Hayling Selector 2 Event

420 Open and Ladies World Championships and Junior European Championship Selections, Selector 3, Hayling Island April 28^th/29^th

The final weekend to select the teams for the 420 Open and Ladies World Championships and Junior European Championship Selections was held at Hayling Island over the weekend of April 28^th and 29^th. This was a return visit after the first weekend had been moved there in March because of Foot and Mouth around the inland venues.

35 boats competed and 8 races were held, with racing taking place in the harbour on both days.

Saturday started with a South Westerly force 5, which was forecast to increase. The course was laid in the area of the harbour close to the club and with all the courses being a double inner loop before the reach to the outer run there was exciting viewing for everybody.

In the first race, Myles and Elliot Willis pulled out a good lead by the first mark which was whittled away by Nic Asher and Paul Davies, but they held on to win with Asher second, a feat that nobody else achieved that day.

In the second race Ben field and Nick Hutton led at the first mark, but Nic Asher pulled steadily through to win comfortably with Ben Field second. By this time the wind was gusting well into force 6 and at least one gust of 29 knots was recorded during the afternoon.

It was paying to be hard right on the beats, and for the third race all the main contenders started on port ready for the long drag out to the right. Ian Martin and Laurie Fitzjohn-Sykes got the better of Nic Asher and both were well clear of the rest of the fleet by the first mark. Ian Martin led for another loop but a poor spinnaker drop let Nic Asher in and he held on to win by a couple of boats lengths.

Alex Cherry and Paul Burgoine led the fourth race but they could never escape from a small group Nic Asher, Ben Field and Myles Willis. Despite the gusty conditions there was much place changing before Nic Asher took the lead and held it to the finish.

The gusting winds and short chop led to many capsizes in the main part of the fleet. The tide had flooded to the point where the masts just bounced on the bottom and 6 had to be replaced overnight. Much midnight oil was burnt but everybody was repaired and ready to race the next day.

The forecast for Sunday was better but with squally showers forecast and a force 4 already blowing in the bay, the course was set up in the harbour in the stretch from Thorney to East Head where the direction of the channel gave a true beat.

The fifth race started in a force 2 to 3, Athol and Eamon King led at the first mark from Sam Carter and Paul Jones and Suzanne Bennell and Jill Shorrocks. On the second beat, Sam Carter read the tide and lead at the next wind mark but he was unable to hold off Athol King who won with Sam Carter second.

The wind dropped a little and the course was shortened to a single inner loop for the remaining races. The sixth race was a close race; again Sam Carter led early on but he was unable to hold off Nic Asher who went onto win while Victoria and Emma Rawlinson were a close third.

In the seventh race Ian Martin led from Myles Willis at the first mark followed by Ben Field and Athol King. On the second beat the wind dropped away to nothing and as it filled back in, Myles Willis made the most of it to pull out a long lead from Ian Martin who also pulled away from the others.

The final race showed the vagaries of racing in the harbour. On the first beat in a force 2, the fleet went left except for Giles Rolls and Duncan Winton who applied their local knowledge to take a long port tack out which then lee bowed them up to the mark. They rounded second behind Nick Cherry and Chris Evans. Nick Cherry held on to win by a big margin whilst Giles Rolls applied his magic again and regained second on the second beat and was only passed by Myles Willis before the finish.

In the meeting, Nic Asher’s string of wins on Saturday was just enough to hold off the challenge from Myles Willis on Sunday. Third went to Ian Martin but only on a count back tie break with Ben Field.

The selections held over the 3 meetings, twice at Hayling with the third at Sunderland, gave a full range of conditions. 9 races were sailed in very windy conditions but the remaining 15 were all in the range of force 1 to 4. Nic Asher and Paul Davies finally won but with a narrow 3 point margin over Myles and Elliot Willis. The tussle for 3^rd was not resolved until the final race when Ian Martin and Laurie Fitzjohn-Sykes eventually got the better of Ben Field and Nick Hutton and Alex Cherry and Paul Burgoine. Vicky and Emma Rawlinson consolidated their position as top ladies but Gemma Farrell and Jo Allen and Suzanne Bennell and Jill Shorrocks pushed them all the way to the end.

Results:

Hayling Island Selector 3

1^st Nic Asher/Paul Davies 13pts, 2^nd Myles Willis/Elliot 14pts, 3^rd Ian Martin/Laurie Fitzjohn-Sykes 25pts, 4^th Ben Field/Nick Hutton 25pts, 5^th Alex Cherry/Paul Burgoine 28pts, 6^th Athol King/Eamon King 37pts, 7^th Nick Cherry/Chris Evans 38pts, 8^th Vicky Rawlinson/Emma Rawlinson 39pts, 9^th Sam Carter/Paul Jones 40pts, 10^th Eivind Karlson/Haakon Karlson 50pts.

Overall Selection series, 24 races, 20 to count.

1^st Nic Asher/Paul Davies 56pts, 2^nd Myles Willis/Elliot 59pts, 3^rd Ian Martin/Laurie Fitzjohn-Sykes 94pts, 4^th Ben Field/Nick Hutton 98pts, 5^th Alex Cherry/Paul Burgoine 105pts, 6^th Athol King/Eamon King 109pts, 7^th Nick Cherry/Chris Evans 113pts, 8^th Vicky Rawlinson/Emma Rawlinson 174pts, 9^th Sam Carter/Paul Jones 178pts, 10^th Gemma Farrell/Joanna Allen 185pts.

This page was last updated on 17-Jun-2001 13:41. 420 UK Webmaster, Mike Greenland, [email protected]