420 Winter Championships 2023 at the WPNSA
by Will Fletcher and Ethan Sparkes 15 Feb 2023 15:48 GMT
4-5 February 2023
420 Winter Championships 2023 at the WPNSA © Ruth Epstein
The Winter Championships saw a good fleet with 33 boats entered for the first of the three regatta qualifying series for places at this Summer's European and World Championships. It was good to see an influx of younger, new pairings alongside established teams - a great indication that the class is going from strength to strength.
The forecast for the weekend was for a light wind event and that was pretty much what the fleet got. However, the race officer did a great job and managed to get 7 races away over the two days.
The winds were light all Saturday, leading to some very close and interesting races. Race one and two were both light, shifty races with the wind coming over Chesil beach. Race one was won by Alice Davis and Oliver Rayner, with race two being won by the u17 girls, Sabine Potter and Merle Nieuwland.
During race three the wind almost completely died, the race officer shortened the course, leading to the entire fleet having to drift 'downwind' towards the gate - the new finish line, with the Whiskey flag deployed to finish the race. This time it was the turn of the u17 boys Harry George and Ralph Cawthorne to take the win.
Whilst there was some controversy surrounding the results of race three with a number of competitors feeling they had been scored incorrectly, the results stood. Helpfully, Ian Walker, the Chair of the Selection Committee, sent out a very informative email after the event explaining why the results would not be changed.
Whilst rigging on Sunday the wind kept building. Sadly, these strong winds only lasted until the end of race four, won by Arwen Fflur and Arlo Braund. The wind on Sunday had almost completely swapped directions since Saturday, as it was now coming from the east with the forecasts predicting for it to go further east.
By race five we were back into light wind territory of around 6 knots, similar to the winds on Saturday, and that race was won by us, Will Fletcher and Ethan Sparkes benefitting from a decision to go hard right.
Race six followed a similar pattern to race 5, except the wind shifted left leaving quite a few boats "stranded" on the right, having thought it was still the favoured side. This race saw Alice Davis and Oliver Rayner, the eventual regatta winners, collect their second bullet of the weekend.
The final race saw Sabine Potter and Merle Niewland match Alice and Oliver with a second bullet having played the shifts well on the two beats.
Overall Results:
Pos | Bow No | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Fleet | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | Pts |
1st | 42 | 57259 | Alice Davis | Oliver Rayner | Open Mixed | 1 | ‑5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
2nd | 45 | 57275 | Harry George | Ralph Cawthorne | U17 Male | ‑15 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 28 |
3rd | 32 | 57411 | William Fletcher | Ethan Sparks | U17 Male | 4 | ‑14 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 35 |
4th | 63 | 56342 | Sabine Potter | Merle Nieuwland | U17 Female | 2 | 1 | 28 | (RET) | 3 | 3 | 1 | 38 |
5th | 41 | 56007 | Arwen Fflur | Arlo Braund | Open Mixed | 3 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 12 | ‑14 | 40 |
6th | 17 | 55854 | Joe Warwicker | Hugo Valentine | Open Male | 7 | (UFD) | 10 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 44 |
7th | 44 | 56091 | Imogen Wade | Teddy Dunn | Open Mixed | ‑18 | 11 | 14 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 55 |
8th | 82 | 55242 | Joe Jones | Hennie Burlton | U17 Mixed | 5 | 2 | 9 | 17 | 8 | ‑18 | 18 | 59 |
9th | 21 | 54481 | Holly Wright | Olivia Nixon | Female | 6 | 3 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 5 | ‑23 | 60 |
10th | 38 | 55244 | Henry Heathcote | Oli McGill | Open Male | 9 | (UFD) | 17 | 13 | 18 | 2 | 5 | 64 |
11th | 57 | 57224 | Noa Moskovitch | Gabs Burlton | Female | 10 | 10 | ‑26 | 15 | 19 | 6 | 8 | 68 |
12th | 64 | 56108 | William Bailey | Matthew Rayner | Open Male | 16 | ‑19 | 15 | 6 | 16 | 10 | 9 | 72 |
13th | 56 | 57286 | Ellie Creighton | Bea Greenfield | Female | 17 | (UFD) | 27 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 73 |
14th | 50 | 55517 | Emma Breese | Charlotte Beardsall | Female | 13 | 13 | ‑16 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 15 | 75 |
15th | 99 | 51369 | Arthur Greaves | Angus McEwen | U17 Male | 12 | 16 | 3 | ‑18 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 76 |
16th | 39 | 54297 | Mathias Potter | Olivia Creasy | Open Mixed | 8 | 17 | 7 | 11 | ‑21 | 21 | 17 | 81 |
17th | 62 | 54849 | George Creasy | David Bromilow | Open Male | 19 | 21 | ‑24 | 5 | 11 | 15 | 13 | 84 |
18th | 24 | 56339 | Heather Quinn | Gwyneth Lanyon | Female | 14 | 18 | 4 | 19 | 17 | ‑20 | 19 | 91 |
19th | 20 | 57272 | Freya Sewell | Arthur Bailey | Open Mixed | 11 | 7 | 21 | 9 | 28 | 17 | ‑29 | 93 |
20th | 5 | 55402 | Oscar Fry | Jemima Fry | Open Mixed | 21 | 15 | 8 | 22 | 20 | ‑29 | 21 | 107 |
21st | 54 | 53959 | Tabitha Davies | Madeleine Greaves | Female | 22 | 12 | 19 | ‑25 | 25 | 22 | 12 | 112 |
22nd | 36 | 56467 | Clem Middle | Sam Grayton | U17 Mixed | ‑25 | 25 | 23 | 16 | 5 | 25 | 22 | 116 |
23rd | 30 | 55169 | Matthew Mason | Charlie Howard | U17 Male | 23 | 8 | 22 | 20 | 22 | ‑28 | 25 | 120 |
24th | 23 | 57273 | Rosie Sheahan | Susie Sheahan | Female | 20 | 23 | 11 | ‑28 | 24 | 23 | 20 | 121 |
25th | 86 | 57214 | Dylan Creighton | Will Adams | U17 Male | 24 | 27 | ‑30 | 21 | 27 | 16 | 11 | 126 |
26th | 31 | 53332 | Jess Haigh | Lucy Shelter | Female | 27 | 20 | 13 | 23 | ‑30 | 19 | 24 | 126 |
27th | 22 | 52230 | Nia Mecklenburgh | Immy Jones | U17 Female | 26 | (UFD) | 18 | 24 | 14 | 26 | 31 | 139 |
28th | 67 | 54089 | Chris Hampshire | Ollie Lumb | U17 Male | ‑30 | 26 | 12 | 27 | 29 | 24 | 26 | 144 |
29th | 55 | 54124 | Ella Martin | George Self | U17 Mixed | 29 | 24 | 29 | 26 | 23 | ‑30 | 30 | 161 |
30th | 40 | 54853 | Oli Hale | Amber Hale | Open Mixed | (UFD) | 4 | 25 | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 165 |
31st | 53 | 55375 | India Lance | Cian Epstein | Open Mixed | 28 | 22 | 31 | (DNC) | 31 | 31 | 27 | 170 |
32nd | 16 | 54848 | Zac Shepherd | Arthur Sothall | U17 Mixed | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 29 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 178 |
33rd | 70 | 54947 | George Lance | James Gosson | Open Male | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 204 |