RYA Olympic Classes Spring Series crown to be decided at HISC

by Matt Carter on 17 May 2013 The last event of the 2013 RYA Olympic Classes Spring Series is set to take commence this coming weekend (18-19 May) with the fate of the overall 2013 Spring Series crown being decided at Hayling Island Sailing Club.

The first two stages of the three-weekend Series were based at the home of the 2012 Olympic sailing competition in Weymouth and Portland and welcomed British Sailing Team Development and Transitional Squad members as well as young aspiring talents and regular Olympic classes sailors.

Mike Wood and Hugh Brayshaw, British Sailing Team’s 470 Junior European silver medallists, enter the event as firm favourites for the 470 men’s crown, as the duo top the overall leaderboard with an unblemished scorecard from the past two events, while Jess Lavery and Megan Brickwood top the female 470 fleet.

Tom Squires topped the billing in the RS:X 9.5 windsurfing event, notching up two race wins and a second and will face stiff competition from 2013 RYA Youth National Champion Kieran Martin who will be eager to make his mark ahead of the ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships in July.

Weymouth’s Alex Tobutt and Stuart Appleby came out fighting at WPNSA to take the lead in the high performance 49er skiff class ahead of British Sailing Team Pathway Squad sailors Henry Lloyd Williams and Sam Batten, with both boats vying for the prestige of picking up the 2013 Spring Series crown.

Harry Briddon picked up two races wins at the second event to take the upper hand into this weekend’s finale in the heavy weight Finn class. Briddon will be up against competition from British Sailing Team Pathway Squad sailor Pete McCoy who is chomping at the bit to get back out on the water racing.

'I’m really looking forward to this weekend’s final event of the Spring Series at Hayling Island,' said McCoy, 21, from Chichester. 'Having just finished my exams at university and having spent some time out of the boat I’m definitely looking forward to getting back out on the water amongst some top competition. The forecast for the weekend looks good and I’m expecting a strong turnout in the Finn fleet with some experienced sailors so it’s all set to be a great weekend of racing.'

Barrie Edgington, RYA Olympic Development Squad Manager, commented: 'Preparations are well underway for our return to Hayling Island Sailing Club with the stage set for a gripping finale to 2013 RYA Olympic Classes Spring Series. Both weekends at WPNSA have provided the sailors with some challenging conditions and I’m sure competition will once again be tight as sailors battle it out for Spring Series crown.'

With two back to back Spring Series events won already, and with no racing for the Paralympic classes at the third and final event at Hayling Island this weekend, Megan Pascoe secured overall honours for the 2013 edition of the early-season Spring Series.

Entries and registration for the event will be taken at Hayling Island Sailing Club. Registration will take place at the race office no later than 0900 on Saturday with the first race scheduled to start at 1200.

The Notice of Race for this event can be found in the RYA Olympic Classes Handbook, which is available from the Crew Room section of the British Sailing Team British Sailing Team website