did most of the front runners. Just behind the leader there was a battle between three boats, the Australian teams Roger Blasse and Andrew Gilligan and Mark Krstic and Matt Lowe and the Brits Mike Lennon and Andy Rice. These three battled throughout and there was little to choose between them at the finish, but Blasse came in just ahead of Krstic and Lennon.

Aussie sailmaker Dave Alexander and Cameron McDonald led the rest of the pack, coming in fifth ahead of first lady Katie Nurton and Nigel Ash. Nurton beat her brother George - crewing for former European Champion James Fawcett - by just a place. 49er sailor Dave Evans, crewed by double Olympic medallist Simon Hiscocks, might have done better than their eighth place but for losing a tiller extension up one of the long windward legs, making progress painfully slow on port tack for this new 14 pairing. However, they still managed to hold off Alister Richardson, recent winner of the 14 Prince of Wales Trophy in Weymouth, crewed by 49er Olympic sailor Simon Wheeler.

While the top nine was dominated by Australian and British teams, the USA crew of Paul Galvez and Guillermo Leon de Barra finished tenth, with Olli Voss and Jens Holscher the first of the many German teams in 15th place.

Tomorrow the wind is expected to be a little lighter, although the waves are still likely to be out in force on the Baltic, making for another challenging day in this seven-race series.

Results:

Pos	Helm/Crew	Nationality	R1	Tot
1	Archie Massey	GBR	1	1,0
	matt Noble
2	Roger Blasse	AUS	2	2,0
	Andrew Gilligan
3	Mark Krstic	AUS	3	3,0
	Matt Lowe
4	Mike Lennon	GBR	4	4,0
	Andy Rice
5	Alexander Dave	AUS	5	5,0
	Cameron McDonald
6	Katie Nurton	GBR	6	6,0
	Nigel Ash
7	James Fawcett	GBR	7	7,0
	George Nurton
8	David Evans	GBR	8	8,0
	Simon Hiscocks
9	Alister Richardson	GBR	9	9,0
	Simon Wheeler
10	Paul Galvez	USA	10	10,0
	Guillermo Leon De La Barra
11	Tom Heywood	GBR	11	11,0
	Edward Clay
12	Jarrod Simpson	GBR	12	12,0
	Grant Rollerson
13	Martin Jones	GBR	13	13,0
	Neale Jones
14	Douglas Pattison	GBR	14	14,0
	Damian Ash
15	David Hayter	AUS	15	15,0
	Matt Johnstan
16	Oliver Voss	GER	16	16,0
	Jens Holscher
17	Julian Pearson	GBR	17	17,0
	Nick Martin
18	Jan-Christian Witte	GER	18	18,0
	Kai Lassen
19	Matt Balmer	AUS	19	19,0
	Derek Layfieled
20	Damon Roberts	GBR	20	20,0
	Alan Roberts
21	Axel Reinsch	GER	21	21,0
	Felix Weidling
22	Georg Borkenstein	GER	22	22,0
	Eike Dietrich
23	Bettina Möller	GER	23	23,0
	Jens Kulenkampf
24	Stephan Heim	GER	24	24,0
	Benjamin Blanasch
25	Ron Boehm	USA	25	25,0
	Pete Mohler
26	Markus Ostermair	GER	26	26,0
	Moritz Klein
27	Stewart Vickery	AUS	27	27,0
	Tim Withall
28	Carmen Bernitt	GER	28	28,0
	Olli Holste
29	Matthew Critchley	GBR	29	29,0
	Dion Houghton
30	Andy Partington	GBR	30	30,0
	Tom Partington
31	Andrew Penmann	GBR	31	31,0
	Tim Bastow
32	Stefan Ritsche	GER	32	32,0
	Dominik Entzminger
33	Dicken Maclean	GBR	33	33,0
	Sam Littlejohn
34	Charles Duchesne	GBR	34	34,0
	Henry Maxfield
35	Peter Roocks	GER	35	35,0
	Ole Klingner
36	Mark Schuerch	GER	36	36,5
	Edda Thiessen
37	Chris Turner	GBR	36	36,5
	Adam Ovington
38	David Edge	GBR	38	38,0
	Lee Arnison
39	Björn Frasch	GER	39	39,0
	Oliver Peter
40	Martin Pascal	GBR	40	40,0
	Robin Pascal
41	Matt Larkin	GBR	41	41,0
	Michael Barnes
42	Kai Kahm	GER	42	42,0
	Gerrit Schmitt
43	Philip Strong	AUS	43	43,0
	Jeffre Klemm
44	Daniel Theeß	GER	44	44,0
	Hannes Voigt
45	Tom Smedley	GBR	45	45,0
	Charles Tavner
46	Lutz Scheulen	GER	46	46,0
	Stephan Koch
47	Stefan Lahmer	GER	47	47,0
	Götz Große
48	Marten Lau	GER	48	48,0
	Michael Voß
49	Ivo Gonzenbach	AUT	49	49,0
	Martina Müller
50	Takashi Shimozato	JPN	50	50,0
	Takahito Sato