Rooster RS Feva Nationals 2024 With 48 hours to the start of the RS Feva Nationals, a forecast of 3-5 Kts from everywhere had the Class Chairman in panic! 214 sailors descended on Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, eager to register and collect their Rooster T-shirts and event sticker packs. The Regatta Fleet met with their coaches, Dylan Collingbourne and Jacob Knock, for two days of race skills before joining the silver fleet for the last two days of the championships.
As D Flag flew in a steady 12kts and glorious sunshine, both the Yellow and Blue Flights launched. The Yellow Flight start got away perfectly on schedule followed by Blue, setting the standards ‘Woodsy’ the RO and his Race Team maintained for the remainder of the event. 3 races for each flight all completed in epic conditions left plenty of time for the highly contested crews race. About 70 boats putting their crews in to the helming role, the start was away at the first time of asking. Although there may have been a few bumps along the way, it saw a lot of laughs and a fair few crews discovering it really isn’t that hard to drive a Feva but they really need a better crew than their helms proved to be.
As if this hadn’t been enough sailing for day 1, once the fleet had tallied some of the sailors were straight back on the water for taster sails in 29ers, Nacras and 420 which were on offer for most days.
Day 2 and WPNSA just kept on giving. Launching in 14 Kts and sunshine with a building forecast, the last day of qualifying saw 4 races scheduled. This was also the all important fancy dress day. Special mentions were the family of Vikings; the Smurfs and their complete blue faces; we loved Maverick and Goose; the Danger signs; our fancy dress runner up prize went to The Penguins; the winners were the fabulous cow outfits. You all looked amazing, a superb effort. The bulk of the fleet completed all 4 races with the winds
getting into the low 20s – it was Champagne sailing for all. Qualifying complete, last year’s winners Ben Greenhalgh & Tom Sinfield clearly laid down the gauntlet to the fleet with 7 firsts out of 7 to top the qualifying series. They were closely followed into Gold by Will Stratton Brown & Will Ahlheid and Ed Stubbs & Noah Kenny. With the cut at 54th place, Jim Bowes and Issac Lindley from Windermere School would start in pole position in the silver fleet which was joined by our Regatta Fleet boats.
Day 3 and the start of the Championship Series beckoned with SW 18 G25 kts. With a square line the top boats jockeyed for the pin to get to the left of the course and this remained the way to go for most of the day. With mid 20s kts the first reach to the outer loop offered some challenges for the Gold Fleet but this was quickly tweaked by the mark bots for the Silver Fleet. As the breeze continued to build, the rescue team got to earn their post race donuts and, after 3 races for both fleets, the Silver Fleet was done for the day. Sam Blakestone & Florence Patterson led the silver fleet from Jasper Nelson & James Tinline, with Jake Davies & Finlay Rhodes recovering from an 18th with 2 firsts in third overall.
The Gold fleet set off on their 4th race with gusts of 27kts and Speed demons, Ben Greenhalgh and Tom Sinfield of Port Dinorwic Sailing Club completed the day with a mighty four bullets, with fellow Port Dinorwic sailors, Rebecca Knock and Megan Gowers so nearly pipping them on the line, having made significant gains on the last downwind .
Showered and changed, the sailors were enthralled by Micky Beckett recounting his pathway to the Olympics and taking questions. This was followed by the event BBQ.
The Final Day started with poor visibility and a punchy forecast! Wind conditions in the morning were the same as what ended racing on the day before and due to build to mid 30s. Woodsy the RO and the race team disappeared into the mist to check the conditions out on the water. A windward leeward course was set and, as the visibility cleared, the Gold fleet were released with the aim to achieve a fifth race so the sailors would qualify for a discard. With the race away and gusts topping out at 25kts, the silver fleet were released to takeover on the course looking for a further 2 races in the brief weather window. As Gold recovered to the shore, the Silver Fleet battled to finish their first race with gusts increasing in severity and the decision to quit whilst ahead was made. Despite a third first out of the four Silver Fleet Championship races for Jake Davies & Finlay Rhodes, it still wasn’t enough to win whilst carrying their 18th with no discard available.
As the rain fell and the wind blew, there were sailors singing their way back to shore after four of Weymouth’s best sailing days, thanking the safety team along the way. The class is proud to have such happy and courteous sailors.
With only the prize giving to go it was time for the legend that is Jake Elsbury to take the floor and present a plethora of prizes supplied by our great sponsors, Rooster, Allen Sailing and RS Sailing.
Retaining the title from 2023, the 2024 National Champions were Ben Greenhalgh & Tom Sinfield from Port Dinorwic Sailing Club in North Wales. Fantastic sailing from Ben and Tom achieved a flawless set of results winning every race in both qualifying and the Championship Series. They will go on to represent the class at this year’s Endeavour Trophy.
Second Overall and our female National Champions are also from Port Dinorwic Sailing Club, Rebecca Knock and Megan Gowers. Congratulations girls..
Third overall from Lyme Regis Sailing, Ed Stubbs and Noah Kenny were closely followed (by 1 point) by Oli Chambers & Henry Wilkinson of Sevenoaks School, in fourth overall.
5th – Will Stratton-Brown & Will Ahlheid 6th – Zoe Lomas-Clarke & Mark Soars
7th – Jack Hodgkins & Isabella Barnes 8th- Sophie & Chris Fox
9th – Mia Hateley & Mona Nygard 10th – Matthew & Peter Ridout
First School (Best 3 boats from a School) – Sevenoaks School
First Club (Best 3 boats from a Club) – Draycote Water Sailing Club
Jonathan Webster Pro/Am – Freddie Wood and Holly Johnson of Windermere School
Junior National Champion Category (Helm and Crew age 13 or under until 31st December 2024)
1st Juniors – Fallon Day and Hannah Yates of Gurnard SC
2nd Juniors – Reuben Wealthy and William Le Grice of Stokes Bay SC
3rd Juniors – Emilia Ever and Lily Hopkins of Prestwick SC
Overall Silver
1st Silver – Sam Blakeston and Florence Patterson of Clifton College SC
2nd Silver – Jasper Nelson and James Inline of Sevenoaks School
3rd Silver – Laura Jubb and Abi Llewellyn of Hayling Island SC
Family Category
1st Family – Sophie Fox and Chris Fox of Itchenor Sailing Club
2nd Family – Matthew Ridout and Peter Ridout of Ballyholme YC
3rd Family – Chris Webber and Albert and Evelyn Webber of Pevensey Bay SC
Boys
1st Boys – Ben Greenhalgh and Tom Sinfield of Port Dinorwic SC
2nd Boys – Ed Stubbs and Noah Kenny of Lyme Regis Sailing Club
3rd Boys – Oli Chambers and Henry Wilkinson of Sevenoaks School
Girls
1st Girls – Rebecca Knock and Megan Gowers of Port Dinorwic SC
2nd Girls – Mia Hateley and Mona Nygård of Draycote Water SC
3rd Girls – Emily and Annabel Ridout of Ballyholme YC
Mixed Team
1st Mixed – Zoe Lomas Clarke and Mark Soars of Frensham Pond SC
2nd Mixed – Jack Hodgkins and Isabella Barnes of Draycote Water SC
3rd Mixed – Sophie Fox and Chris Fox of Itchenor SC
Many Thanks go to WPNSA, Sally, Richard and their team of staff, Mark Wood our Race Officer and all the volunteers for all their efforts before and during the event. We would also like to thank Jake and Ben from RS Sailing, they were busy assisting sailors throughout the event day and night.
Another big thanks go to our title sponsor Rooster and a multitude or sponsors to include, RS Sailing, Allen Sailing, Noble Marine Insurance and Coastwatersports. Your continued support helps us run these events. Thank you to Oli King Photography for the super photos.
Sailors, parents, friends and coaches it was fabulous to see everyone getting involved and spread the Feva love making it yet another memorable Feva Nationals! We look forward to seeing you at our next events. It was great to see all regions within the UK represented by sailors, seeing the class is continuing to grow means there lots more fun and competitive racing to come! Until then I will leave you with some sailors comments written by Jess and Emilia Ewer of Prestwick Sailing Club.
” It was an experience of a lifetime for all of us, whether it was being on a hectic start line surround on all side, coping in windy conditions, understanding the rules, or planing downwind with the spinnaker up. It was a learning curve for all of us”.
” My main takeaway from the Nationals this year is the importance of hard work, motivation and commitment”.
” I have really enjoyed my time at Feva Nationals and I am grateful to everyone who was apart of making this event memorable and well run.”
Photo Credits – Oli King Photography