The first RS Feva Grand Prix event of 2013 carried on as 2012 left off – sunny, light, shifty & extremely tricky! Grafham Water SC were the hosts for the 40 boats. The forecast was 3 to 6 knots on the Saturday & this forecast came true to form.
After a short postponement, the fleet got away in 6 knots of breeze. Two boats were over the line but they came back. Arthur Brown & Niamh Davies lead at the windward mark as the wind dropped to 4 knots on the first leg. The Burnham sailors extended their lead at the leeward gate with Hannah Bristow & Bobby Hewitt in 2nd & Jamie Smith & Piers Nicholls in 3rd. By the 2nd windward mark Will & Matt Taylor had climbed from 5th to 2nd with Hannah & Bobby still in 3rd. The fickle wind then filled in from behind allowing Will & Matt to catch the leaders & after a perfect roll gybe they took the lead & blanketed Arthur & Niamh allowing Hannah & Bobby through to 2nd.
The back markers struggled to finish as the wind dropped to 3 knots but the start sequence for race two began as the wind built to 5 knots. A huge left shift as the gun went allowed a few boats to cross the fleet on port whilst many, by the committee boat, struggled to cross the line. It became clear how biased the first leg had become & so race 2 was abandoned. The wind then disappeared but re-appeared in enough force to attempt another start. The second race restarted but another big left shift & a drop in strength to 2 knots resulted in another abandonment & the fleet was sent home.
Sunday dawned sunny & light again, but with a forecast of more wind later. The first start of the day resulted in a General Recall so the next start was on a black flag. The fleet got away in 7 knots of breeze with 3 boats black flagged.
Arthur & Niamh again lead the fleet at the windward mark from James Eales & Henry Collings; 3rd Alairic Bates & Matt Walker-Morecroft. As the wind dropped to 5 knots the leader pulled away even further. The race was shortened & won by Arthur & Niamh, whilst Harvey Martin & Will Ward took 2nd from Jamie & Piers who had been black flagged so 3rd went to Courtney Bilbrough & Orla Mitchell. With wind swings of 50 degrees, or more, the race team moved the course & eventually started the sequence for race 3 in 4 knots of breeze. However, the wind dropped and shifted left as gun went allowing one boat to port tack the fleet. Leading at the windward mark was Jamie & Piers; 2nd Sophie Hempsell & Emily Covell; 3rd James and Henry.
As the wind constantly shifted & pressure came through from different parts of the course Jamie & Piers did well to hold on to their lead whilst Will & Matt climbed through to take 2nd; in 3rd was Elliott Wells & Jake Todd.
The start sequence for race 4 was postponed as another huge left shift came through, but just as race 4 was about to start, another shift resulted in another postponed start at 1 minute to go!
Then the breeze came in at last – 10 knots of breeze so the warning signal went up again & finally the fleet got away. With gusts of 15 knots it was Elliott & Jake in the lead; 2nd Arthur and Niamh; 3rd Jamie and Piers. But the wind was still fickle & leading at the 2nd windward mark was Jamie and Piers with Harvey & Will up to 2nd & 3rd Arthur and Niamh. But there was more place changing to come & Harvey & Will lead at the final windward mark from Arthur & Niamh;3rd Jamie and Piers. Finally it was Arthur & Niamh who took the win; 2nd Jamie and Piers; 3rd Harvey & Will.
As the wind held, the final race got away swiftly & anyone of 3 boats could take overall honours. Leading at the windward mark was Will & Matt but they were quickly overtaken downwind by Elliott & Jake on the plane; 3rd James & Henry. The 13 – 15 knots of breeze allowed Elliott & Jake to extend their lead at wind ward mark; 2nd Harvey and Will; 3rd Will and Matt positions they held to the finish.
This gave the overall win to Will & Matt Taylor from Alton Water Sports Centre; 2nd Arthur Brown & Niamh Davies from Royal Burnham YC/Burnham SC; 3rd Jamie Smith & Piers Nicholls from Hayling Island SC.
Congratulations to the Race Team of Peter & Sue Saxton who managed to secure 5 races in the trickiest of conditions.
Results
RS Feva 2013
Results as of 10:13 on April 23, 2013
Overall
| Rank | Sailno | Helm | Helms Club | Crew | Crews Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Total | Nett | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 5028 | TAYLOR Will | Alton Water Sports Centre | TAYLOR Matt | Alton Water Sports Centre | 1.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 | (9.0) | 3.0 | 20.0 | 11.0 | |
| 2nd | 1486 | BROWN Arthur | Royal Burnham YC/Burnham SC | DAVIES Niamh | Burnham Sailing Club | 3.0 | 1.0 | (9.0) | 1.0 | 8.0 | 22.0 | 13.0 | |
| 3rd | 4883 | SMITH Jamie | HISC | NICHOLLS Piers | HISC | 5.0 | (41.0 BFD) | 1.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 54.0 | 13.0 | |
| 4th | 1883 | MARTIN Harvey | Oston Sailing Club | WARD Will | Ogston Sailing Club | 11.0 | 2.0 | (15.0) | 3.0 | 2.0 | 33.0 | 18.0 | |
| 5th | 4332 | WELLS Elliott | HISC | TODD Jake | HISC | (21.0) | 14.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 43.0 | 22.0 | |
| 6th | 4530 | EAALES James | Rlym/HISC | COLLINGS Henry | Rlym | 10.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | (12.0) | 4.0 | 34.0 | 22.0 | |
| 7th | 2508 | JOBSON Jamie | RTYC | ARMSTRONG Daniel | RTYC | 6.0 | 9.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | (18.0) | 51.0 | 33.0 | |
| 8th | 4251 | HEMPSELL Sophie | Bosham/HISC | COVELL Emily | HISC | (18.0) | 15.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 11.0 | 57.0 | 39.0 | |
| 9th | 3424 | BILBROUGH Courtney | Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre | MITCHELL Orla | Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre | (20.0) | 3.0 | 16.0 | 11.0 | 10.0 | 60.0 | 40.0 | |
| 10th | 3357 | DARLING Tom | HISC | BYFORD Charlie | Rutland SC | 7.0 | (19.0) | 14.0 | 6.0 | 14.0 | 60.0 | 41.0 | |
| 11th | 4682 | KELLY Greg | Isle of Man Yacht Club | CATCHPOLE George | WOBYC | 23.0 | (24.0) | 5.0 | 8.0 | 6.0 | 66.0 | 42.0 | |
| 12th | 4610 | BRISTOW Hannah | Leigh and Lowton | HEWITT Bobby | Leigh and Lowton | 2.0 | (20.0) | 12.0 | 13.0 | 16.0 | 63.0 | 43.0 | |
| 13th | 4635 | BATES Alaric | Bowmoor SC | WALKER-MORECROFT Matt | Bowmoor | 4.0 | 10.0 | (21.0) | 19.0 | 13.0 | 67.0 | 46.0 | |
| 14th | 4608 | DUFFY Bradley | Oakham/Rutland | COX Bella | Oakham / Rutland | 12.0 | 6.0 | 11.0 | (26.0) | 23.0 | 78.0 | 52.0 | |
| 15th | 3999 | NUNN Huw | Bowmoor SC | COTTERILL Dominic | Bowmoor SC | 13.0 | 11.0 | 19.0 | (25.0) | 12.0 | 80.0 | 55.0 | |
| 16th | 4890 | MATTHEWS Max | Tudor SC | RIVINGTON Guy | Tudor SC | (29.0) | 12.0 | 24.0 | 5.0 | 15.0 | 85.0 | 56.0 | |
| 17th | 2791 | HARRIS Cameron | Deben Yacht Club | HARRIS EUAN | Deben Yacht Club | 9.0 | (32.0) | 25.0 | 21.0 | 7.0 | 94.0 | 62.0 | |
| 18th | 4415 | ROBINS Nick | Hayling Island Sailing Club | CAMPBELL-BOTTOMS Alicia | Hayling Island Sailing Club | 25.0 | 7.0 | (28.0) | 14.0 | 17.0 | 91.0 | 63.0 | |
| 19th | 4631 | BLACK Freya | RLYC | BLACK Issy | RLYC | 17.0 | (29.0) | 10.0 | 15.0 | 22.0 | 93.0 | 64.0 | |
| 20th | 4361 | SCOTT James | Wembley SC | WHITE Henry | BVSC | 8.0 | 17.0 | (26.0) | 17.0 | 24.0 | 92.0 | 66.0 | |
| 21st | 2215 | GRIGGS Max | Royal Torbay Yacht Club | GRIGGS Cody | Royal Torbay Yacht Club | 14.0 | 25.0 | (33.0) | 18.0 | 9.0 | 99.0 | 66.0 | |
| 22nd | 5146 | LEWIS Daniel | Draycote Water SC | MARSHALL Elliott | Draycote Water SC | 26.0 | 8.0 | 17.0 | (30.0) | 21.0 | 102.0 | 72.0 | |
| 23rd | 4945 | LEWIS Rebcca | Draycote Water SC | SLINN Immi | Draycote Water sc | (27.0) | 16.0 | 22.0 | 16.0 | 20.0 | 101.0 | 74.0 | |
| 24th | 453 | BARKER Harry | Bowmoor SC | SPURWAY William | Bowmoor Sailing Club | 16.0 | 22.0 | 13.0 | (28.0) | 25.0 | 104.0 | 76.0 | |
| 25th | 5037 | HILLS Joe | Oakham/Rutland | NEVE Henry | Oakham / Rutland | 22.0 | 21.0 | 18.0 | 20.0 | (26.0) | 107.0 | 81.0 | |
| 26th | 5161 | VENNIS-OZANNE Billy | HISC/HHSC | LEWIS Jack | Draycote SC | 24.0 | (41.0 BFD) | 7.0 | 24.0 | 31.0 | 127.0 | 86.0 | |
| 27th | 3362 | WALTON Ellie | Draycote Water SC | WINBUSH Harriet | Draycote Water SC | 19.0 | 13.0 | 34.0 | 27.0 | (41.0 DNC) | 134.0 | 93.0 | |
| 28th | 4623 | NORBURY Edward | Warsash | HUTCHINGS Charlie | Warsash | (31.0) | 30.0 | 31.0 | 22.0 | 19.0 | 133.0 | 102.0 | |
| 29th | 4606 | FROST Alex | Oakham/Rutland | BRYERS Yuri | Oakham / Rutland | 15.0 | (33.0) | 32.0 | 29.0 | 27.0 | 136.0 | 103.0 | |
| 30th | 3746 | LASHBROOK Dominic | Oakham/Rutland | FOSTER James | Oakham / Rutland | 28.0 | 28.0 | 20.0 | (31.0) | 30.0 | 137.0 | 106.0 | |
| 31st | 4133 | STREATFIELD Lily | Oakham/Rutland | NEVE Lottie | Oakham / Rutland | (37.0) | 23.0 | 23.0 | 33.0 | 29.0 | 145.0 | 108.0 | |
| 32nd | 4470 | EDMONDS Cristian | Chew Valley Lake SC | WATSON Rafe | Chew Valley Lake SC | 32.0 | 18.0 | 27.0 | (41.0 DNC) | 32.0 | 150.0 | 109.0 | |
| 33rd | 4145 | PAYNE Tristan | Hayling Island Sailing Club | TODD Ben | Hayling Island Sailing Club | 30.0 | (41.0 BFD) | 30.0 | 23.0 | 28.0 | 152.0 | 111.0 | |
| 34th | 1492 | JOBSON Jessica | RTYC | WOOD Angus | RTYC | 35.0 | 26.0 | (37.0) | 32.0 | 36.0 | 166.0 | 129.0 | |
| 35th | 3638 | EDMONDS Alice | Chew Valley Lake SC | WIDDICOMBE Elizabeth | Chew Valley Lake SC | (36.0) | 27.0 | 35.0 | 36.0 | 35.0 | 169.0 | 133.0 | |
| 36th | 3734 | VISSER Bernard | Oakham/Rutland | BYFORD Will | Oakham / Rutland | 34.0 | 31.0 | (38.0) | 35.0 | 33.0 | 171.0 | 133.0 | |
| 37th | 3788 | BILBROUGH Madeline | Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre | BILBROUGH Tim | Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre | 33.0 | 34.0 | 29.0 | (41.0 DNC) | 41.0 DNC | 178.0 | 137.0 | |
| 38th | 2915 | PROFITT Tom | Stamford School/Rutland Sailing Club | SPIEGL Will | Stamford School/Rutland Sailing Club | (38.0) | 35.0 | 36.0 | 34.0 | 34.0 | 177.0 | 139.0 | |
| 39th | 2920 | ROBSON ROSIE | Stamford High School | NAYLOR Molly | Stamford High School | (41.0 RAF) | 36.0 | 39.0 | 37.0 | 37.0 | 190.0 | 149.0 | |
| 40th | 4135 | NEVE Nick | Oakham/Rutland | BYFORD Charlie | Oakham / Rutland | (41.0 DNC) | 41.0 DNC | 41.0 DNC | 41.0 DNC | 41.0 DNC | 205.0 | 164.0 |
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