2017 Gold Cup Lake Balaton, Hungary

The D One Rooster Gold Cup was held on Lake Balaton from the 24th to the 28th May, hosted by the Hungarian D One fleet and Balatonfured Yacht Club.

Competitors from Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland and the United Kingdom enjoyed a fantastic championship with superb sailing conditions, excellent race management and a very warm welcome from the hosts.

Eight races were sailed in conditions ranging from 5 to 25 knots against the stunning backdrop of Lake Balaton.

 Day one was sailed in top end conditions and from the start Hungarian sailors Tomai Balazs (current European Champion) and Tamas Szamody showed great speed and excellent boat handling to finish 1,2.

The 2nd race saw the wind increase with D One's launching themselves in all directions on the long fast downwinds. Tomai had some spinnaker issues and capsized leaving Tamas to take the win with Giles Chipperfield and Dave Gorringe (both of Lymington Town SC) taking 2nd and 3rd.

Day 2 saw slightly less wind with everybody enjoying some awesome downwind rides over the large 2 lap course. Tomai took out race 3 with Chris Sallis (Gt Yarmouth and Gorleston SC) finishing 2nd ahead of Tamas. Race 4 followed a familiar pattern with another 1,2 for Tomai and Tamas, 3rd went to Martin Browne (Gt Yarmouth and Gorleston SC) who was finding some form after opting for a bike ride on day 1!

Day 3 started in a very light southerly and Martin sailed a perfect first beat to lead comfortably at the windward mark. the race was shortened at the end of lap 2 with Martin taking the win followed by Tomai and Giles. Smart work by the race team saw a re-set of the course as the afternoon northerly wind set in.

2 more races were sailed in champagne conditions with tight racing throughout the fleet on the 3 lap windward leeward courses. Race 6 developed into a battle between Tamas, Tomai and Chris finishing in that order. The final race of the day again saw the leading group pull away this time Tomai and Chris swapped the lead until eventually Chris got the win by a bowsprit on the finish. Giles rounded out the top 3.

With only one race scheduled for day 4, all the sailors and organisers enjoyed an excellent meal on the waterfront and a 'surprise-giving' hosted by BYC where various prizes for special categories where presented by BYC and Rooster Hungary.

Going into the final race Tomai had the lead, but with a 13th on his scorecard could not afford a poor result. This gave Tamas, with no results outside the top 5, the opportunity to win the Gold Cup if he could slow Tomai down! Pre-start saw the pair manoeuvring to try and gain the advantage, the start got away cleanly and Tomai and Tamas split tacks.

At the windward mark Marek Bachtik (Czech Republic) lead with Tamas and Tomai close behind, although there was some place changing Marek held on to win with Tamas second and Tomai taking 3rd and the Championship.

The event was superbly organised and very well run by BYC who are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year. Race Officer Bence Fluck proved more master of all the conditions and race management was superb.

Tomai sailed fast and smart all week and can now add the world title to the European championship he won on Lake Lipno last June, Tamas was second and Giles 3rd overall. In the Masters category Giles placed 1st, with Chris 2nd and Marek 3rd.

Racing was competitive throughout the fleet with 5 different race winners over the 8 race series. Everybody will take home fond memories of the event, be it the fantastic hospitality or the superb sailing on the waters of Lake Balaton.

The British fleet now look forward to the Nationals at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston SC at the end of June with the next major European event being Alassio on the Italian Riviera where Tomai will bid to defend his title.

There is a video from BalatonfurediYachtClub at : http://www.d-oneassociation.org/gallery/videos and some great photos at http://byc.hu/galeria/rooster-d-one-gold-cup-2017/

 Overall Results: