Noble Marine 420 End of Season Championship at Grafham Water SC

Grey conditions during the 420 End of Seasons at Grafham © Susan Kalderon

Max Clapp and Ross Banham win the 420 End of Seasons at Grafham © Bernie Lawlor

Sarah Norbury and Mari Davies finish as first girls in the 420 End of Seasons at Grafham © Bernie Lawlor

Once again Grafham Water Sailing Club was the host for the 2014 International 420 Noble Marine End of Seasons Championships, and once again the competitors were greeted with typical November weather; cold and cloudy (but thankfully not raining). With the briefing done the sailors launched early with four races scheduled for the day.

50 boats having launched and spent some time tuning in the racing area, which featured a 8-10 knot Southerly wind) the orange flag (warning signal) for the first race was hoisted. After final adjustments to the rigging and analysis of the racing area the 420 fleet were in sequence. The start line was slightly pin end biased and at go it was the boats towards that end which had the best starts. Dan Atherton and Matt Viney rounded in top followed by Ross and I and the Irish pair Douglas Elmes and Collin O'Sullivan. However, the race finished with Dan and Matt in third after being overtaken by Ross and I (who took first) and the Irish (finishing second) on the last downwind. Lower down in the top 10 Rhiannon Flack and Kirsten Glen put in a solid opener in 8th. The second race was sailed in similar conditions to the first, Jenny Smallwood and Danielle Thomas got the bullet after sailing well on the first downwind to pull away from the rest of the leading group. Race 3 saw a major change in wind angle on the second beat which brought Ross and I past Sarah Norbury and Mari Davies who finished second and Jenny Cropley and Emma Baker who sailed well to secure a 3rd. The 4th race brought slightly lighter conditions to the lake. With a heavy pin bias on the line those who started there tacked and crossed the rest of the fleet, however those who did not tack back were left stranded in the middle which did not receive the gust and pressure found further left. Isabel Davies and Gemma Keers rounded the top mark in first and led the whole way around but were BFD on the line so the bullet went to Martin Wrigley and Marcus Tressler, who were closely followed by Jenny and Danielle in second.

After a long day the competitors enjoyed a 'UV Glow Fest" party organised by the 420 class social representatives Alex Platt and Emma Baker. Everyone had a great time and Alex's face covered in UV paint was enjoyed by all. Best outfit has to go to Ryan Orr and Grace Summers who were both sporting a pink leotard - top banter. Like all 420 socials it finished at 10pm and no silliness was witnessed by any of the parents (who were observing the barrage from above).

Day 2 was slightly colder and the wind had shifted 180 degrees to the South and was similar in strength to the day before. Having rigged in the rain the sailors launched at 10am and racing commenced promptly. Race 5 was won by Robbie and Alex King who went from 9th to 1st on the last run. Ella Stoggal and Emma Kindon put in a solid counter in 7th. The next race was similar but with a slight change to the course which meant there were now 2 laps of an inner loop rather than the 3 laps of outer loop which had been the course in the previous 5 races. Sarah and Mari crossed the finish line in 1st after a very quick first downwind having gybed early into good pressure on the left hand side of the course. Milly Pugh and Amy Sparks also had a great race finishing in second. The last race was different to all the others in that the biased was towards the committee boat end. Ross and I started at the boat and went on to win the race, with Douglas and Collin in second and Arran Holman and Allesandro Foglia in third.

A great weekend to all involved and thanks to all the volunteers, race management team, Grafham Water SC, the parents and Noble Marine as the event sponsors. I hope next year is as successful an event!

Overall Results: