RYA Volvo Youth Nationals at Weymouth - Day 2
by Ellie Williamson, RYA 7 Apr 2010 08:59 BST
5-9 April 2010
Girls rule
The boys had to take a back seat out on the 420 and RS:X courses today as the girls picked up five of the six race wins up for grabs in the two classes on day two of the 2010 RYA Volvo Youth National Championships.
Another fantastic day of great sailing conditions greeted the full line up of over 320 competitors at Weymouth and Portland as racing kicked off for the U21s in the Laser Standard class and the full series of three races took place in the Laser Radial, Spitfire, 420 and RS:X classes and four races in the 29ers.
Initially blowing around 15 knots on shore, the wind dropped to become quite light by the afternoon. And coming from the south funnelling right into the bay, it created some quite choppy conditions for the 420, Spitfires and Laser Standards classes racing out on course ‘C’.
Having dominated 420 proceedings in yesterdays two races posting bullets in both, Mike Wood and his crew Hugh Brayshaw were eager to get another day of similar results under their belts. Girls crews, Amy Seabright/Hermione Stanley, Anna Burnet/Flora Stewart and Joanna Freeman/Hannah Mitchell however had other ideas making the most of the lighter conditions each posting bullets in the three races. But a 2,3,2 for Wood and Brayshaw saw them drop very little points retaining their place at the top of the leader board with Tim Gratton/Ed Riley in second and the girls Seabright/Stanley climbing the ladder to finish the day in third.
Wood comments: "It was quite tricky today, the waves were quite big and we ended up with pretty light winds. It was a pretty difficult day to stay consistent and keep the low scores coming in.”
“The girls obviously had a good day today - ladies day I think so it’s pretty tight out there in the 420 at the moment.”
Spitfire aces Adam Butler and Nikki Boniface continued their flawless record in the class, posting another three firsts on their second day of racing. Grandson of Tornado Gold Medallist Reg White, Rupert White and his crew Michael Conlon managed to improve on yesterday’s results finishing in second place in races three and five and third place in race four, putting them second overall. Andrew Sinclair and Benedict Harrison kept consistent with their day one result posting a fourth and then third in races three and four but dropped to sixth in race five which keeps them at third overall.
The Laser Standards started off their first day of racing with an all clear start. Alex Mills Barton took a first in race one but dropped an OCS in race two followed by a fourth in race three finishing him up at ninth overall. Martin Evan finished the day on top of the results with a third followed by a second followed by a first. Level with him on points is Eifion Mon who came second then first then third.
As a new introduction to this years event GPS tracking has been set up to enable live animation of some of the courses each day. Today saw tracking on both the 420 and Standard course. To watch all the action again click here.
In the 29ers Alex Poyner and George Hand came out on top postingng a 3, 2,4, however in the last race they dropped a 27th but with the first discard coming into play it allowed them to remain on top. Henry Lloyd Williams and Sam Batten finished behind them discarding their fifth place in race six after posting a 1, 3, 4 in the other three races of the day. Christopher Matthews and Edward Gibbons also had a poor last race posting a 28 but discarding that they finished up third overall.
Discards also came in to play today for the RS:X fleet but having posted a 1,9,10 today overnight winner Connor Bainbridge didn't quite do enough to hold on to his lead with Techno Wolrd Champion Sam Sills posting 3,2,4 lying on top at the end of the day and defending champions George Bowles lying third with a 4,3,3. Izzy Hamilton joined the 420 girls in having a great day yaking wins in the last two races discarding a ninth in her opening race seeing her comfortably occupiying top girls spot for the second day running.
The Laser Radials continue to be dominated by Cameron Douglas who posted another two bullets in race four and five discarding a second in his last race with Bleddyn Mon continuing to occupy second place. Phil McCoy posted a 2,7,9 placin third at the end of day two. In girls competition Sophie McKeeman leap frogged Rheanna Pavey and Hannah Tilley posting a 9,2,12 seeing her take over first place with Pavey and Tilley sitting in second and third.
With the Radial fleet splitting into a Gold and Silver fleet tomorrow the top sailors will go head-to-head for the first time at the event as the competition hots up for day three. Watch the days events unfold in the gold fleet as competitors don their GPS trackers for day three here.
Principal Race Officer David Campbell James said: "We had another great day on the water with slight less full on condtions allowing us to get a full series of races in for all classes which is great. The wind really funnels into the acadamey so we were prepared for more gusty condtions when we were greeted with 15-17 Knots this morning."
"The race teams have done a great job again today but we're expecting some slightly more tricky conditions tomorrow with the wind swinging round to the North and dropping quite a bit - it'll be a test for competitors as they race in front of tomorrows royal audience."
HRH the Princess Royal will be visiting the event tomorrow afternoon to meet competitors and enjoy the on water action.
To keep up-to-date with all the news as it happens in Weymouth and Portland and follow the racing as it happens on the event blog by visiting www.ryaracingevents.org.uk . You can also follow us on Twitter.
SailRacer are providing constantly-updated results and
GPS Tracking (watch live or replay races later).