This weekend, 108 Feva sailors from across the country flocked to Northampton Sailing Club for the first Volvo RS Feva Grand Prix of the year. Summer seemed to have disappeared for the weekend, but nothing could deter our hardy teams, who battled it out over 6 races ranging from a blustery 18-20 knots of wind on the Saturday to a very different 8-10 knots of shifty breeze on Sunday.

Jack Lewis and Lucas Marshall of Draycote Water SC gave us all a taste of things to come in the first race as they followed the top boats around the course as though waiting to pounce, before adopting their warp-speed downwind mode for the final leg to take the win. Charlotte Ormerod and Maddie Wylie of Oxford Sailing Club and the Armstrong boys (Fin and Daniel) of Royal Torbay YC also enjoyed the breeze and took 2^nd and 3^rd positions after showing the fleet the way around the race track from the start.

Faced with sunshine and exciting but manageable wind, the race officer decided to extend the final two races of the day so sailors could really make the most of the conditions. The term ‘Champaign sailing’ sprang to mind as the fleet continued with their fast-paced, nip and tuck contest around the race track.

Jack and Lucas were taking no prisoners and finished the day with a 1,3,1 to put themselves in pole position overnight. Onlookers reported that the pair managed to find a fast planing mode downwind in the pressure, while others were still working for depth. It meant that although they didn’t sail as direct a route to the mark, they managed to increase their speed by enough that they had pulled out a 12 boat-length lead by the bottom marks.

Charlotte and Maddie finished off their first day with a strong 2,6,3 to put them in 2^nd position overnight and leading female team, while Iain Bird and Jake Hardman of Hayling Island Sailing Club slotted in a consistent 6,4,4 to safely secure their third place overnight.

Day two brought a new challenge with lighter wind, from a less stable direction. A big wind shift in the final sequence of race one meant the port end of the start line became strongly favoured. Pierce Harris and Alfie Cogger of Windermere School showed the fleet how it’s done, throwing in a textbook ‘port flyer’ on the start line and crossing the fleet by a considerable margin. They maintained their lead for the first lap, dropping only to 2^nd when Iain and Jake managed to sneak past to take the race win. Locals Rory Odell and Josh Bonsey of Northampton SC took 3^rd place, putting them well in contention for a top spot as they were able to discard a 13^th from the previous day.

As a testament to the tricky conditions, the now top two boats overall; Jack/Lucas and Iain/Jake were unable to claw their way back into the mix after a difficult start in race 2. Freya Black and Harriet Cage of HISC sailed a fantastic first beat, putting them in the top spot by the windward mark, only to extend their lead around the course. Henry and Rupert Jameson also sailed a great race to take 2^nd place.  Both boats continued their strong performance with 3^rd and 4^th positions respectively in the final race.

Jack and Lucas won the series overall by a small margin, even after losing their lead and dropping to 7^th in the final race when they sailed to the finish, forgetting there was an extra lap to be sailed. Ian and Jake managed to maintain their 2^nd position overall, very closely followed by Rory/Josh and the Jameson boys on joint points, where Rory and Josh snuck ahead on tie break. The Armstrong boys followed closely in 5^th position, while Freya and Hattie’s admirable final day pulled them up to 6^th overall and meant they took the spot of leading female team.

All in all a fabulous weekend was had, both on and off the water and it was fantastic to see schools including Oakham and Tonbridge being so well represented. We owe a big thank you to Volvo Car UK and Magic Marine for their support. Without them, we would have been unable to make the event the huge success that it was.

Volvo RS Feva Grand Prix – 18th and 19th April 2015. Event 3 of 4.

Northampton Sailing Club

Results are final as of 14:03 on April 19, 2015

Overall

Scoring codes used

www.northamptonsailingclub.org

www.rsfeva.org.uk/?event=volvo-rs-feva-grand-prix-northampton-sc

Sailwave Scoring Software 2.16.7
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