A total of 44 boats turned out for the second weekend of the Magic Marine-sponsored 420 world and European selection series

The second weekend of the Magic Marine sponsored 420 selection series for the World and Junior European Championships was held on 13-14 April at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club.

Forty four teams enjoyed a very varied weekend with Nick Asher and Elliott Willis winning by a large margin from Athol and Eamonn King and then Nick Cherry and Chris Evans. Alison Martin and Bethan Carden were the top girls. This means that Asher and Cherry are now well ahead in the overall selection series with Martin the top girl.

Thorpe Bay is a new venue for the 420 class. Several competitors arrived on Friday for practice and were rewarded with a steady Force 3 easterly and true estuary chop.

Saturday was more taxing. The wind had moved north and was gusting off the land from Force 3-5 and a total of four races were held.

In race one Laurie Fitzjohn Sykes and Tom Mapplebeck held off Nic Asher. In race two the wind started bending left. Athol King and Nick Cherry made the best of this. The wind shifted even further and gusted hard across the run in the third race. This caused chaos at the leeward mark with Nic Asher emerging as the winner from Nick Cherry.

The fourth and final races of the day was short to ensure all competitors were ashore before the tide caused a problem. Again Asher led all the way from Sam Carter and Paul Davies. At the end of the day Asher led the meeting with Alison Martin and Bethan Carden the leading girls in 12th place.

Sunday’s forecast was for much less wind. And in the end the light north-westerly fought the southerly sea breeze making course setting a nightmare.

Race five set off to the south-west. Nick Asher led from Gemma Farrell and Jo Allen despite the wind doing a 180 degree shift twice. In race six, starting to the north, Gemma Farrell raced to a huge lead only to find that she had been black-flagged. The weather then went very light and variable. The race officer finished the race at the twin leeward marks. Sam Carter crept in a length ahead of Asher only to find he had passed the wrong side of the mark and dropped to 21st place by the time he had understood his error and rerounded.

For race seven, the wind was consistently from the north . Nic Asher, Sam Carter and Nick Cherry stretched out a huge lead leaving the rest of the fleet to struggle for the minor places. The wind then died completely leaving the competitors to be towed home.

Overall Results

1. Nic Asher and Elliott Willis 7pts

2. Athol King and Eamonn King 22 pts

3 Nick Cherry and Chris Evans 27pts

4 Neil Croussard and Sam Pascoe 33pts

4 Sam Carter and Paul Davies 4pts

5 Laurie Fitzjohn-Sykes and Tom Mapplebeck 47pts

7 Iain Watson and David Putt 56pts

8 Matt Burge and Simon Wheeler 63pts

9 Alison Martin and Bethan Carden 68pts

10 Joanna Brigg and Micky Boughton 71pts