Bluebottle Wins Turkish Nationals in Bodrum…

GBR 192 “Bluebottle”  Helmed by Graham Bailey, crewed by Julia Bailey, Dave Ross & Gilly Hamilton Win 🏆 in Bodrum.

The Turkish Open National Championship whose main Sponsor is Arar Petroleum Company, took place between May 20th to 24th May. A total of 18 teams participated over the 4 days as many crews used these valuable races as final preparation for the upcoming World Championship which begins on Saturday 27th with a Practice Race at 14.00.

SUI 318 dominated on Day 1, with two 1st places….

On the opening day it was SUI 318 “1 Quick 1” helmed by Wolf Waschkuhn, crewed by Charles Nankin and Joao Vidinha who seized the initiative recording two bullets by mainly playing the left-hand side of the course upwind. Former World Champion Andy Beadsworth was 2nd in race 1 and Graham Bailey was runner up in race 2.

Two bullets for Wolf, Charles & Joao on Day 1 

On the second day with lighter winds it was Graham Bailey helming GBR 192 “Bluebottle “ the late Queen of England’s 1948 Dragon that was beautifully restored by David Heritage of Cowes, who conjured up two race wins. Sailing with his wife Julia, Dave Ross & Gilly Hamilton, Graham skilfully guided this historic boat around the race track in great style.
 

Bluebottle’ team work hard to gain two victories on Day 2. Graham Bailey, Julia Bailey, Dave Ross & Gillian Hamilton.

I caught up with Dave Ross here today in Bodrum, he told me : “It was a huge privilege to be sailing on Bluebottle with Graham, Julia & Gilly. After the first day learning the boat and sailing together as a team, the second day with two wins really sealed the deal. This enabled us to sail the race course on the 3rd day rather than worry about the competitors. We were overall leaders after day 3 and with no wind, so no races possible on the final day we won the Turkish Open National Championship “  Well said Dave and many congratulations to you and the Bluebottle team.

On day 3 it was TUR 12 “Provezza” helmed by Andy Beadsworth , crewed by Simon Fry & Arda Baykal who took the opening race but their 4th place in the second race of the day left them just one point behind Bluebottle overall. So with no races on the final day Andy and his team had to settle for the runner’s up spot.

TUR 12 “Provezza” Andy Beadsworth, Simon Fry & Arda Baykal runners up overall.

The winner of the 6th race was AUS 551 “YeahNah” helmed by Jan Eckert, crewed by Torvar Mirsky & Frederico Melo. But this top team only joined the racing on the 3rd day so had no bearing on the overall scores. So in fact the final podium place went to Wolf, Charles & Joao in SUI 318.

Final Podium left 2nd Provezza (Simon Fry & Arda Baykal) centre Winners Gilly & Julia, Dave & Graham (front). Right Charles, Wolf & Joao.

In 5th place overall and 1st Turkish Team was TUR 212 “Provezza Blue” with helm Orhan Tuker, Ersin Ozkan, Kivanc Sevinc & Betigul Sengul.  This 4 person team, sailed very consistently over the 3 days and thoroughly deserved their creditable 5th place overall.

Arkun (left) & Nino (right) congratulate TUR 212 Top Turkish Team,  Orhan, Ersin, Betigul & Kivanc.

Preparations are now underway for the World Championship, with measurements, sail and equipment checks and a briefing tomorrow at 11am. Following the briefing we have a Practice Race at 2pm. Due to the Run-Off Election there will be no races on Sunday 28th, so the first day of races will be Monday 29th…. Standby for a thrilling World Championship.

Pre-Worlds Measurements going on as I write this Blog in Bodrum.

In the meantime “Hats Off” to Bluebottle for winning the TUR Nationals… Many Congratulations to Graham, Julia, Dave & Gilly..

Higher, Faster, Longer…..   Stavros.    In Bodrum 🇹🇷