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420 Autumn Championships at the Royal Torbay Yacht Club

by Alice Davies & Oliver Rayner 25 Sep 2022 20:49 BST 24-25 September 2022

Day 1 by Alice Davies

Saturday morning of the 420 autumn championships dawned with great wind and weather; 32 boats launched and sailed four races in 6-9 knots. As the wind was from a northerly direction, racing proved to be very difficult and shifty in the light winds, but the fantastic race committee easily dealt with this far from ideal weather and got the races away.

The shifty direction made for some close racing in the first race, but Joe Warwicker and Hugo Valentine managed to pull away from the rest of the fleet to win the race with a substantial lead. Some distance Imogen Wade and Teddy Dunn took second with GP6 winners, Harry George and Ralph Cawthorne taking third.

In the second race, fresh faced Arthur Greaves and Angus McEwen led to the windward mark, at their maiden 420 event, but were overhauled by the more experienced teams on the long reach! Harry George and Ralph Cawthorne took the win after making gains around the course, with George Creasy and David Bromilow in second, closely followed by Alice Davis and Oliver Rayner.

In race three George and David improved on their previous result, playing the shifts well upwind, Joe and Hugo in second, and Alice and Oliver with another third. The final race on day two, saw Harry and Ralph taking another win, again proving themselves in the light conditions as they led overnight. Imogen and Teddy took second with Heather Quinn and Gwyneth Lanyon in the third spot. After a day of long reaches we all sat down to a nice class meal prepared by the Royal Torbay Yacht Club.

Day 2 by Oliver Rayner

The second day of racing was looking promising with some similar winds to yesterday, same direction and similar strength. The points where also tight in the top with 5 points separating the top 4 so whatever happened today would be deciding. The first start was a recall due to a right shift reducing everyone's sailing distance to the line, quickly the course was shifted and reset to the new direction but it wasn't to be as the new wind was below 5 knots.

After a period of drifting the wind began to fill in and after another false start, this time to the wind shifting left leading to boats being unable to cross the line on starboard we finally managed to start a race.

Off the start the tide was weaker to the left of the course and so those boats had a slight advantage, but those that came from the centre seemed to have the best of both worlds with the better pressure from the right and the reduced tide on the left. First round the windward mark was Sabine and Merle (if I remember correctly) who'd played the frequent shifts excellently, and the overnight top two boats also rounded in strong positions with it all still very much in the running.

As the race progressed the wind began to drop and change the angle of our final downwind into a reach and therefore the last reach into an upwind. The order coming into the final mark was Alice and Oliver, Harry and Ralph and Joe and Hugo. We decided to keep our spinnaker up to see if we could hold the angle - we couldn't so dropped after a couple of boat lengths.

Harry and Ralph weren't so lucky and a slow drop cost them as Joe and Hugo, who'd seen us drop, had time to come round the mark on a tight angle with their kite down rolling Harry and Ralph and causing Alice and I some worry.

It was a straight drag race to the finish but we managed to retain the lead by squeezing some extra height out that couldn't be matched.

The outcome of which decided the winners as if Joe and Hugo had won that race they would have secured the event but as it was with everything so tight on points Harry and Ralph took the trophy on countback!

Overall Results:

PosBow NoFleetSail NoHelmCrewR1R2R3R4R5Pts
1st45U17 Open57275Harry GeorgeRalph Cawthorne31‑10149
2nd17Open55854Joe WarwickerHugo Valentine142‑829
3rd42Open57259Alice DavisOliver Rayner433‑6111
4th44Open56091Imogen WadeTeddy Dunn2‑1372314
5th62Open54849George CreasyDavid Bromilow10217‑1920
6th24Female56339Heather QuinnGwyneth Lanyon68‑1331027
7th57Open57224Craig BurltonGabs Burlton596‑141131
8th63U17 Female56342Sabine PotterMerle Nieuwland87‑2011531
9th38Open55244Henry HeathcoteOscar cawthorne‑1211125634
10th64U17 Open56108William BaileyMatthew Rayner7‑19941737
11th40Open54853Oli HaleAmber Hale15‑2089941
12th29U17 Open56114Patrick BromilowTom Kelsall‑2151713742
13th82U17 Open55242Joe JonesCharlie Howard11184‑211447
14th56U17 Female57286Ellie CreightonBea Greenfield‑17141115848
15th32U17 Open53959William FletcherMadeleine Greaves‑191019101251
16th21U17 Female54481Holy WrightOlivia Nixon13151812‑2458
17th99U17 Open5540Arthur GreavesAngus McEwen16622‑241559
18th86U17 Open57214Dylan CreightonWILL ADAMS20125‑232360
19th20Open57272Arthur BaileyFreya Sewell14161517‑2062
20th23U17 Female57273Rosie SheahanSusie Sheahan9221616(BFD)63
21st39Open56007Mathias PotterArlo Braund181714‑221665
22nd50U17 Female55517Emma BreeseCharlotte Beardsall2221‑25181374
23rd90U17 Female55633Hennie BurltonTabitha Davies2423‑27192187
24th30U17 Open55169Matthew MasonEthan Sparkes23‑2521202589
25th31Female53332Jess HaighLucy Shelter252423‑271890
26th47U17 Open52067Sam GloverCharlie Bourne‑2828242627105
27th26U17 Open51341Eddie PalingEddie Quinn29‑31262528108
28th55U17 Open54124Ella MartinGeorge Self27‑29282926110
29th53U17 Open55375India LanceCian Epstein2630(DNC)DNC22111
30th70U17 Open54947George LanceJames Gosson‑3026303030116
31st15U17 Female53380Polly MasonJemima Day(DNF)27293129116
32nd76Open53229Jess GarlickLuca Batley31323128(DNS)122

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