RYA Volvo West Zone Championships

Day 1

A dry and gusty day on Pennington Flash at Leigh and Lowton Sailing Club for the RYA Volvo West Zone Championships, average wind speed between 15 – 16 knots with gusts of 23-25 knots throughout the day, with the safety fleet kept busy with several capsizes throughout the day.

Racing got underway on time at 12:00 with one race before a break for lunch, and two races back to back after lunch. Racing finished at 16:30 in time for the evening BBQ at the club. Adam Russ from Redesmere SC led the topper fleet at the half way stage, followed by fellow club mate Thomas Wallwork in second and Gareth Staples-Jones from the host club, Leigh and Lowton in third.

Archie Leckie found his form in the afternoon in the Optimist fleet, with race wins in race two and three, followed by Drew Wright and Chloe Felton in second and third respectively.

The regatta fleet did battle against the gusty conditions, with some fleet training, as well as completing three races.

Day 2

Today all competitors arrived at Leigh and Lowton, ready for another testing day with a forecast of 16 knots with gusts of up to 30 knots, however the breeze never quite materialised as forecast, with 10 knots, average, dropping periodically throughout the day.

It stayed dry until the end of the final race of the day, making for a wet and soggy pack up but otherwise a good dry day with some close racing from all the competitors. Racing got underway in the morning, with just a slight delay as the race teams waited for the breeze to stabilise, two races before lunch, and one race after lunch, completing the series of six races for the main fleet, and the regatta fleet completing seven races over the weekend.

London 2012 Olympic 470 silver medallist Stuart Bithell arrived at lunch time and gave an interview to Lucy Mearns who sails in the topper class, the young competitor then went out and won the last race of the day after lunch, taking on board the top tips she received from Bithell.

After racing Bithell gave a presentation to all the competitors about his journey from Junior to Olympic sailing, and talked about his recent exploits at the London 2012 Olympic Games where he won a silver medal in the 470 class.

Thomas Wallwork (Redesmere SC) had a consistent day in the toppers securing top 3 race results in every race today securing the overall championship title, however it was Lucy Mearns (Leigh and Lowton SC) which capitalised on the days conditions with a 1,2,1 to secure first girl and third overall. Second overall was Nick Devereux from Budworth SC.

Drew Wright had a perfect day in the Optimist fleet, with three bullets from todays three races securing overall victory, followed by Archie Leckie in second, and Chloe Felton in third and first girl overall.

Optimist
1st Drew Wright
2nd Archie Leckie
3rd Chloe Felton

Topper
1st Thomas Wallwork
2nd Nick Devereux
3rd Lucy Mearns

For results, click on

http://www.sailracer.org/events/v2-results.asp?eventid=121853

For gallery, click on

https://picasaweb.google.com/104536170099821426208/ZoneChamps2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCMfxsqrs7pPY4gE