Daily double proves decisive
WITH the River Derwent like a sheet of glass, day two of the inaugural SB20 midwinter championships last Sunday had to be abandoned.
This turn of events left Honeybadger, sailed by Paul Burnell, his sons Oli and Toby and Bayley Fisher, as the topscoring boat.
Four races were sailed in an 8-10-knot north to northwesterly breeze on Saturday, with Honeybadger setting the pace by taking out the first two races.
With a seventh and a fifth to follow, this left Honeybadger with six points clear of their nearest rivals.
Coincidentally, the Sandy Bay Sailing Club skipper’s stalwart’s success comes on the eve of the International Cadet world championship in Germany, a title Burnell won twice as a teenager.
With Honeybadger winning the first two races, the first by a mere five seconds, race three went to former champion Sharpie sailor Frazer Read in Pinch.
Race four went to Michael Cooper, helming Export Roo, who finished seventh overall.
Overall Honeybadger finished on 14 points (1-1-7-5), with Pinch (10-3-1-6) scoring 20 points along with Elliott Noyce in Porco Rosso (6-6-4-4).
Close behind the three leading boats came Export Roo and Brainwave (Scott Brain) on 21 points, Team Musto (George Peacock) on 22 points, and The Monkey Boat (Edward Fader) on 23 points.
Elliott Noye and his crew head off next month to contest the European SB20 championships in Ireland after recently placing second in the Portuguese nationals.