It seems whenever there is a 9er event there is wind, often too much and this weekend was no different. At the 29er Eurocup and 49er National Ranking event at Weymouth the breeze was up to 18kts as the fleets launched, however by the time most boats got to the start the wind was a steady 25kts with gusts of 28kts. Race officer Laurie Thornton-Grimes took the decision to send the fleets ashore and wait. By 1500 the wind had abated to a comfortable 20-22kts and the fleets set off again.

Three races for both fleets were sailed and a battle-scorn fleet got back to the shore around 1800. Sunday brought drizzle and a light wind – a welcome change except for the rain. Three races were held completing the series.

In the 29er, Jaques Tristan and Alain Sign seemed not able to put a foot wrong winning every race in the mixture of conditions. They were followed home by visiting Australians Dave O’Connor and Scott Babbage. The Finnish team of Lauri Lehtinen and Miikka Pennanen just beat James Stewardson and Tom Morris into third place.

Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks in the 49ers took first but could not quite match the 29er’s row of firsts. James McIntosh and Phil Kennard had the honour of winning the only race that Chris and Simon did not win. John Pink and Alex Hopson put together an impressive scoreline with three seconds on Sunday and nothing outside the top four in the windy conditions on Saturday. Ben McGrane and Jonny Clegg found form for the weekend to put in a solid third overall.

Overall Results

29er Eurocup

1 619, Jaques Tristan and Alain Sign

2 AUS648, David O’Connor and Scott Babbage

3 FIN548, Lauri Lehtinen and Miikka Pennanen

4 781,James Stewardson and Tom Morris

5 931, Ed Chapman andTom Peel

6 900, Justin Visser and Simon Wheeler

49ers

1 GBR1, Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks

2 717, John Pink and Alex Hobson

3 831, Ben McGrane and Jonathan Clegg

4 749, James McIntosh and Philip Kennard

5 653, Tom Smedley and Olivier Vidal

6672, Dave Evans and Rick Peacock