420 Worlds 2005 - Selector 2
Mumbles Yacht Club
16 and 17 April 2005
Fifty three boats arrived at Mumbles on the Gower Peninsular near Swansea for the 2nd selection meeting for the 420 2005 World Championship. The fleet only managed 1 days racing because the weather on Sunday was too hostile to get the starts underway. Tom Mallindine and James Clark continued to sail well, winning with two firsts and a second place, to follow their successes at the 1st selector meeting and the Youth Nationals last week. Matt Burge and Chris Evans, 2nd at last year�s nationals, picked up 3 good results to finish second ahead of Oliver Dix and Sam Maxfield. The selection series is now just over halfway through with 9 races sailed and at least 8 scheduled for the final meeting at Hayling Island at the end of April. Mallindine and Clark are comfortably ahead in the open series with Hannah Mills and Peggy Webster, this years girls Youth Champions, leading the ladies. But the competition is still close for the other places in the teams
On Saturday the breeze started at force 2-3 from the north west. Being offshore it was a bit patchy and shifty. Mallindine and Clark led at the first mark after picking up a nice shift to the left of the beat. They continued to read the shifts well and pulled out a long lead over the chasing bunch. Dix and Maxfield held onto 2nd ahead of Paul Brotherton and Mari Shepherd who improved steadily though the race.� The wind then went lighter and became unstable. The race officer .needed several goes at getting the fleet away. It wasn�t until a number of people had been removed under the black flag rule that he was able to get a straight line. Once again the left side of the beat paid. Claire Walsh and Clare Best led at the first mark from Mallindine and Clark who had pulled up well from a poor start and James and Dan Ellis. On the first reach the wind picked up and started to go to the west. Walsh and� Best weren�t able hold onto the lead letting Mallindine and Clark and the Ellis brothers through. The outer loop was difficult with a steady left shift making it hard to pick a good line. Initially Brotherton and Shepherd pulled through to second, but in the end the Ellis brothers were able to slip back to second on the final beat and then roll Maillindine and Clark on the final reach. Walsh and Best fought back to 3rd place.
The 3rd race was sailed in a good force 4 westerly. In order to speed up the programme the course was set as a windward/leeward shuttle. Ian Rumball and David Moran from Ireland, looking for a result to secure their trip to the Youth Worlds in Korea this year, went right towards the shore on the first beat and led comfortably at the first mark. On the second beat, again right paid, and Ally Martin and Ian Dobson emerged from the chasing group to get to second place ahead of Ben Ainsworth and Maia Walsh. But on the final beat the boats out to sea took a better breeze with Mallidine and Clark moving up to score another first place with Ainsworth and Walsh in second and Rumball and Moran dropping to 3rd.
The forecast for Sunday was a strong south easterly wind blowing straight into the bay. Although only just over 20 knots, the sea was difficult with 2 meter waves becoming steep as they rolled into the shallow bay. The race officer postponed racing in the hope that a predicted veer would give some shelter, but by midday the wind and waves were just as bad as ever and the visibility had fallen with driving rain. So racing was abandoned for the day.
See you all at Hayling Island in a fortnight to finish the business.