Wolf the winner

At this weekend's inaugural Euro Prix national championship

Adrian Stead driving Glynn Williams’s Euro Prix 45, Wolf, took first place at this weekend’s inaugural Euro Prix national championships held in Hamble. In a close fought championship which saw seven Euro Prix 45s participating, former GBR Challenge team members Stead and Ian Walker, on Peter Morton’s Atomic, were separated by just one point at the end of racing.

Racing was held over three days with two races on Friday, three on Saturday, concluding with two on Sunday. Some of Britain’s top sailors participated in the event including Olympic Gold medalist, Ben Ainslie and many former GBR Challenge team members. Husband and wife team, Ian and Lisa McDonald, joined David McLean on Babbalaas along with Ainslie.

Walker dominated Friday’s racing taking two first places in moderate 12 knot winds. Saturday saw shifty 8-25 knot winds make racing more exacting for participants and the race management team from Hamble River Sailing Club alike. Tim Powell driving Wolf with Stead calling tactics took two firsts and a second. The final two races on Sunday saw the wind increasing to 15knots from the north east. Again, Atomic’s crew showed their prowess finishing first in both races.

Wolf owner, Glynn Williams commented, “Adrian and I were pleased with how we sailed this weekend. With Timberland Euro Prix just five and a half months away, we are pleased with how Wolf and the team performed.”

A happy Stead commented: “Winning this event is a good indication of the proposed squad’s quality for next year’s Timberland Euro Prix. We had half of the squad on Wolf - Jerry Mitchell, Tim Powell and Andy Hemmings and the other on Peter Morton’s Atomic - Jules Salter, Simon Fry, Richard Sydenham, James Stagg. Taking the two top spots shows to me that we have made the right decision in our team’s selection."

Positions
1 Wolf (Glynn Williams) 11 points
2 Atomic (Peter Morton) 12 points
3 Babbalaas (David McLean 17 points