Open Belgian 420 Championships Nieuwpoort, Belgium 16/17 September 2000

Paul Campbell-James and Matt Gill convincingly won the Belgian 420 Open over the weekend. This was their first victory since Campbell-James’ return to the sport in late August having broken his leg last May. A good confidence building result, Campbell-James and Gill were delighted with their achievement, particularly when at one stage they feared the petrol crisis in the UK and Europe might mean they couldn't attend.

Racing was at Nieuwpoort in Belgium on Saturday and Sunday and just under 25 boats were entered. The gale force winds and huge seas on Saturday meant there was no racing on the first day but fortunately it moderated on the Sunday. The sea still had plenty of chop but the breeze had dropped to a force 4 for the first race. It continued to drop all day with only marginal trapezing conditions for the final race. Good boat speed was important to drive the boat through the lumpy sea in the lighter conditions.

In race 1 Campbell-James and Gill had to fight hard throughout. Sailing an inner loop trapezoid course they reached the first mark 2nd but a good run took them just into the lead for the second beat. The fleet split on the next run and a Belgian just pipped them to the bottom mark however the British pair sailed a superb final reach and regained the lead and went on to win the first race.

In race 2 and race 3 Campbell-James and Gill lead from the start to the finish, by now the wind had eased somewhat. In race 2 they had pulled out a comfortable gap by the windward mark and by the finish they were ahead by almost 3 minutes from the second boat. It had been a short 35 minute race. In race 3 Campbell-James/Gill won it off the start, with a good port end start they tacked over to be in front of the fleet and never looked back, again winning by similar margin to the first race. The wind had dropped a lot more for this race so it lasted for almost an hour and a half.

Having already won the championships Campbell-James and Gill ended up 4th in the final race. After a mediocre start they then had problems with a fitting pulling off the spinnaker pole. However, with three first places and one discard they had won by 5 points from Steve Moulaert and Tom Mares from Belgium.

This page was last updated on 24-Sep-2000 18:08. 420 UK Webmaster, Mike Greenland, [email protected]