420 Team Selector 2 at Sunderland Yacht Club

Strong winds for the 420 selector at Sunderland © Charles Ainsworth

Strong winds for the 420 selector at Sunderland © Charles Ainsworth

Strong winds for the 420 selector at Sunderland © Charles Ainsworth

The second of the three selection events that decide membership of the Worlds and Junior Europeans teams was held at Sunderland Yacht Club over the weekend of the 1st and 2nd April with 55 boats including 7 from Belgium and Ireland entered.

Sunday dawned with a light South-Westerly that built steadily during the day to 25 knots. The first race was sailed in a sunny, but chilly, Force 3. First to the windward mark were the boats that had gone right up the beat: Ben Saxton and Daniel Hare, Hannah Mills and Peggy Webster, then Ed Powys and Fynn Sterritt. The wind dropped after the start, leaving some boats on the wrong settings and underpowered. Richard Mason and Dan Schieber pulled through the fleet, but were unable to beat Mills and Peggy, with Powys and Sterritt finishing third.

The underpowered boats need not have worried as much rake changing occurred before the next race due to the increasing wind. The James and Will Rusden finally found their form and were first to the windward mark, followed by Mason and Schieber, then Sophie Ainsworth and Jasmine Husband. At times during the race there were ten or so boats capsized. The demonstration of power sailing by Mason/Schieber allowed them to win by almost a leg from the Rusden brothers, then Powys and Sterritt.

Race 3 was started, but abandoned due to marks moving and confusion about the course. A feature of this race was a collision involving the two series leading boats - Mason / Schieber, Mills / Webster – with - Mason / Schieber awarded average points (1.5) for the next day. A number of other boats were also holed.

The Sunday was altogether different, with the boats struggling to get over the 2-3 kt tide. Mills / Webster led to the windward mark, followed by the Rusden brothers, then Gertjan Cleeren and Koen Cleeren from Belgium. The wind died to almost nothing during the run and filled in from the left, allowing Race Officer, Adrian Stogall to finish the boats at the windward mark, just within the time limit. Most boats had gone inshore to get out of the tide, but a few tail-enders were able to finish in the top ten by reaching to the finish under spinnaker. Mills / Webster just beat the Rusden brothers, from Neil Marsden and Christian Birrell.

The final race was won in light conditions by the Rusden brothers from Marsden/Birrell and Oliver Dix and Philip Lasko. By then the winners of the event were safely on the M1!

Overall Results: