Harken 29er Grand Prix 3 at Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy

Weymouth Harken 29er Grand Prix prize winners © Matt Thomas

Champagne sailing conditions and a perfect sunny forecast attracted 54 29ers to Weymouth & Portland NSA for the 3rd Harken Grand Prix event of the year. Despite the large number of entrants, the decision was made to not flight the competitors to give them practice in fleet sizes that were to be expected in Denmark for the world championships.

At 11.15 the fleet launched in an 11 knot breeze and sunshine for a long sail into the bay where the racing was planned to take place. The first race got away with a clean start and the fleet quickly spread out with the left side of the beat appearing to work for the leaders. Taking line honours in race 1 were Dan Venables & Finn Murphy (Sutton & Portishead), followed by Matt Venables & Will Alloway (Sutton & Rutland) with third place going to Murray Hampshire & Chris Brewer (Queen Mary).

Race 2's conditions were similar to race 1 and again the fleet were all clear, winning race 2 was the Scottish team of Gillies Munro & Daniel Harris (RFYC & Findhorn Marina), Ruth Allan & Alice Masterman (Emsworth & HISC) came in a solid 2nd place closely pursued by Matt & Will. During the race the wind began to build and by the end of the third race was up to a steady 15 knots.

In the third race a change in course favour led to Matt & Will taking the win by a large margin, coming out of the right hand side of the course. Also coming out of the right were Dan & Finn, closely followed by Ruth & Alice in third. The final start took two general recalls to get away, with seven boats getting an early shower with black flags. Gillies & Dan put on a fine show in the race to win by a considerable amount, in second rounding off a consistent day were Matt & Will again, in third after swapping roles in the boat back to the way things used to be was Ian Payne & Chris Berry (Rutland). Matt & Will led the fleet overnight.

Day 2 dawned to a thick mist over Portland, but with the promise of another day of sunshine the fleet were all rigged early and released from the club by 10:30. The mist cleared whilst the fleet sailed out to the race area and they were greeted by a lighter breeze of 8 knots in the course area. Race 1 was dominated by the left hand side of the course, with the top 3 all starting at the pin and coming out of the left, the majority of the race was decided by the first mark. Winning was Murray & Chris taking second from Ed Connelan & Matt Rhodes (Middle Nene & Rutland) with Curtis Mearns & Jamie Catchpole (Leigh & Lowton) coming behind in a close third.

After evening out the bias on the course, the second race got away first time but Murray & Chris were caught over the line so received an OCS, Matt & Will went back to ensure they didn't receive the same penalty. A good decision to go towards the left hand side of the course put the Irish team of Sean & Tadgh Donnelly (National YC) into prime position by the second windward mark, which they held to the finish to be followed in by Charlotte Hooper & Molly Brown (Royal Burnham) with Curtis & Jamie again taking third place.

The final race of the event and again Murray & Chris were found to be over the line so got another OCS to add to their points, with Ruth & Alice going back through the line to make sure they could get a result from the race. This was the windiest race of the day with the breeze building to around 14 knots, the victory went to Dan & Finn, getting their second win of the weekend, chased home on the final upwind by Gillies & Daniel with Matt & Will not far behind.

The fleet then sailed ashore in glamorous sunshine and 19 degree heat and, after a couple of protests, the prize giving was held. Consistency seemed to be the key to success this weekend with the Scots Gillies & Dan taking the event win with their worst result being just a 5th, this is their second win of the series so far, with Dan & Finn second and Curtis & Jamie third. First juniors were Rob Masterman and Josh Belben (Stokes Bay & HISC) and first girls were Charlotte & Molly.

Big thanks to all at the WPNSA for hosting the event, all the safety crews, race officer and mark layers as well as all the competitors for coming to the event and making it so great. Also thanks to all the parents for trekking the many hours to Weymouth.

Special thanks go to Harken for their continuing support of the 29er class Grand Prix series and providing prizes for the event.

Overall Results: