Harken 29er Grand Prix Round 6 at Grafham Water Sailing Club

Start line action in the Harken 29er Grand Prix at Grafham © Tom Dixon

Snakes, ladders and black flags

The 6th Grand Prix of the 2015/2016 series was hosted at Grafham Water but as the 38 boats pausing from their exams began to arrive, the wind began to drop. This meant the race officer was forced to postpone the start while we waited for the wind to fill in.

After a relaxed morning waiting in the sun, the breeze was sufficient to begin racing. A 6-7 knot breeze with frequent gusts meant that there were big position changes off the line in the first race. A shift supported the right hand side of the beat but the left had more pressure. This meant that the leaders appeared from both sides at the top, downwind Iain Bird and Jake Hardman split from the pack to build a significant lead, which they held to win the 1st race from Jame Hammett/James Eales and Nick Robins/Jake Todd.

Due to the nature of the wind the following races saw more big changes in position and boats struggling for consistency. After 3 races the race committee decided that due to the postponed start the day was coming to an end and we sailed in to rest before Sunday's races. Overnight James Hammett and James Eales led with a score line of (2,6,7). Following them were Iain Bird and Jake Hardman in 2nd.

Sunday dawned and to the horror of the sailors it appeared that summer was over, as a fresh 15 knot breeze from the North greeted people rigging there boats in considerably cooler conditions than Saturday. But with around 10-12 knots on the course we could start on time, the race committee did their best to make up for the previous days lack of races. Though it seemed the sailors did not get the idea, and forced at least one (normally two) general recalls on every single race of the day. This saw a large array of BFD's through the fleet's results.

The races were equally difficult as the previous day with large shifts and patchy gusts keeping everyone on their toes. Top comeback of the day goes to James Hammett and James Eales who went from near last to 9th in one downwind leg. Congratulations to Huw and Josh, who had a very consistent 2nd day to redeem them from their high scores on Saturday and take the event in the last race after 5 top 8 finishes on the day.

Other notable performances came from Bobby and Harvey who recovered from a BFD in the first race to finish second overall and Patrick and Dominic for managing to sail consistently enough to hold on to 4th place while discarding two BFD's. Phoebe Connellan and Sophie Otter won the last race to take First Girls. In 10th overall Sarah Jarman and Nick Devereux took the mixed prize and Freya Black and Elliot Wells top juniors.

Prize winners in the Harken 29er Grand Prix at Grafham - photo © Suzie Hammett

Thanks to Grafham Water Sailing Club for hosting the event at short notice after it was moved, and to Harken for your continual sponsorship of the event.

Good luck with any exams, and hope to see you all at the Europeans and then Harken GP7 at Ullswater followed by GP8 at Hayling Island Sailing Club!

Overall Results: