420 GP7 at Itchenor Sailing Club

by Imogen Wade 3 Nov 2022 09:57 GMT 29-30 October 2022

Battle of the Cawthornes

On Saturday morning, after a briefing from the race committee we launched for the long sail out to the racecourse. With strong tides and winds of about 8 knots it was a reasonable sail. Thanks to our relaxed midday start time, it didn't feel too early. The race officer put us on a windward leeward course, aiming to send us round for four laps in the space limited by the wind direction.

The first race got away first time on a blue peter flag. Heather and Gwyneth battled it out at the front with Harry and Ralph to win their first ever race in the 420 fleet. Teddy and I following behind in third.

In the second race the wind increased enough to get the Oscar flag up, a nice change after our recent light wind events. Again, we started on a blue peter flag, however there was a general recall as the port end had become rather bias because it was so crucial to get out of the tide as fast as possible. The race began again on a black flag and this time the line was all clear. In this race Harry and Ralph got back to their usual winning ways with new lightweight-pairing Joe and Hennie in second and another young pairing of Arthur and Angus in third. A top three built completely from U17 sailors.

The final race of the day was won by Joe and Hennie who had an outstanding day, showing their strength in the lighter conditions and ones to watch. In second was Harry and Ralph who were followed by William and Ethan in third.

The day ended with Harry and Ralph sitting at the top of the leader board with a strong 2,1,2; Joe and Hennie in second; myself and Teddy in third. Special mention to William and Ethan who haven't been in the fleet long, they remained consistent with two 7ths and a 3rd. Impressive in the tricky tidal conditions.

In the evening, our sailor reps Oscar, Teddy, and Arthur put on a great Halloween social. Arthur dressed as Patrick Bateman was the perfect DJ for the night and it was great to see the newcomers becoming more involved with the fleet off the water.

On Sunday morning, the heavier pairings woke up smiling as the forecast showed a solid 20knots. The race committee got the fleet out with no hesitation and after our extra hour in bed everybody was raring to go. The first race began on a blue peter and was again called back (luckily for Harry and Ralph who appeared to be having a swim on the go gun). After four long laps of intense sailing, experienced sailors Henry and Oscar came out leagues ahead, with Will and Matthew in second and Arwen and Arlo in third showing their heavy wind strength.

In race number five, Henry and Oscar continued to dominate with another first. Switching places in this one - Arwen and Arlo followed behind in second and Will and Matthew in third. After this race the points at the top looked tight and the battle for first between the two Cawthorne brothers looked intense.

In the final race of the day, we were back to four laps, once again Henry and Oscar were almost as leg ahead by the time they took the win. This meant that Harry needed a third or better to beat them overall. However, in second place was Will and Matthew who showed consistency on day two (three top three results). In third place was Oli and Amber.

Henry and Oscar had won by one point, winning their first event together. Following them in second and first U17 was Harry and Ralph, Teddy and I managed to come away with third overall after remaining consistent across the two days. First girls' team was Heather and Gwyneth. And finally, the endeavour prize which went to Martha and Isobel. Well done to all the sailors this weekend, especially our new U17 teams. It was a tough venue with tricky tides and lots of different wind strengths to deal with.

Looking forwards to seeing a big fleet for the grand finale of the season - the End of Season Championships and final GP event of the year. It's lining up to be a good one.

Overall Results:

Pos	Bow No	Sail No	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1st	38	55244	Henry Heathcote	Oscar Cawthorne	6	‑19	5	1	1	1	14
2nd	45	57275	Harry George	Ralph Cawthorne	2	1	2	5	‑6	5	15
3rd	44	56091	Imogen Wade	Teddy Dunn	3	4	7	4	‑8	4	22
4th	39	56007	Arwen Fflur	Arlo Braund	‑10	9	4	3	2	8	26
5th	82	52230	Joe Jones	Hennie Burlton	4	2	1	‑19	10	14	31
6th	64	56108	William Bailey	Matthew Rayner	12	13	‑16	2	3	2	32
7th	40	54853	Oli Hale	Amber Hale	9	‑22	8	9	5	3	34
8th	24	56339	Heather Quinn	Gwyneth Lanyon	1	6	11	10	‑13	7	35
9th	50	55517	Emma Breese	Charlotte Beardsall	5	15	‑18	6	4	6	36
10th	91	55102	William Fletcher	Ethan Sparks	7	7	3	‑13	11	11	39
11th	56	57286	Ellie Creighton	Bea Greenfield	11	8	12	8	9	(RET)	48
12th	20	7	Arthur Bailey	Freya Sewell	‑21	12	9	7	12	13	53
13th	32	53959	Mathias Potter	Madeleine Greaves	‑17	10	14	15	15	10	64
14th	23	57273	Rosie Sheahan	Susie Sheahan	14	14	10	14	‑17	15	67
15th	9	54852	Tilly Brayshay	Alice Carter	20	18	‑22	12	7	12	69
16th	99	5540	Arthur Greaves	Angus McEwen	19	3	17	17	16	(DNC)	72
17th	63	55942	Sabine Potter	Merle Nieuwland	13	11	13	(RET)	DNS	9	73
18th	5	55402	Oscar Fry	Jemima Fry	15	23	19	11	14	(RET)	82
19th	29	54297	Patrick Bromilow	Olivia Creasy	18	5	6	(RET)	RET	BFD	83
20th	30	5585	Matthew Mason	Charlie Howard	22	20	15	16	18	(RET)	91
21st	79	5524	Ed Timberlake	Fred Langhorne	16	16	23	(RET)	20	DSQ	102
22nd	77	51427	Alice Gelosi	Silvia Gelosi	23	17	25	18	19	(DNC)	102
23rd	26	5	Eddie Paling	Eddie Quinn	24	21	21	20	21	(RET)	107
24th	88	57214	Dylan Creighton	Will Adams	8	(RET)	20	RET	RET	DNC	109
25th	60	5485	Martha Christensen	Isobel Fisher	‑26	25	26	21	22	16	110
26th	12	54124	Ella Martin	George Self	25	24	24	(RET)	DNC	DNC	127