Typhoon UK 29er Nationals & Open Championships Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy Day 4
by UK 29er Class Association 26 Jul 2023 09:25 BST
22-26 July 2023
The start of the Finals after two days of qualifying races. Going into the Final Series, the leaders were Australia's Joel Beashel and Logan Radford with Ireland's Ben O'Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain in second and Great Britain's Charlie Gran and Sam Webb in third.
In fourth place it was USA Tyler and Andrew Lamm; fifth IRL Clementine and Nathan Van Steenberge; sixth Pol August Sobcak and Krzsztof Krolik; seventh Fra Sam Chamber and County Bastian; eighth GBR Finian and Oscar; ninth GBR Jamie and Jamie and tenth NZL Sean and Rowan Kensington.
Within the female category, the final series started with two strong teams lying very close to each other in points: Annabel Vines and Maddie Bilbrough (19th overall and 4th British boat overall) and Katy Jenkins and Amelie Hiscocks (24th overall, 5th Brits and 2nd Brit girls). The 3rd female team is Hong Kong's Emily Polson and Tiffany Mak who are also a Junior Team.
The sun welcomed everyone for a perfect skiff sailing day on Tuesday, with a consistent wind ranging between 15-18 knots. The fleet was split in two, Gold and Blue, with 45 boats in each and four races were completed within the harbour.
"Conditions today were a lot more consistent than yesterday", commented Max Todd, British Youth National Squad coach. He continued, "The boats that did well were those who did the basics well. It was definitely an Australian and Ireland show."
An Australian team, Ben Crafoord and Jacob Marks, outside the top 20, came into play today, winning two of the four races. The Irish Ben O'Shaughnessy and Ethan Spain jumped into first place after winning the other two of the races, leaving previous leader Joel Beashel and Logan Radford in second. Irish mixed team Clementine and Nathan Van Steenberge crept into third.
Going into the last day and battling for the British Champs, Charlie Gran and Sam Webb are at the front (and 4th overall) with duo Jamie and Jamie second (and 8th overall) and 26.5 points behind. Finian Morris and Oscar Morgan-Harris are third (10th overall) and 32 points behind.
In the female championships, Katy Jenkins and Amelie Hiscocks had a very good start of the day, closing up the gap to Annabel Vines and Maddie Bilbrough. By the end of the four races, the British positions remain unchanged (Annabel and Maddie first Brits and 20th overall; Katy and Amelie second Brits and 27th overall), yet the American boat with Laura Hamilton and Carolina Zager slipped in between, pacing second girls in the Open Championships (and 23rd overall). The third British Girls team are Ella Lightbody and Felicity Brellisford (currently 40th overall).
One more day of racing today with four races planned to finish the 2023 Typhoon UK 29er British and Open National Championships. All the trophies are still for grab, which will make for a very exciting end to the regatta.
Results after Day 4 can be found here.