A total of 101 sailors competing across five Olympic classes made the trip to Warsash Sailing Club over the weekend of the 15-16 November to take part in the final weekend of the 2003 Holt RYA National Ranking Series.

The weather was amazingly mild for the middle of November and although Saturday caused the race officers a small headache with the fickle winds, Sunday dawned with a better breeze and sunshine providing a perfect race day. The 49ers were the only class to sail all six of their races with the rest of the fleets completing five.

After six races in the 49er class, current world champions Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks had returned to form after a short break, winning the last three races and with it the weekend from Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes. Relative newcomers to the fleet, Ben McGrane and Jonathan Clegg finished third.

Draper commented: “It is good for us to have come back from a break after the worlds and to carry on where we left off. It is great to see so many newcomers to the fleet this weekend and many of them were putting in good performances, especially in the lighter winds.”

There was also a good turnout in the Finn fleet with a total of 19 boats competing. After completing just one race on the Saturday, four were scheduled on Sunday and the racing was tight with the winner being determined from the final race.

The final race turned into a showdown between Matt Howard and Tim Carver with Howard finally getting the better of Carver on the final upwind leg to lead round the mark and home to the finish. Howard had secured the weekend by one point from Carver with John Greenwood finishing in third place.

The Europe fleet saw a turnout of 14 boats and after five races James Eynon secured the weekend counting three first places amongst his score line. Chris Gill finished in second place with Andrea Brewster finishing as first girl in third place overall.

Nic Asher and Elliot Willis dominated the weekend in the 470 class. Scoring nothing worse than a second place saw them win the weekend by five points from Christina Bassadone and Katherine Hopson. Callum MacDonald and Stuart Bithell finished in third place overall.

Despite a relatively small entry of five boats, including a number of newcomers, there was some exciting racing in the Tornado class. The weekend was eventually decided on count back and with two first places Leo Farrow sailing with Rob Wilson, who is normally seen at the other end of the boat, won the weekend from Andrew Walsh and Ed Barney. Chris and Muile Field matched Farrow and Wilson’s two first places, but counting two fourths saw them finish in third place overall.

RYA Development Squads Manager Barrie Edgington commented on the 2003 Series: “The Holt RYA National Ranking Series has finished on a high with medium winds and glorious sunshine. What’s more, is that it’s encouraging to see a number of the next generation of Olympic class sailors topping many of the fleets and next year we expect further transition from the youth classes and some more new faces at the Holt RYA National Ranking Series.”

Results

470

1, Nic Asher/Elliot Willis, WOBYC (1,1,(2),2,1) 5 pts

2, Christina Bassadone/Katherine Hopson, RTYC (2,2,1,(5),5) 10 pts

3, Callum MacDonald/Stuart Bithell, RNCYC & HLSC (3,(8),4,1,3) 11 pts

Finn

1, Matt Howard (3,1,(4),2,1) 7 pts

2, Tim Carver, St Mawes SC (4,(5),1,1,2) 8 pts

3, John Greenwood, Budworth SC (1,4,3,(7),4) 12 pts

Tornado

1, Leo Farrow/Rob Wilson (1,1,(3),3,2) 7 pts

2, Andrew Walsh/Ed Barney, Exeter Uni (2,2,2,1,(3)) 7 pts

3, Chris Field/Muile Field, Munis Bay SC ((DNF),4,1,4,1) 10 pts

49er

1, Chris Draper/Simon Hiscocks, WPSA ((7),1,2,1,1,1) 6 pts

2, Stevie Morrison/Ben Rhodes, Exe SC (4,2,1,(DNC),2,3) 12 pts

3, Ben McGrane/Jonathan Clegg, HISC ((10),3,10,2,3,2) 20 pts

Europe

1, James Eynon, Weston SC (1,1,2,(4),1) 5 pts

2, Chris Gill, Portishead YSC (2,(4),1,2,4) 9 pts

3, Andrea Brewster, Frensham Pond ((4),2,4,1,3) 10 pts