ISO Eurocup - Stokes Bay SC (25th & 26th September 1999)
In a nail-biting finish, Mike Speller and Rob Burridge beat their close rivals David Giles and Richard Chadburn to win the ISO Eurocup event held at Stokes Bay on 25th/26th September. At the end of the fifth race on the Sunday, Speller and Burridge were counting two wins and two seconds, whereas Giles and Chadburn had three wins and one second place. With count-back, whoever won the final race would win both the event and the overall EuroCup series. With both boats neck and neck at the windward mark, the turning point came when they had to try and overtake a Buzz that was sharing the same course. In a split-second decision, Mike Speller went above, while David Giles tried to duck to leeward, only to get blanketed by the wind shadow and slip behind. Disaster followed when the spinnaker sheets became looped under the bow and they were without a spinnaker for most of the leg. The win for Burridge and Speller revenged their defeat at the recent world championships. The result was all the more gratifying for Mike Speller who had been in hospital the night before working off the effects of excess alcohol (again).
In the rest of the fleet, a war of attrition was being waged by the strong wind and steep Solent chop, with minor injuries putting paid to several crews' chances. The positions were sorted primarily on crew-work and anyone who did not capsize stood a good chance of being among the leaders. In the end, Campbell and Sydenham put in a consistent performance to finish third, followed by Andrew Gould and Vicky Lewis in fourth. John Payne and Geoff Creese gained 5th place overall.
