Jul6Written by:dan
06/07/2009 16:22 
After having 2 rounds at Watergate Bay with reasonably good surf (well lets say enough to see the surfers with a tear in their eye after being told that the surf is used for ZapcCat racing only, and the fact it was the biggest surf they have seen there in weeks) meant that Dan and I were expecting an awesome couple of days racing!
We hit the pits at 8am fresh and ready for the day racing to see a lack of wind and surf, Flat! The water was flat! We both know that Dan and I are like Craig and Robbie, we love choppy waters and BIG SURF. Dan and I looked at each other and just that look said ‘We might struggle in the flat water as we both know we are quite a heavy boat compared to some of the other teams’. When you’re up against the Championship Leaders (Craig and Robbie – Bluesheets I) that are weighing in a good 6st lighter than you, you know it’s going to be tough out there!
So at Bournemouth this weekend Dan and I started Saturday in Div 2. We saw this as a confidence boost. Having started at Watergate Bay in Div 1, and with the problems we had, we knew that this might give us a fighting chance of hitting the podium!
Nial and James (Bluesheets III) started in Div 1 and were looking pretty awesome to start with, with some great speed. Only to find Nial holding his ribs as the right handers were knocking them. Nial went to the hospital Saturday evening to find that he had cracked a rib at rounds 3&4 Watergate Bay. Unfortunately, Nial was therefore unable to compete on Sunday which we feel was a great shame as his and James performance is increasing after each event and a great asset to The Blue Sheets Zapcat Racing Team.
Dan and I had a poor day, All through the heats we were struggling to finish higher than 4th place, and we were worrying if we would make the final to help contribute to the Blue Sheets Team Championship Points to remain at the top of the table. We tried everything from set up’s to our positioning, nothing seemed to work. We listened on the beach after the heats had finished and had gained 7th position in the final….the podium was in reach again.
Dan and I reached the start line, the flags went down and I jumped in, as soon as Dan applied the throttle we realised the engine was playing up, we weren’t moving……then all of a sudden it kicked in and we were off, trailing behind. We got half way round and were gaining on the pack when the red flag went up. ‘I’m not sure what happened but we were restarting again. (Worried if the engine was going to fail again) we set off again, the flags went down and Dan was keeping the rev’s high to ensure there wasn’t a delay and I got in. We had a better start but not perfect, Seavation tore off ahead. We found ourselves past the first mark and in the middle of the pack when the red flag went up again. We were the only boat not to pit so there was to be another restart.
At the start we were surprised to see that Seavation and L&O Meats had been DQ’d, we couldn’t understand why? But this meant that we now had a 5 boat final, to reach the podium and collect some valuable points we needed to beat at least 2 of them. Dan was focusing on the pit lane, if we make this at the right time we could do it. We got off to a good start and were in 3rd place most the way round. A couple of the boats pitted on the first lap, which left us in clean water with the short pit advantage to use at the end of the race, we were still running slow but as we approached the end of the pit on the last lap we could see first and second boats place approaching. First place went passed and we slipped out the pit and along the back straight push us into second place with 3rd place just behind us. We held the position tight to the finish taking silver and 65 Points. With us coming second and Bluesheets I coming first in Div 1, We remain Team Leaders gaining another 30 points and a 45 point gap.
We hit the pits at 8:30am. Feeling a bit better after taking silver yesterday, we found out we had taking a spot in Div 1. After safety briefing we went out for practice. The boat was running so slow. Dan and I were getting so frustrated at this time. We packed out the engine and lifted it slightly. During second practice we thought we had cracked it, it was flying perfectly flat, and we felt like we were moving quicker when two boats overtook us, the speed just wasn’t there! Craig and Robbie in Bluesheets I came along side us and gave us a few tips (they’re great team mates to have). We took their advice on board and found that our cornering was much better but we still didn’t have the top end.
We had done several heats and every heat we improved something different but still did have the top end. We didn’t make the finals! But Craig and Robbie sailed through again with a top performance and claimed 1st position in the Div 1 final picking up another 100 points.
Now the weekend is over and we have a lot of work to do, especially to get our speed back! We want to be ready for Plymouth. Were currently stand in 11th position for the Champion standings and 1st position for the Team standings. Nial we both hope your ok? Just rest as best you can mate and we hope your make Plymouth!
Well Done Bluesheets I.