Harken 29er Grand Prix Round 8 at Hayling Island Sailing Club

Harken 29er Grand Prix Round 8 at Hayling Island © Peter Newton

Forty-nine 29ers arrived at Hayling Island Sailing Club over the weekend of 15/16 July with the usual collection of top boats supplemented with some guest sailors like Youth Worlds medallist Tom Darling, RYA squad sailor Owen Bowerman and old hand John Mather. The most prominent in the sailors minds however was Tim Hancock, who a year before BFD'd all but 6 boats in a start in adverse tide. Would they learn their lesson this time?

Tim and his team provided a master class in race management with 8 races sailed - half in 15-20 knots the other half in 6-10 knots, with the fleet ashore by 2:30pm Sunday. This was the last event of the 2016/2017 Harken series with the new format of 1 discard / 8 races and consistency was ultimately to be the deciding factor over the weekend. Peter Newton is also worthy of a mention with some cracking photo's of 29ers flying, literally, around the course.

With a steep sea and strong breeze it was no surprise that Nick Robins and Billy Venis-Ozanne set the pace on Saturday with 1,1,3,1 showing the heavy air speed they displayed at the Youth Nationals. They were led across the line in two races by James Hammett and James Eales though this pair had to contend with a UFD in the last race in adverse tide. Hannah Bristow and Emily Covell back in the 29er after a break from 49er sailing showed their class with a 2,4,4,7 while Charlotte Ormerod and guest crew Tom Darling managed a 2,2,3,9.

Max Clapp and Ross Banham win Harken 29er Grand Prix Round 8 at Hayling Island - photo © Peter Newton

The second day started with a few heavy heads after some local celebrations. Shout out to Bobby who sailed incredibly well despite not quite getting his full 8 hours sleep, Charlotte for putting up with a slightly under par Tommy and Hatty for eventually finding Elliot. Luckily it was light winds with a gentle chop so not only were the sleepy heads not tested, but it also gave an opportunity for some of the newer crews to demonstrate their skill with a great performance by Henry and Toby 1,2,5,8. Dan and Finn put in an impressive 1,2,4,4 on day 2 but ultimately however the performance of the day went to Ross and Max who managed to pull up from 4th to overtake Nick and Billy and take the overall win with a consistent and solid two days. First girls went to Hannah and Emily, first mixed to Tommy and Charlotte and first Juniors to Morgan and Hakan. Overall a well run and exciting event with a range of conditions which was a great roundoff to the Grand Prix Series. Watch this space for the GBR boats headed out to the summer internationals.

Harken 29er Grand Prix Round 8 at Hayling Island - photo © Paul Hammett

The Harken series overall was son by Nick and Billy, with Dan and Fin 2nd followed by James and James. Top Girls were Bella and Anna in 4th with 2nd Girls and 5th overall Hannah and Emily. The battle for top mixed was a tie break with Charlotte and Dan just taking the win from Sarah Jarman and Nick Devereux. Top Juniors were Chris James and James Hall.

Harken 29er Grand Prix Round 8 Results:

Harken 29er Grand Prix Series Overall Results: