Niners at Datchet

Gusty conditions for the 49ers and 29ers

Fate is not on the side of the 9ers when it comes to wind and weekends. The three 9er fleets were greeted with 20 knots which increased through the Saturday with gusts of over 25. Sunday did not provide any less challenging conditions with the only difference being that the sun came out some of the time.

In the 49er class it was class veterans Jonny Coates and Charlie Muir who kept a steady hand and ended up overnight leaders on the Saturday with a 2,3,2. It was a case of racing with caution in the tough conditions. Dave Evans & Rick Peacock had a shaky first race leaving them a bit to do to catch up. Richard Bone and Chris Rodway took a first but only completed 2 of the three races. Fred & Hugh Shone had a moment of brilliance winning the first race but were unable to complete any more races that day.
With the wind blowing just as hard on Sunday morning a somewhat depleted and nervous fleet set out for three more races in what can only be described as very lively conditions. Coates and Muir kept their cool and put in a 2,1,1 to take their first major open. Evans & Peacock did enough to hang on to 2nd but could not match the steady Coates / Muir team.

49er results
1st Jonny Coates & Charlie Muir
2nd David Evans & Rick Peacock
3rd Richard Bone & Chris Rodway
4th Roger Gilbert & Adam Brushett
5th Fred Shone & Hugh Shone
6th Lester Noble & Lee Noble

For the 29ers it was the last major event before the RYA Youth Championships over Easter. It was a great test of skill and the class certainly showed the other classes racing how to do it. It was very close between the top four boats with only 4 points in it - all four winning races. Ben Burns & Guy Filmore eventually just took it from the 2 boats on equal points - Jon White & Alex Cruttenden and Roger Phillips & Will Crocker. Justin Vissar & Simon Wheeler were always on the tails of the front three and won one race but could not quite match the heavy air speed of the top three on the Sunday. Sophie Jones and Ben McVeigh sailed a very steady series finishing every race in the top 6 to finish 5th overall.

29er results
1st Ben Burns & Guy Filmore
2nd Jon White & Alex Cruttenden
3rd Roger Phillips & Will Crocker
4th Justin Vissar & Simon Wheeler