NeilPryde Sailing UK 29er Winter Championship 2020 at Grafham Water Sailing Club

NeilPryde Sailing UK 29er Winter Championship at Grafham Water © UK 29er Class

It was a weekend of two halves at Grafham Water, with some light wind racing on Saturday and more gusty and shifty conditions on Sunday.

On the first race on Saturday, everyone was a bit too keen, resulting in two general recalls. Eventually, the fleet got away and 2347, Freya Black and Fin Armstrong, won this race and from then on dominated the weekend. However, 2982, Tom Storey and Ben Willett, put them through their paces in all races with an impressive set of results overall. Top start of the day has to go to 2700 Leo and Sam with a cheeky port flyer caught on video @uk29erclassassociation.

Results on day one showed how shifty the day was with the results being very mixed for many boats and only the top 10 or so boats being consistent. Freya and Fin were winning overnight followed by Tom and Ben and then 2661 Monique Vennis-Ozanne and John Mather. 2234, Emily Mueller and Flo Brellisford, were positioned First Ladies overnight having sailed well in the light winds with all to play for the next day.

Day 2, however, brought very different conditions with 13 knots and large gusts making it challenging for the less experienced boats. By the last race the wind was up to 18 knots.

NeilPryde Sailing UK 29er Winter Championship at Grafham Water - photo © UK 29er Class

Freya and Fin were very strong again and won overall with Tom and Ben 2nd and Monique and John 3rd. 2507, Athena Vogiatzi and Maddie Wylie were 1st ladies, having come back strongly from an inconsistent Saturday, followed by 2340, Sophie Dennis and Emma Wells, and Emily and Flo finishing as second and third ladies respectively. 2229, Ben Mueller and Freddie Lonsdale, were 1st juniors, then Leo Wilkinson and Sam Jones in 2nd and 2222, Robin Stein and Sam Brackley, finishing 3rd juniors. Third Mixed was 2344 Annie Hammett and Freddie Wood.

Furthermore, it was great to see that 57 boats entered the event. Huge congratulations to all the newcomers in the fleet who sailed on Sunday and managed to cope with the very tricky gusty conditions. They did very well to sail around the course and to try and stay upright. Special mention goes to 2806 Oliver Smoult and Tommy Willett for their 5th on Saturday.

NeilPryde Sailing UK 29er Winter Championship at Grafham Water - photo © UK 29er Class

We would like to say huge thank you to the race officer, for the brilliant racing and coping with such a large fleet, and managing to get 8 superb races in over the weekend in a range of conditions Thank you to our sponsor NeilPryde for the great prizes.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the next GP in Weymouth in March as everyone gets ready for the Youths in Pwhelli.

Overall Results: