RS Feva Grand Prix at Grafham Water Sailing Club
by RS Class Association 22 Apr 2013 21:51 BST
20-21 April 2013
RS Feva Grand Prix at Grafham © Peter Newton / Digital Images
The first RS Feva Grand Prix event of 2013 carried on as 2012 left off – sunny, light, shifty & extremely tricky! Grafham Water SC were the hosts for the 40 boats. The forecast was 3 to 6 knots on the Saturday & this forecast came true to form.
After a short postponement the fleet got away in 6 knots of breeze. Two boats were over the line but they came back. Arthur Brown & Niamh Davies lead at the windward mark as the wind dropped to 4 knots on the first leg. The Burnham sailors extended their lead at the leeward gate with Hannah Bristow & Bobby Hewitt in 2nd & Jamie Smith & Piers Nicholls in 3rd. By the 2nd windward mark Will & Matt Taylor had climbed from 5th to 2nd with Hannah & Bobby still in 3rd. The fickle wind then filled in from behind allowing Will & Matt to catch the leaders & after a perfect roll gybe they took the lead & blanketed Arthur & Niamh allowing Hannah & Bobby through to 2nd.
The back markers struggled to finish as the wind dropped to 3 knots but the start sequence for race two began as the wind built to 5 knots. A huge left shift as the gun went allowed a few boats to cross the fleet on port whilst many, by the committee boat, struggled to cross the line. It became clear how biased the first leg had become & so race 2 was abandoned. The wind then dissappeared but re-appeared in enough force to attempt another start. The second race restarted but another big left shift & a drop in strength to 2 knots resulted in another abandonment & the fleet was sent home.
Sunday dawned sunny & light again, but with a forecast of more wind later. The first start of the day resulted in a General Recall so the next start was on a black flag. The fleet got away in 7 knots of breeze with 3 boats black flagged.
Arthur & Niamh again lead the fleet at the windward mark from James Eales & Henry Collings; 3rd Alairic Bates & Matt Walker-Morecroft. As the wind dropped to 5 knots the leader pulled away even further. The race was shortened & won by Arthur & Niamh, whilst Harvey Martin & Will Ward took 2nd from Jamie & Piers who had been black flagged so 3rd went to Courtney Bilbrough & Orla Mitchell.
With wind swings of 50 degrees, or more, the race team moved the course & eventually started the sequence for race 3 in 4 knots of breeze. However, the wind dropped and shifted left as gun went allowing one boat to port tack the fleet. Leading at the windward mark was Jamie & Piers; 2nd Sophie Hempsell & Emily Covell; 3rd James and Henry.
As the wind constantly shifted & pressure came through from different parts of the course Jamie & Piers did well to hold on to their lead whilst Will & Matt climbed through to take 2nd; in 3rd was Elliott Wells & Jake Todd.
The start sequence for race 4 was postponed as another huge left shift came through, but just as race 4 was about to start, another shift resulted in another postponed start at 1 minute to go!
Then the breeze came in at last – 10 knots of breeze so the warning signal went up again & finally the fleet got away. With gusts of 15 knots it was Elliott & Jake in the lead; 2nd Arthur and Niamh; 3rd Jamie and Piers. But the wind was still fickle & leading at the 2nd windward mark was Jamie and Piers with Harvey & Will up to 2nd & 3rd Arthur and Niamh. But there was more place changing to come & Harvey & Will lead at the final windward mark from Arthur & Niamh;3rd Jamie and Piers. Finally it was Arthur & Niamh who took the win; 2nd Jamie and Piers; 3rd Harvey & Will.
As the wind held, the final race got away swiftly & anyone of 3 boats could take overall honours. Leading at the windward mark was Will & Matt but they were quickly overtaken downwind by Elliott & Jake on the plane; 3rd James & Henry. The 13 – 15 knots of breeze allowed Elliott & Jake to extend their lead at wind ward mark; 2nd Harvey and Will; 3rd Will and Matt positions they held to the finish.
This gave the overall win to Will & Matt Taylor from Alton Water Sports Centre; 2nd Arthur Brown & Niamh Davies from Royal Burnham YC/Burnham SC; 3rd Jamie Smith & Piers Nicholls from Hayling Island SC.
Congratulations to the Race Team of Peter & Sue Saxton who managed to secure 5 races in the trickiest of conditions.
Overall Results:
Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
1st | 5028 | TAYLOR Will | TAYLOR Matt | Alton Water Sports Centre | 1 | 5 | 2 | ‑9 | 3 | 11 |
2nd | 1486 | BROWN Arthur | DAVIES Niamh | Royal Burnham YC/Burnham SC | 3 | 1 | ‑9 | 1 | 8 | 13 |
3rd | 4883 | SMITH Jamie | NICHOLLS Piers | HISC | 5 | (BFD) | 1 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
4th | 1883 | MARTIN Harvey | WARD Will | Oston Sailing Club | 11 | 2 | ‑15 | 3 | 2 | 18 |
5th | 4332 | WELLS Elliott | TODD Jake | HISC | ‑21 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 22 |
6th | 4530 | EAALES James | COLLINGS Henry | Rlym/HISC | 10 | 4 | 4 | ‑12 | 4 | 22 |
7th | 2508 | JOBSON Jamie | ARMSTRONG Daniel | RTYC | 6 | 9 | 8 | 10 | ‑18 | 33 |
8th | 4251 | HEMPSELL Sophie | COVELL Emily | Bosham/HISC | ‑18 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 39 |
9th | 3424 | BILBROUGH Courtney | MITCHELL Orla | Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre | ‑20 | 3 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 40 |
10th | 3357 | DARLING Tom | BYFORD Charlie | HISC | 7 | ‑19 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 41 |
11th | 4682 | KELLY Greg | CATCHPOLE George | Isle of Man Yacht Club | 23 | ‑24 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 42 |
12th | 4610 | BRISTOW Hannah | HEWITT Bobby | Leigh and Lowton | 2 | ‑20 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 43 |
13th | 4635 | BATES Alaric | WALKER‑MORECROFT Matt | Bowmoor SC | 4 | 10 | ‑21 | 19 | 13 | 46 |
14th | 4608 | DUFFY Bradley | COX Bella | Oakham/Rutland | 12 | 6 | 11 | ‑26 | 23 | 52 |
15th | 3999 | NUNN Huw | COTTERILL Dominic | Bowmoor SC | 13 | 11 | 19 | ‑25 | 12 | 55 |
16th | 4890 | MATTHEWS Max | RIVINGTON Guy | Tudor SC | ‑29 | 12 | 24 | 5 | 15 | 56 |
17th | 2791 | HARRIS Cameron | HARRIS EUAN | Deben Yacht Club | 9 | ‑32 | 25 | 21 | 7 | 62 |
18th | 4415 | ROBINS Nick | CAMPBELL‑BOTTOMS Alicia | Hayling Island Sailing Club | 25 | 7 | ‑28 | 14 | 17 | 63 |
19th | 4631 | BLACK Freya | BLACK Issy | RLYC | 17 | ‑29 | 10 | 15 | 22 | 64 |
20th | 4361 | SCOTT James | WHITE Henry | Wembley SC | 8 | 17 | ‑26 | 17 | 24 | 66 |
21st | 2215 | GRIGGS Max | GRIGGS Cody | Royal Torbay Yacht Club | 14 | 25 | ‑33 | 18 | 9 | 66 |
22nd | 5146 | LEWIS Daniel | MARSHALL Elliott | Draycote Water SC | 26 | 8 | 17 | ‑30 | 21 | 72 |
23rd | 4945 | LEWIS Rebcca | SLINN Immi | Draycote Water SC | ‑27 | 16 | 22 | 16 | 20 | 74 |
24th | 453 | BARKER Harry | SPURWAY William | Bowmoor SC | 16 | 22 | 13 | ‑28 | 25 | 76 |
25th | 5037 | HILLS Joe | NEVE Henry | Oakham/Rutland | 22 | 21 | 18 | 20 | ‑26 | 81 |
26th | 5161 | VENNIS‑OZANNE Billy | LEWIS Jack | HISC/HHSC | 24 | (BFD) | 7 | 24 | 31 | 86 |
27th | 3362 | WALTON Ellie | WINBUSH Harriet | Draycote Water SC | 19 | 13 | 34 | 27 | (DNC) | 93 |
28th | 4623 | NORBURY Edward | HUTCHINGS Charlie | Warsash | ‑31 | 30 | 31 | 22 | 19 | 102 |
29th | 4606 | FROST Alex | BRYERS Yuri | Oakham/Rutland | 15 | ‑33 | 32 | 29 | 27 | 103 |
30th | 3746 | LASHBROOK Dominic | FOSTER James | Oakham/Rutland | 28 | 28 | 20 | ‑31 | 30 | 106 |
31st | 4133 | STREATFIELD Lily | NEVE Lottie | Oakham/Rutland | ‑37 | 23 | 23 | 33 | 29 | 108 |
32nd | 4470 | EDMONDS Cristian | WATSON Rafe | Chew Valley Lake SC | 32 | 18 | 27 | (DNC) | 32 | 109 |
33rd | 4145 | PAYNE Tristan | TODD Ben | Hayling Island Sailing Club | 30 | (BFD) | 30 | 23 | 28 | 111 |
34th | 1492 | JOBSON Jessica | WOOD Angus | RTYC | 35 | 26 | ‑37 | 32 | 36 | 129 |
35th | 3638 | EDMONDS Alice | WIDDICOMBE Elizabeth | Chew Valley Lake SC | ‑36 | 27 | 35 | 36 | 35 | 133 |
36th | 3734 | VISSER Bernard | BYFORD Will | Oakham/Rutland | 34 | 31 | ‑38 | 35 | 33 | 133 |
37th | 3788 | BILBROUGH Madeline | BILBROUGH Tim | Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre | 33 | 34 | 29 | (DNC) | DNC | 137 |
38th | 2915 | PROFITT Tom | SPIEGL Will | Stamford School/Rutland Sailing Club | ‑38 | 35 | 36 | 34 | 34 | 139 |
39th | 2920 | ROBSON ROSIE | NAYLOR Molly | Stamford High School | (RAF) | 36 | 39 | 37 | 37 | 149 |
40th | 4135 | NEVE Nick | BYFORD Charlie | Oakham/Rutland | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 164 |