IC 45 Clean Marine Series

Day 3

With early morning rain squalls bringing shifting winds across the bay in Palma, the race committee wisely decided to keep the fleet ashore until the weather had settled on the final day of this first regatta in the Clean Marine Winter Series. By early afternoon conditions were down to a more reasonable 18-22 knots and the sun had returned. With time for just one more race Barlo Plastics' performance on the two previous days was enough to ensure the big-boat, already selected for this summer's Barlo Plastics British Admiral's Cup Team, could not be beaten.

La Casera won the start and with Faster K-Yote 2 went to the left side of the course. Faster K-Yote 2 lead at the the first mark followed by La Casera and Babbalaas. On the downwind leg the three boats tried to overtake one another, each putting in several gybes. By the upwind mark Babbalaas and Bounder had overtaken the French boat who then tried to force a passage inside Barlo Plastics at the mark. The on-water jury immediately penalised Faster K-Yote 2 forcing her to take a 720¡ turn letting penalty letting Investor in too. From "hero to zero" they finished last in a race won by La Casera ahead of Babbalaas and Bounder.

With the event already secured, skipper Adrian Stead dictated a safe and steady course, keeping out of trouble and protecting the boat and equipment from damage in the confused seas left over from the morning's squalls and previous two days' strong winds.

The next leg of the CMWS is scheduled from the 16 to 18th of February 2001 in Palma de Mallorca.

	BOAT	PTS	OWNER	HELM	TACTICS
1	Barlo Plastics (GBR)	4	Robert Condon	Ian Walker	Adrian Stead
2	Babbalaas (GBR)	11	David McLean	Ian Budgen	Ian Barker
3	La Casera (ESP)	12	Eugenio Jaudenes	a	a
4	SEB-Investor (SWE)	14	(boat chartered)	Gunaar Krantz	Marcel Van Triest
5	Faster K-Yote (FRA)	15	Stephan Kandler	Nicolas Charbonnier	Alain Fedensieu
6	Bounder (GBR)	18	Chris Little	a	a
7	Aïfos (ESP)	24	Spanish Navy	a	a

Day 2

The wind was blowing so strongly that the committee decided to postpone the first race. When the wind stabilized in a North-Nor West direction of 15 knots the first race was launched.

In the first race Investor took the best start and went left, close to the harbour entrance of Palma. Faster K-Yote 2, which was had the 19 years old, four times 420 dinghy world champion, Nicolas Charbonnier at the helm for the first time, had to return after an early start. Investor led the race from the beginning despite the very changeable winds, probably thanks to her local tactician Marcel Van Triest, another Whitbread veteran hired by Team SEB for the next Volvo Ocean Race. Barlo Plastics tried to put the pressure on them but could not manage to overtake them. Chris Little's Bounder, who couldn't race yesterday because of technical problems, entered the regatta with a third place.

The second race was dominated by Faster K-Yote 2 and Barlo Plastics. Both boats had very good starts on the left of the starting line. Nicolas Charbonnier was keen to show its talent after his mistake in the first race. Again the harbour side was the right place to go and Barlo Plastics took the advantage on Faster K-Yote 2 at the first mark, thanks to a better tactical choice in the shifty winds. The end of the race was a match race between Barlo Plastics, Faster K-Yote 2 and La Casera in order to retain their positions and they finished in that order.

Day 1

The breeze was blowing strongly, up to 25 knots in some gusts. Barlo Plastics, skippered by Ado Stead, cleaned up in both races to lead the series.

The first race started with very good starts for Investor and Barlo Plastics. With Stead in command of an all-star crew and Walker at the helm, Barlo Plastics was perfectly positioned a few boat lengths down from the committee boat and right on the line as the gun fired. Protecting the left, Barlo Plastics pulled ahead of her rivals as each in turn tacked away. Once Stead called the tack back to the middle of the course it was clear that they would be ahead and only the question of how far remained to be answered. In the end it was nearly ten boat lengths, a distance which remained constant to the windward mark, rounding the mark ahead of Babbalaas, Investor and Faster K-Yote 2. Downwind, surfing in big swells, Stead called a series of gybes to pull out a few more lengths by the bottom mark. Taking a conservative route around the second lap, Barlo Plastics pulled out just a couple more boat lengths before taking the winner's gun at the finish ahead of Babbalaas and Faster K-Yote 2.

In the second race Investor took the best start with Faster K-Yote 2 who had to let the swedish Volvo Ocean Race team go because of lack of speed upwind. Barlo Plastics had a poor start and went right. Conscious of the gains made on the left in the previous race, most of the fleet continued on starboard tack but once again it was Barlo Plastic making the right decisions. "We were about five boat lengths ahead at the first cross" said Stead, "and we never looked back from there". They rounded the first mark ahead of Investor, Babbalaas, Faster K-Yote 2, La Casera and Aifos. Barlo Plastics worked the shifts well upwind and surfed the swells effectively downwind to pull slowly away for another victory.

Preview

Seven boats representing four nations compete at the start of the IC 45 season with the first regatta in the Clean Marine Winter Series 2001 in Palma de Mallorca.

Having claimed victory at the IC 45 (formerly Corel 45) Winter Series 2000, Indulgence, renamed Barlo Plastics, will certainly be favourite to take the honours at this year's event. Barlo Plastics IC 45, one of the three British entries in the event sponsored by Clean Marine, a company specialising in ecological boat cleaning products, will be led by top British sailor Adrian Stead (33), whilst Olympic Silver Medallist Ian Walker will helm.

Walker (30), Silver medallist in both the Star Class at the 2000 Sydney Games and 470 Class at the 1996 Atlanta Games, will helm the Barlo Plastics IC 45 in place of Ben Ainslie (23), the Sydney 2000 Laser Class Gold medallist, whose recently announced involvement with the One World America's Cup Challenge prevents him from attending this first Winter Series regatta in Palma.

Fellow Team GB Silver medallist, Ian Barker, will call tactics aboard David McLean's IC45 Babbalaas with Ian Budgen on helm, whilst Barlo Plastics can also expect to meet fierce competition from Nicolas Charbonnier (four times 420 world champion) on Faster K-Yote 2 and Whitbread veteran Gunaar Krantz and his Volvo Ocean Race team.