Noble Marine 420 End of Season Championship at Grafham Water SC
by Mark Orr 1 Dec 2015 08:47 GMT
28-29 November 2015
Douglas Elmes and Colin O'Sullivan win the Noble Marine 420 End of Season Championship © Liz Smallwood
Frost, clear skies and a biting building breeze greeted the 40 boats entered in the 420 End of Seasons Championships at Grafham Water Sailing Club on the 28th and 29th November 2015.
The safety brief alluded to forecast strong winds and even stronger gusts for later in the day and the competitors briefing emphasized the risk of hypothermia! No wonder then that there seemed a reluctance for the fleet to launch at 1025 with the race officer keen to get all the fleet on the water.
As orange was raised there were still some sailors ashore but fortunately a fast sail from shore to start line meant all 40 boats had a cracking race in 12 knots gusting 15 knots. With a south westerly wind the windward mark was set in lighter winds at the SW corner of the reservoir but as soon as they pulled out of the wind shadow the sailors had a challenging reach. The first race was close with Douglas Elmes and Colin O'Sullivan, venturing across the Irish Sea with an 8 boat Irish contingent, who won the last race on the last downwind leg from James Clemetson and Will Birch-Tomlinson.
A black flag start to the second race caused some hesitation at the line; our ISAF boys team, Max Clapp and Ross Banham led from the windward mark to the finish in the second race. However that changed in the third race when most of the top boats choose a pin end start. It was all a bit messy to start with but at the windward mark a very competitive bunch of sailors then had a cracking breezy race with our ISAF girls team, Jenny Cropley and Emma Baker, emerging as race winners. Race three was challenging for many of the newer (and lighter) sailors in the fleet and kept the safety fleet busy. However gallantly all but four finished though there were some retirements at this late stage of the day.
With dusk imminent the race officer, mindful of the dire Sunday forecast, made the keen decision to sail a fourth race to ensure that, irrespective of the weather, the sailors would have sailed a series and received one discard. Good discipline got the fleet away smoothly and there was some fast sailing with the course shortened at the top of the third beat. Robbie King and Marcus Tressler were leading only to be caught out by a gust that capsized them. Despite a rapid righting they fell to 7th, leaving Jo Kalderon and Ben Shorrock to lead until pipped at the finish by Douglas Elmes and Colin O'Sullivan who thus won the championship.
The sailors retired to hot showers and assembling their costumes for their party themed Noahs Ark. Tigers, donkeys, fish, penguins, and even God were spotted in the disco lights. Meanwhile the parents enjoyed an excellent meal at the local pub.
As sailors arrived for a 1025 warning on Sunday the race committee decided to race. However as the race officer headed out to the course for a sniff of the wind the forecasted gusts started to come through and with it the mean wind increased and he wisely decided to abandon.
The class wish to thank Grafham Water Sailing Club for hosting the event, Nigel Denchfield for acting as PRO and Noble Marine for their sponsorship.
Overall Results:
1st Douglas Elmes and Colin O'Sullivan
2nd Max Clapp and Ross Banham
3rd Jenny Cropley and Emma Baker (First girls)
4th James Clemetson and Will Birch-Tomlinson
5th Joanna Kalderon and Ben Shorrock
6th Robbie King and Marcus Tressler
9th Katie Davies and Grace Summers (Second girls)
21st Vita Heathcote and Milly Boyle (First Juniors)
Full results can be found here.
This was the last championship race of the 420 season so our Chairman wished our two ISAF pairs, Max Clapp and Ross Banham and Jenny Cropley and Emma Baker, good luck in Malaysia, along with Douglas Elmes and Colin O’Sullivan who will be representing Ireland at the event.
Our next event is the Itchenor Christmas regatta on 19th and 20th December. The New Year is introduced by short course racing at Draycote Reservoir on 27th - 28th February 2016, as practice for the Spring and Inland Championships at Royal Torbay YC on 12 – 13 March 2016 and Draycote SC on 19 -20 March 2016 respectively.
There is plenty of class training available, starting again in January 2016, which can also be viewed at www.420sailing.org.uk