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End of Season Regatta, 2000. Rutland SCRutland Sailing Club hosted the 2000 420 End of Season on December the 9th & 10th. 18 boats attended, weather and other factors reduced the fleet size. The speed and efficiency of the race committee saw 6 great races, with the overall victory going to the Gill/P&B Race Team of Ben Field and Nick Hutton.On Saturday a wind of between 15-20 knots started the first race of the event off. This saw Field and Hutton leading at the first mark, with a close battle throughout the race with Youth World representatives Paul C-J and Matt Gill. C-J managed to squeeze past and take the race. Alex Cherry and Paul Burgoine pulled through the fleet into third, after problems just after the start. Race 2 saw more breeze, with Cherry leading the race with Field behind, with the main fight in third and fourth place, eventually being won by Ian Martin and Laurie Fitzjohn-Sykes. The last race of the day saw C-J and Cherry lead the fleet, with Cherry holding off the challenge of C-J to win, and Field finishing just behind in third. (C-J was DSQ anyway.) Day 2 saw lighter breeze in the morning, with just good enough trapezing conditions. This suited the lighter crew of the ladies Youth World representatives, the Rawlinson sisters of Parkstone taking the lead from Nic Asher and Paul Davies who had been leading most of the way round the course. The Willis brothers also started the day well finishing third. Race 5 saw C-J at the front again, but then slipping down to fourth due to wind shift up the second beat allowing the Willis brothers to pull through and get another good result, with Ian Martin coming second and Nic Asher third. The final race saw the breeze quickly pick up during the starting sequence with gusts hitting in excess of 20 knots. Cherry, Field, and C-J led from the rest of the fleet with the leader constantly changing, until C-J retired. Cherry then led, but Field pasted him on the last run, while at the same time the Willis brothers quickly came up behind into third. The last reach saw both Field and Cherry attempting to hold their spinnakers up, but not being able to lay the finish line meant they both had to drop their kites. During the drops the Willis brothers who dropped their kite on the run caught up and overtook Cherry, but then just missing first place by a boat length giving the final race and event to Field and Hutton. 1st Ben Field and Nick Hutton (Northampton S.C.), 2nd Alex Cherry and Paul Burgoine (Bartley S.C.), 3rd Nic Asher and Paul Davies (W.O.B.Y.C.), 4th Myles and Elliot Willis (Chipstead S.C.), 5th Ian Martin & Laurie Fitzjohn Sykes (Burgfield S.C.), 6th Victoria and Emma Rawlinson (Parkstone Y.C.).
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This page was last updated on 21-Dec-2000 20:16. 420 UK Webmaster, Mike Greenland, [email protected] |