Round three

RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series heads for Hayling Island this weekend

This weekend sees round three of the 2005 RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series taking place at Hayling Island Sailing Club. This will be the last opportunity for sailors wanting to progress up the Olympic class national ranking ladder and win grants to go on and compete at international regattas. With qualifying places at stake and a tight point spread between the leaders, it is certain there will be tough competition as the sailors battle it out for the top places.

This ranking event will host boats from four classes including the 49er, the men’s 470, the women’s 470, the Tornado and the Finn. There is everything for these sailors to play for!

In the Tornado class, Andrew Walsh and Ed Barney hold a slender two point lead over the second place team of Simon Northrop and Matt Young. This will be a significant weekend for the two teams as the event will decide who gets the grant for the Worlds and the European Championships.

The battle for top dog in the Finn class has turned into an intriguing four way fight with only five points separating the top four competitors. Chris Brittle looks to continue his run of victories, only recently interrupted at the last ranker. Behind Chris Brittle, Matt Howard, Ed Wright and Ed Greig are all chasing hard to knock him off the top spot. However, the fleet will loose several of the top 'old boys' to the Finn Masters Worlds, including Tim Carver who leads the pursuing pack behind the top four.

With four wins from four events, the 470 men’s team of Nick Asher and Elliot Willis has the series in a firm grip. Behind them, 470 class chairman, Neil Marsden and crew Graham Nelson are clearly in second place, followed by 1992 470 Olympian Paul Brotherton who has teamed up with Ian Calder. It seems that age and experience are proving to be the key ingredients in keeping the crop of RYA World Class Programme youth hopefuls at bay. However, the nippers are learning fast and the last ranker demonstrated just how quickly the gap between the top and the middle of the fleet is closing. In the 470 women’s fleet, the two top teams are separated by a single point. The experienced team of Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clarke are leading, followed by the newcomers Pippa Wilson, a 2004 youth medallist and her crew Sheena Craig.

In the 49er fleet, 19 year old Dave Evans and Rik Peacock continue to hold the top spot which they made their own at the end of 2004. Staying at the top may have been made easier by the break up of the team only one point behind them; Ben McGrane and Jonny Clegg are now sailing with new helms. However, the entry of Olympic Bronze medallists Chris Draper and Simon Hiscocks, who have not been seen at a National Event as a team since the Olympics, will certainly provide a marker for the young hopefuls.

RYA Olympic Development Squad Manager, Barrie Edgington, commented "The series is producing great competition in every class and we have young teams mixing it with some of the world’s best. This weekend at Hayling Island we can expect to see some exciting racing out in the bay, as the sailors from all the fleets continue to fight for those important top slots and grants."

The first race is scheduled for 1200hrs on Saturday and registration starts at 0900hrs Saturday morning.