Phil Walker and David Krizek onboard their new Figaro boat Atlantik FT at St .Bart's finish of Figaro Transat AG2R .
Finished!
Thursday, May 15th—Phil Sharp arrived into St Barts just after 0700 local time onboard his yacht Atlantik FT in 23rd place out of 26 starters. The race took him 24 days, 23 hours, 13 minutes and 13 seconds. Phil and his team-mate David Krizek were at the front of the fleet for much of the race and enjoyed a podium position for several days.
After taking a few days to settle into the race routine and to get to know their new Figaro boat, they stealthily climbed the ranking each day before choosing to take a northerly route in search of wind. This one tiny discrepancy in the chain of the weather upset the rest of the race for them and yet it could have just as easily been the other way round...Mother Nature played a harsh card and it cost them dearly.
A philosophical Phil reported in after a beer and a swim: “It’s not the result I wanted at all, but the main thing is that we got across - some of the boats didn’t make it, so we should feel pleased. We pushed really hard for the last couple of days, our adrenaline was running as we knew we were finally getting in. The miles came whizzing down in the end. It was great to see the rocks of St Barts earlier this morning and we got in without any problems. It is amazing to be in, finally we can behave like human beings and not like machines. It is amazing how much you appreciate the simple things in life when you’ve been at sea. Just eating and washing seem like luxuries, things you take for granted on land.“
“Amazingly there was a box waiting for me on the dock - full of 20 tins of spam and a bottle of rum, I have no idea who they are from. My father was disgusted to watch me tuck into a tin of spam before he could take me for a slap up breakfast! I had a beer as well, never known beer to taste so good at 0700 in the morning!”
“There were quite a few boats to see us in, it was a lovely experience. There was one boat making a lot of noise setting off fireworks, so will have woken up the whole town and all the other skippers who had already got in! We’ve still been treated like winners, despite our position, which is really nice. I suppose it is still a big feat and not your ordinary job…I’m just thankful that we held it all together and nothing dramatic happened. Once we’d made our mistake with the weather, it’s difficult to make back the miles. Our northern route could have really paid off, but it didn’t, so we had to plug further and further south in painfully light winds. It was pretty miserable knowing you couldn’t win it back. We were left in the lurch with no weaponry.”
“Figaros are quite slow underpowered boats that are always screaming for more power downwind and they don’t accelerate, just lollop over. You’ve just got to be patient, point in the right direction and trim to perfection. There is such a difference to Figaros and 40s. It’s taught me a lot about myself and taught me how to be patient. We had some pretty black moments out there, but you can’t stay like that for long as there is no point in being down in the dumps - you’ve got to get back on a positive note and look forward.“
Report from Phil Sharp—Datchet Water
There was a good turnout of 17 29ers at last weekend's 9er B14 and Byte open at Datchet Water. As the competitors were rigging the breeze built from a shifty and fickle 5kts to a shifty 14kts by the time the first race got underway! The first start was all clear but the lead changed many times during the race due to the shifty conditions. The first group of five rounded the windward mark tightly packed. Phil Walker & John Mather (Team Harken) did a gybe set to get into more breeze while the rest carried on to sail round the spreader mark! They quickly realised their mistake and dropped their kite to follow the rest round. Max Richardson & Alex Groves (Youth World Champions) finished first closely followed by Henry Lloyd Williams & Sam Batten.
The second race started in similar breeze. The line was heavily port biased so there were a lot of boats down the port end. James & Ed (Gul), Frances & Claire (Gul) Phil & John and Max & Alex all managed to find a way through on port and put the hammer down towards the right hand side of the course. By the first windward mark Phil & John were winning followed by James & Ed. Over the final two laps Phil & John extended their lead to just over 4 minutes. James & Ed came in 2nd followed by Frances and Claire.
The breeze had started to die by the third race. James & Ed were winning all the way round while behind there was a battle between three boats for second place. At the leeward gate Phil and John managed to sneak round in second and headed out to the left hand side of the course. James & Ed tacked across to go the right hand side where the majority of the fleet was heading but before they could get over they ran out of breeze and were left with around 4kts in the middle of the course. Meanwhile Phil & John had found 10kts over on the left hand side that held all the way to the windward mark. Phil & John rounded in first and did a gybe set, and then gybed back about 15 seconds later enabling them to defend their lead which they held to the finish.
After day one Phil & John were in 1st with 7 points with James & Ed in 2nd on 8 points and Frances & Claire were in 3rd with 9 points
The first race of the second day was delayed due to thunder and lightning but it started in around 5kts which dropped to about 2kts so the race was shortened to 2 laps. Frances & Claire owned this breeze and built up a healthy lead. Fellow ISAF team mate and also her brother James came in second, with fairly new faces James Briggs & John Welton in 3rd, and Phil & John in 4th.
Going into the final race James & Ed and Phil & John were equal first, both on 6 points. With Frances & Claire hot on their heels. All three boats got a good start but James and Frances decided to show why they were chosen to represent Britain at the ISAFS and also Max & Alex pulled out some more world class moves and made a big gain on the left up the first beat.
Overall James & Ed finished first, Frances & Claire in second and Phil & John in third.
The 29er class and its sailors would like to thank Datchet for running the event and we look forward to coming back again.
