29er Noble Marine Winter Championship at Draycote Water Sailing Club

Launching at the 29er Noble Marine Winter Championships 2016 © Paul Hammett

Snowball fight at the 29er Noble Marine Winter Championships 2016 © Paul Hammett

Race start at the 29er Noble Marine Winter Championships 2016 © Phil Walker

The Noble Marine Winter Championships hosted by Draycote Water Sailing club over the 16-17 January lived up to its name as 45 boats made the trip to Draycote to be welcomed with sub zero temperatures. Nine races were completed in mainly shifty light winds, leading to tricky racing and a high scoring event, where consistency was key. Eight different pairs won races over the weekend with no boat managing more than three top 3 finishes. The PRO Ian Bullock and the race team kept the race programme on track despite the fleets occasional desire for general recalls.

As the first race beckoned sailors were greeted with about 5 knots and a race committee keen to start on time meaning little time for preparation, turning up at 1 minute to go left Rebecca Lewis and Sam Grade with little option but to go hard left but with a strong start and good boat speed meant they could claim the first win of the event and set the tone for the rest of the day. The rest of the day followed a similar trend with the left hand side of the course paying dividends for those who took the highest risks. The end of day one left Bella Fellows and Ella Methven in first place after 18th in race 1 followed by 1,2,3 and heavyweights Josh Dawson and Huw Edwards in second place with 9 points.

As sailors returned to hotels (or campers for an unlucky few) forecasts were checked and snow was on the agenda. Overnight at least 3 inches of snow had fallen creating the morning's entertainment as rigging was postponed for a snowball fight. As reality dawned, that we would actually have to go sailing, layers were put on and boats rigged and as the D flag was raised the last snowballs were hurled and the fleet launched.

Day 2 had a completely different direction however the forecast did not live up to expectations as wind speeds rarely got above 8 knots. The day was surprisingly similar to Saturday as the sailors who committed to a side often making the biggest gains with a pin end start often a good option. After 4 close races points were tight with 6 boats in contention for the top 3 spots. A fitting end to the competition saw a battle between the top 3 boats overall with an upwind finish in race 9 with James Hammett and James Grummet taking the race win from Dan Venables and Nathaniel Gordon with Max Moyles and James Eales coming in third.

Leaders Dan/Nat and James/James in the last race of the 29er Noble Marine Winter Championships 2016 - photo © Sally Budden

The two James's race win meant they took second overall on count back from Max and James however it was not enough to topple Dan and Nathaniel who took the event overall with a convincing margin of victory. This was Dan's third win in 3 years though this time with Nathaniel crewing. This relatively new partnership have thus been the only pair to challenge the dominance of Crispin Beaumont and Tom Darling who were fourth overall after a stunning run of 5 consecutive victory's in 29er run events since early September.

Phoebe Connellan and Sophie Otter took the ladies prize narrowly from Bella Fellows and Ella Mathven while Freya Black and Finley Armstrong took both the Junior and Mixed pair honours.

29er Noble Marine Winter Championships 2016 prize giving - photo © Paul Hammett

Congratulations to Dan and Nathaniel for the overall win and a big thank you to Draycote Water for hosting the event, Noble Marine for their generous support and to Zhik, the 29er Class clothing sponsor, for the prizes.

Overall Results: