Harken 29er Grand Prix Round 2 at the WPNSA

Harken 29er Grand Prix Round 2 at the WPNSA © Alex Irwin / www.sportography.tv

Fifty-three 29ers travelled to Weymouth for the second Harken Grand Prix of the 2016-2017 season.

As the 29ers were sharing the venue with the 49er/49er FX Nationals, we sailed inside the harbour on the first day. Despite this, the wind was consistently above 10 knots with the odd gust of 12 making for exciting racing with large splits in the fleet and plenty of overtaking opportunities on the downwind legs. Max Clapp and Rosgo Banham had a great start to the event, winning the first race and coming fourth in the second. Also up at the top were Hannah Bristow and Emily Covell with a second and an eight, as well as Dan and Fin Armstrong who were counting a seventh and a third halfway through the first day. After four races Max and Ross had edged into the lead closely followed by Hannah and Emily with Patrick Croghan and Dom Lewis and James Hammett and James Eales only a few points behind.

After sailing on the first day, a number of sailors were given an opportunity to grab a ride in a 49er or 49er FX with the two fleets mingling at an evening dinner complete with a competition to see how fast you could pull up a 49er Spinnaker (thanks to Shock sailing and Optimum Time for help and prizes here) and a talk from some RYA 49er/49er FX sailors and coaches.

The Shock Sailing spinnaker hoist competition - photo © Andre Venis-Ozanne

The second day was looking much windier as we arrived at the club, and the news that we would be sailing in Weymouth Bay which led to much excitement around the boat park. The wind tailed off throughout the day and was generally very up and down – this led to very challenging racing with most teams struggling to keep their results consistent. Hannah and Emily were not one of these teams, however, and posted 2,5,1,1 to take home the overall win with a clear lead counting just 22 points from 7 races to count. The first time ever, we think, that an all girl Team have won a UK 29er GP event.

A Black Flag Disqualification in the last race allowed Max and Ross the privilege of an early shower but meant they only just clung on to second place from Patrick and Dom finishing two points behind them having sailed a consistent series despite not winning a race. James and James finished in fourth, just five points off second with two race wins under their belt. Dan and Fin were fifth and George Tardew and Freddy Simes were sixth. Sarah Jarman and Nick Devereux took home the first mixed pairing in 9th, and Ewan Luke and Zac Blomeley were first Juniors in 15th. Steve Norbury and Lucy Tardrew took the over 30's prize and could well threaten the top guns in the fleet at future events if their Tokyo 2020 Nacra campaign doesn't get in the way.

Harken 29er Grand Prix Round 2 at the WPNSA - photo © Andre Venis-Ozanne

Well done to all the competitors – the standard of racing was very high and the conditions were very challenging. Our thanks go to all the volunteers who made the event possible, as well as the Race Officer and the WPNSA for hosting the event. In addition thanks to Harken the event sponsor as well as Shock sailing and Optimum Time.

Overall Results: