Champions crowned at 2014 RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series

British Sailing Team members topped the leaderboards this weekend (1-2 November) as Hayling Island Sailing Club staged the third and final instalment of the 2014 RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series.  Two great weekends of racing at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in October had set the stage for a thrilling series finale at Hayling Island, where event honours were at stake in the Finn, 470, 49er, 49erFX and RS:X fleets.  Sailors completed the full schedule of racing on Saturday in 15-20 knots and glorious sunshine, while 30-35 knots on Sunday prevented any further action from taking place.   

 

A compulsory series for British Sailing Team members, the three weekends of racing have provided the perfect opportunity for the nation’s finest Olympic and Paralympic Classes sailors to fine tune their racing skills, while also providing the chance for aspiring stars of the future, local club sailors and class stalwarts to test their skills against the best of the best.  

In the heavyweight Finn class, it was the British Sailing Team’s World and European Champion Giles Scott who made light work of the challenging fleet as he cruised to event victory and the overall series crown.

Competing against a 16-strong fleet, the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year nominee took a clean sweep of race wins to finish four points clear of former British Sailing Team member Andrew Mills. Peter McCoy finished third.  

Luke Patience and Elliot Willis also saw an unblemished scorecard in the 470 fleet, taking all five race wins on Saturday. Anna Burnet and Flora Stewart finished the weekend in second overall, enough to give Podium Potential sailors the overall series crown. Mike Wood, who has competed across the three events with stand-in crews Eilidh McIntyre and Katie Tomsett, claimed the National Ranking title with a fourth place finish at the Hayling Island event.  

James Peters and Fynn Sterritt dominated proceedings in the 49er class finishing ten points clear at the top of the leaderboard to be crowned 2014 National Ranking Series Champions. With only three 49erFX boats competing this weekend, event honours and the overall series crown went to Owen Bowerman and Morgan Peach who are making an impressive transition from Youth to Olympic Classes sailing.  

In the RS:X 9.5 windsurfing event, Nick Dempsey rounded his series off in impressive fashion with three race wins resulting in event victory and the overall series crown. Connor Bainbridge finished five points behind to finish second in both the weekend and overall series standings. Bryony Shaw topped the billing in the RS:X 8.5 fleet with three bullets, while second placed Izzy Hamilton did enough to claim the series title.  

Meanwhile, the three Paralympic classes concluded their Series in Weymouth and Portland with three races held on Saturday and only one race on Sunday.  

Megan Pascoe came out on top in the 2.4mR class with all four race wins to take weekend victory ahead of Paralympic champion Helena Lucas. With both Pascoe and Lucas missing the opening event of the series, a third place finish at Hayling was enough to give Jonathan Currell the overall 2014 series title. Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell topped the SKUD 18 fleet while Craig Wood, Liam Cattermole and Steven Palmer took weekend honours and the series crown in the Sonar event.  

Barrie Edgington, British Sailing Team Podium Potential Squad Manager, commented: “Hayling Island Sailing Club and WPNSA provided challenging conditions on the final weekend of racing for the sailors to compete for event honours and the all-important series titles.  

“Despite the fact that there was no racing on Sunday due to much breeze, the competitors all enjoyed a really competitive day of Olympic Classes action out in Hayling Bay on the opening day of the regatta. We had over 80 sailors competing at WPNSA and HISC this weekend, with a good number of new faces fresh to the circuit, all eager to win international grants and mix it with some of the world’s best sailors from the British Sailing Team.  

“Thanks must go to the series hosts WPNSA and HISC, the volunteer race teams and the staff who have delivered once again another highly successful and enjoyable RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series.”   

(www.rya.org.uk)