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News / 29th Grafham Grand Prix report

 

Competitors arriving at Grafham for the 29th Grand Prix were faced with very cold conditions and had to navigate thick ice through the club to get to the launching area. The weather building up to the day was hardly inviting and whilst many decided to give it miss, those that travelled were met for the first race by a fairly steady westerly of 4 to 5 with heavy gusts of around 30 knots.

Capsizes were inevitable and there was at least one broken Merlin mast. The wind eased to a 3 to 4 for the afternoon race but strong gusts still came through. The Thames A Raters first visit to Graham was short lived as he turned back before reaching the start line. Not a day for the faint hearted!

On track one the Fast Asymmetric fleet became a tussle between Andrew Peakes’ Musto Skiff, Nick Craig in a B14 and the final winner Henry Lloyd Williams and Sam Batten in a 29er.

The Foiling 600s and Moths were racing on level terms as separate fleet and the winner was Simon Hiscocks in his RS600. We hope this Foiling Shoot Out becomes a firm fixture in their calendar.

The Medium fleet was dominated by Fireballs and Merlins who had some close racing with Tom Gillard & Sam Brearey in their Fireball getting the better of Matt Biggs & Ben Hollis in their Merlin.

The Sprint 15 fleet enjoyed some close racing but Stuart Snell triumphed with two Sprint bullets.

The Slow fleet contained the largest class of 13 FF15’s – again some very close racing at the top of the fleet with Dave Lucas and Andy Palmer getting the better of Charles Apthorp and David Richards who needed to use their lunch break to repair the jib halyard fitting.

The rest of the Slow Fleet, racing on handicap, was again close but won by the Albacore of Neville Herbert and Mark Fowler from the Scorpion of Peter Gray and Richard Pepperdine.

The Single Handed start was split between the Challengers racing as a fleet and the rest. The Challengers did exceptionally well with only one boat not completing both races. The winner with was Val Millward from George Barker.

In the balance of the singlehanded fleet racing on handicap there was a comprehensive win by Simon Hawkes in his Phantom, the only boat to record 2 overall handicap bullets on the day.

As well as thanks to all the PROs and volunteers we were particularly grateful to the Rescue Drivers who had plenty of work to do in very cold conditions.

Overall Results: (full results at www.grafham.org)

Fast Asymmetric and Fast Cats
1. 29er 1248, Henry Lloyd Williams and Sam Batten (Lymington Town SC)
2. B14 773, Nick Craig and MJ (Frensham Pond)
3. M Skiff 288, Andrew Peake (Whitstable YC)
4. B14 785, David Hayes and Sean Dwyer (Hayling Island SC)
5. 29er 1244, Lilly Carlisle and Ben Gratton (Draycote Water SC)

Foiling Classes
1. RS600 7, Simon Hiscocks (WPNSA)
2. IM 3445, Geoff Carveth (Hayling Island SC)
3. IM 3253, Gareth Davies (Blackwater SC)

Medium Fleet
1. FB 14976, Tom Gillard and Sam Brearey (Sheffield Viking SC)
2. Sprint 15 1982, Stuart Snell (Grafham Water SC)
3. MR 3705, Matt Biggs and Ben Hollis (Blithfield SC)
4. FB 14807, Tim Rush and Simon Forbes (RYA)
5. MR 3685, William Warren and Chris Robinson (Shoreham SC)

Flying Fifteens
1. 3937, Dave Lucas and Andrew Palmer (Grafham Water SC)
2. 3591, Charles Apthorp and David Richards (Hayling Island SC)
3. 3725, Tom Hall and Grayson Eacott
4. 3727, Mark Longstaff and Richard Ledger (Grafham Water SC)
5. 3898, Colin Nutt and Chris Hough (Grafham Water SC)

Slow Handicap
1. Albacore 7143, Neville Herbert and Mark Fowler (Maidenhead SC)
2. Scorpion 2013, Peter Gray and Richard Pepperdine (Staunton Harold SC)
3. Tasar 2502, H Astley-Jones and Barney Proud (Milton Keynes SC)
4. Laser 2000 21462, Andy Baldwin and Karen Baldwin (Grafham Water SC)
5. RS200 499, Mark Hatsell and Rob Ashman (Middle Nene SC)

Single Handers Handicap
1. Phantom 1359, Simon Hawkes (Chew Valley)
2. Phantom 1291, Andrew Wilde (Carsington SC)
3. Phantom 7, Simon Potts (Shustoke SC)
4. Blaze 758, Peter Barlow (Burghfield SC)
5. Phantom 1186, Harry Briddon (Ogston SC)

Challengers
1. 258, George Barker (Oxford SC)
2. 257, Val Milward (Rutland SC)
3. 270, Graham Hall (Rutland SC)
4. 282, Roger Smedley (Rutland SC)
5. 188, Alex Hovden (Papercourt/QM)

 

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