29er fleet at the Ovington Championships at Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy

29er fleet at the Ovington Championships in Weymouth © 29er class association

Once again, the 29er fleet headed to Weybiza for what seemed to be a glamourous forecast for the Ovington Champs. We were greeted with sunshine, breeze and with the hope of building conditions throughout the weekend! With no delays, the fleet was clear to get launched on time for racing! Everyone was keen to get out on the water, in the sunshine and get started.

The day started with a good solid 18 knot south easterly breeze, with Race 1 under way with no generals and clear start by all sailors. It was evident that Finn and Oscar were going to be clear winners having led from the start with James and Noah following behind them.

Race 2 shortly followed and saw a much tighter race between the top five, however James and Noah won the battle with Charlie and Sam snapping at their heels to take second followed by Finn and Oscar, locking out the top three.

Race 3 saw Finn and Oscar dominating the race, taking another win for the day followed by a great result from Santi and Kuba coming in second.

With the clear leaders of Day 1 in place, the sailors came in looking forward to some socialising in the club catered by WSPNA, refuelled for more racing on Sunday.

Sunday's forecast was looking just as glam with 20 knots on the water with more chop and sunshine. With points at the top of the leader board very tight, there was everything to play for!

Day 2 dawned. A crisp and early start with sunshine and wind greeted the sailors in the boat park. Similar conditions to Day 1 meant another glamour day of skiff racing was on the cards.

Race 4 saw the left coming in strong again with Jamie^2 winning to the top mark and taking a relatively comfortable win. There was a tough battle for second and third between overnight leaders, Finn and Oscar and Charlie and Sam but the former managed to read the left hand gain at the top of the beat and lead round the final windward to take second place.

The second race of the day quickly followed in the classic flat water and 20 knots of wind that we had seen throughout the event. First to the windward mark by a margin were James and Noah after a strong start at the pin end. Closely following them were leading ladies team Annabelle and Maddie. By the leeward mark it was James and Noah out front with Sam and Charlie behind them. Another battle followed for 1st and 2nd with James and Noah proving victorious. Third place went to Finn and Oscar, another strong result for them.

The pointy end of the regatta was fast approaching as preparations for the final race began. The start was dramatic as a collision just before the gun meant that event leaders Finn and Oscar were unable to sail the final race due to damage. Fortunately they had already won the event by that stage so no redress hearing was required!

Whilst this was happening, the rest of the fleet set off up the race track. Once again, Jamie and Jamie lead from the left round the windward mark with Scottish pairing Morven and Ollie second around. Going into the final downwind, Jamie and Jamie were relatively clear ahead but a tight battle followed them not too far behind. Charlie and Sam managed to get ahead before the jibe point but some class pace downwind from Morven and Ollie built up to an intense leeward mark rounding.

All the while, the Jamie's were nervously looking behind them as the fighting pair caught up. Approaching the rounding, Morven and Ollie had the inside line, Charlie and Sam were in the middle and Jamie and Jamie were just ahead on the outside. The leaders were the first to jibe, just getting around in front of Morven and Ollie whose right of way meant they overtook Charlie and Sam and claimed second in the race.

A tight battle to finish then!

Prizes were provided and presented by Ovington boats, the event sponsor, so a big thank you to them!

Overall a very good weekend was had by all with some perfect skiff sailing conditions and some balmy temperatures for November! A special mention to all of the transition sailors who had a fantastic weekend in the strongest winds so far this season. 29ers aren't the easiest boats to handle and there were some great performances and results amongst the teams new to the class.

The now hotly contested (virtual) Buddy trophy went to James and Noah, Maya and Gregan, Hazel and Ben, Josh and Ollie.

Finn Morris and Oscar Morgan-Harris win the 29er fleet at the Ovington Championships in Weymouth - photo © 29er class association

Category prizes:

Ladies:
1st - Annabelle Vines and Maddie Bilbrough
2nd - Karrie Clarke and Amèlie Curtis
3rd - Ella Lightbody and Felicity Brellisford

Mixed:
1st - Morven Wood and Ollie Bull
2nd - Hazel Mcdonnell and Ben Paling
3rd - Millie Irish and Szymon Matyjaszczuk

Juniors:
1st - Benjamin Ripley and Toby Holmes-Ling
2nd - Sophie Watson and Holly Mitchell
3rd - Merryn Attridge and Sarah Davis

Overall Results: