Crewsaver 2000 Millennium Series at ASA Thorney Island SC overall

by Ali Barker on 22 Jul 2015 2015 Class Crewsaver 2000 Millennium Series – Thorney Island and the testing waters of Chichester Harbour were the location for round four of the hotly contested series held over the weekend of 18-19 July.

25 teams battled it out at this event, which was hosted jointly by the Army Sailing Association and Thorney Island Sailing Club. Two points separated the top three teams in the series so competition was always going to be fierce and all eyes were on father and daughter team of Matt and Gwen Sargent to see if they could cause an upset in their own back yard.

The fleet was blessed with glorious conditions throughout the weekend with bright sunshine, temperatures rising to 25 degrees and a starting force three to four which steadily built throughout both days as the sea breeze kicked in.

Race one got underway against a strong flooding tide in a busy harbour. Despite a 360 turn for hitting the pin end, the Royal Navy team of Natalie Roach and Alex Pickles demonstrated excellent upwind speed reaching the top mark in good shape and competing for the lead with Rob and Sarah Burridge.

Good boat handling was essential on this short course which afforded the competitors little time or space to relax. Rob and Sarah eventually sailed themselves into a position where they could control the race and opened their scorecard with a bullet, closely followed by Natalie and Alex then the Sargents.

As the temperature increased the wind continued to build for race two; however, this didn’t hinder the Sargents who demonstrated that young Gwen, despite weighing only 30kgs, by using good technique and determination could compete against the heavyweights at the top end of this competitive fleet. They sailed excellently to win race two with the Burridges and the Navy team following closely behind.

The yellow flag signalled that the final race of day one would be a windward leeward followed by a two mile spinnaker run against the ebbing tide down the Thorney Channel to finish on the club line - in these conditions this was something the whole fleet was looking forward to.

Natalie and Alex managed to eek out a narrow lead on team Burridge, which they held before setting the course for home. Trying to stay out of the tide but in the wind without hitting the bottom was challenging and led to intense gybing duals developing throughout the fleet. Natalie and Alex managed to hold on to win race three despite the constant pressure from Rob and Sarah.

Day two promised to provide more close racing with all to play for leading into race four. With the wind slightly more Westerly and a strong flooding tide, the ideal tactic on the first beat was to stay inshore on the right-hand side of the course. This was made more complicated by a pin end favoured start line. However, the Burridges managed this expertly by starting more towards the middle of the line and getting onto port tack early before edging ahead with their legendary upwind speed. They dominated throughout this race and posted their second win of the weekend. Natalie and Alex finished second with Chris and Gill Jordan in third, starting to revel in the max power conditions.

The penultimate race was led by the Jordans for a while before they were overhauled by the Burridges and the Sargents, who pushed hard all the way to the end, but couldn’t prevent Rob and Sarah winning what would be the deciding race in the series. The Jordans posted a consistant third and Natalie and Alex stumbled slightly with a fourth, opening the door to the Sargents for the possibility of second overall.

So the stage was set for race six which would again finish up the channel at the club line. The Burridges had already secured first place but the Navy and Army would have to fight it out for second. Teams Jordan and Phillips and the RAF Sailing Association Team of Ali Barker and James Sargent would be battling for fourth overall.

With marginal planning conditions in the channel and gusts filling in from behind massive gains were possible on the run home, the final places being decided by three separate photo finishes between the first three pairs of boats. Race six was won by a half bowsprit by Matt and Gwen from Rob and Sarah to the delight of the home crowd cheering at the club finish line. Natalie and Alex also just pipped Ali and James on the final gybe to take third.

Overall, the Burridges sailed a consistent series of races to take a comfortable overall win, followed by Matt and Gwen who defied the heavyweights in the class to post an excellent set of results and take second place at their home club. Natalie and Alex from the Royal Navy Sailing Association showed a fantastic turn of speed throughout the weekend to take third place and will be a team to watch at the National Championships in Abersoch. The Jordans seemed to enjoy the windy conditions sailing well and doing enough in the final race to secure fourth ahead of Ali and James from the RAF Sailing Association.

Helen and Andrew Phillips had to settle for sixth after the Race Officer was unable to separate them from the Yardleys at the finish line. This was an excellent weekend both on and off the water so thank you to everyone involved in running this event from Thorney Island Sailing Club and the Army Sailing Association. Thanks also to the generous sponsorship of Crewsaver.

Full results

Rank	SailNo	HelmName	CrewName	Club	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Total	Nett
1st	22502	Rob Burridge	Sarah Burridge	Weir Wood SC	1.0	(2.0)	2.0	1.0	1.0	2.0	9.0	7.0
2nd	2355	Matt Sargent	Gwen Sargent	ASA / Thorney Island SC	3.0	1.0	3.0	(5.0)	2.0	1.0	15.0	10.0
3rd	22511	Natalie Roach	Alex Pickles	RNSA	2.0	3.0	1.0	2.0	(4.0)	3.0	15.0	11.0
4th	22541	Chris Jordan	Gill Jordan	Brightlingsea/Burghfield SC	4.0	(24.0 OCS)	6.0	3.0	3.0	8.0	48.0	24.0
5th	22539	Ali Barker	James Sargent	RAFSA	7.0	4.0	(8.0)	6.0	5.0	4.0	34.0	26.0
6th	22564	Helen Phillips	Andrew Phillips	Cardiff Bay YC	5.0	5.0	4.0	(14.0)	7.0	5.5	40.5	26.5
7th	2204	Iain Yardley	Sarah Yardley	SWSC	10.0	(24.0 DNF)	7.0	4.0	6.0	5.5	56.5	32.5
8th	21041	Andrew Frogley	Ian Frogley	Thorney Island SC	(12.0)	10.0	9.0	8.0	10.0	12.0	61.0	49.0
9th	21446	Guy Russell	Clare Collett	West Wittering SC	6.0	(16.0)	15.0	10.0	11.0	9.0	67.0	51.0
10th	22542	Helen Green	Mark Green	Chichester YC	13.0	9.0	(16.0)	11.0	9.0	13.0	71.0	55.0
11th	22558	Kev O'Brien	Jake O'Brien	RAFSA / Burchfield SC	8.0	(24.0 DNF)	24.0 DSQ	7.0	8.0	11.0	82.0	58.0
12th	2063	Robin Courtenay	Rachel Periera	Weir Wood SC	(15.0)	11.0	14.0	15.0	13.0	10.0	78.0	63.0
13th	21731	Michael Olliff	Paula Olliff	Chichester YC	(16.0)	13.0	11.0	13.0	12.0	14.0	79.0	63.0
14th	2272	James MacGregor	Jenny MacGregor	Grafham Water SC	14.0	8.0	10.0	17.0	(22.0 DNF)	15.0	86.0	64.0
15th	21983	Lee Sydenham	Max / Alex Sydenham	Dell Quay SC	9.0	6.0	5.0	(27.0 DNC)	27.0 DNC	27.0 DNC	101.0	74.0
16th	2587	Guy Boswell	Julie Boswell	Llandegfedd SC	20.0	12.0	19.0	12.0	15.0	(27.0 DNC)	105.0	78.0
17th	2374	Richard Hudson	Ian Hudson	Bough Beech SC	11.0	7.0	12.0	(27.0 DNC)	27.0 DNC	27.0 DNC	111.0	84.0
18th	22501	Rosina Hearn	Chris Cunningham	RNSA	18.0	19.0	(27.0 DNC)	16.0	14.0	19.0	113.0	86.0
19th	22362	John Johnston	Emma Bowater	ASA	(21.0)	17.0	17.0	18.0	17.0	17.0	107.0	86.0
20th	22302	David Meryon	James Edwards	ASA	(25.0 DNF)	18.0	20.0	20.0	16.0	16.0	115.0	90.0
21st	22361	Miles Wade	Anderley Wade	ASA	(27.0 DNC)	27.0 DNC	27.0 DNC	9.0	22.0 DNF	7.0	119.0	92.0
22nd	22064	Bruce Nicholson	Julian Ingle	Bough Beech SC / TISC	17.0	14.0	13.0	(27.0 DNC)	27.0 DNC	27.0 DNC	125.0	98.0
23rd	Army	Ryan Davies	Spencer Edwards	ASA	(25.0 DNF)	24.0 DNF	21.0	19.0	18.0	18.0	125.0	100.0
24th	22563	John Smith	Sally Taviner	Lee on Solent SC	19.0	15.0	18.0	(27.0 DNC)	27.0 DNC	27.0 DNC	133.0	106.0
25th	Army 14	Thomas Kingsbury	James Miller	Thorney Island SC	22.0	24.0 DNF	24.0 DNF	22.0 DNF	22.0 DNF	(27.0 DNC)	141.0	114.0