Winning move 2023 Ben flower was a dead and buried in race 9 of the championship with rival cumbley leading the fleet out to the right of the course.
“Flower and Davenport started at the committee boat with Cumbley twenty or so lengths down the line after the first start was recalled and the fleet punched their stubby noses through the Solent chop which was tame by day 4 standards. Michael Hicks threaded the needle and, hooking into a nice left hand lift rounded first, giving him bragging rights at Salcombe Y.C. for the next 365 days. Dave Mitchell and Steve Ede followed next from Han Duetz, Iain Magregor and Jon Gay. Cumbley followed Nunn around and looking back could see that Flower and Davenport were deep. The run was a perfect angle, the PRO Mark Wood and his team have done a marvellous job all week and they were not going to drop the ball today. Hicks held from Cumbley and they split, left and right respectively with Ede and Magregor following the Salcombe specialist. Cumbley was way out to the right with the majority of the fleet following but Flower and Davenport, fourteenth and sixteenth at the top mark headed out to sea, Flower's sail numbers out of focus, even with my Nikon P950 at full zoom. The right appeared to go soft and, unbelievably, Flower, smelling of roses was lifted to the top mark and the lead which he would hold to the finish following an undramatic run. Cumbley and Davenport followed in obediently with Hicks and James Goodfellow completing the top five.”
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