RS Feva Volvo Grand Prix Circuit kicks off new season at Royal Torbay

by Debbie Darling on 9 Sep 2014

2014 RS Feva Volvo Grand Prix Circuit, Royal Torbay YC Martin Allen

The UK RS Feva Volvo Grand Prix Circuit kicked off the new season with a light wind event at Royal Torbay YC. The GP is the first squad selector for RYA UK Junior Squad, Class National Squad and RYA S/SW Zone Squad; so lots to play for.

Racing was postponed whilst the Race Officer waited for wind but eventually the fleet got away after an AP start; then after a general recall the fleet started under a black flag with three boats caught out. At the first windward mark Rory Odell and Josh Bonsey led the fleet followed by Daniel Lewis and Tristan Payne, with Jack Lewis and Lucas Marshall in third. These positions held to the finish.

2014 RS Feva Volvo Grand Prix Circuit, Royal Torbay YC © Martin Allen

The Race Officer was quick to get into sequence for race 2 and went straight into black as the wind increased to a steady 6.5 knots. Again Rory and Josh were in front, followed by Fin and Dan Armstrong , with Henry and Rupert Jameson in third, as the wind increased to eight knots. By the gate, Rory and Josh had a healthy lead, second Fin and Dan, whilst Daniel and Tristan moved up to third. By the second windward mark Rory and Josh were just ahead of Jack and Lucas and they stayed first and second to the finish, whilst Dan and Tristan held third.

Race 3 got away all clear in six knots of wind and the sun came out. Jack and Lucas were ahead at mark one with Rory and Josh in second for a change; third was William and James. By the second windward mark Rory and Josh were back ahead, second Jack and Lucas with William and James Cunliffe in third, which is how they finished. So three bullets for Rory and Josh on day one.

2014 RS Feva Volvo Grand Prix Circuit, Royal Torbay YC © Martin Allen

Day two was similarly light and sailors made their way out in eight knots of shifty breeze. By the time race 4 started the wind had dropped to 4.5 knots. Jack and Lucas led the fleet at mark one, second Daniel and Tristan, third Iain and Jake as the wind increased to 5.5 knots. By the finish it was Jack and Lucas still ahead, second Iain and Jake, third Daniel and Tristan.

The Race Officer held off from resetting the course as the wind dropped further. Eventually as the sun came out, the wind came back in, and race 5 got away after an hour of waiting. Five knots across the course and the fleet got away all clear. Leading the fleet were Daniel and Tristan, second Iain and Jake whilst India Edwards and Fin Maciver were in third. Iain and Jake took the gun, second Daniel and Tristan, third Rory and Josh which was enough to secure victory.

2014 RS Feva Volvo Grand Prix Circuit, Royal Torbay YC - First place © Martin Allen

Thanks to RTYC for hosting the event, to Volvo Cars UK for their sponsorship, and to sailors and parents for supporting the class.

Volvo RS Feva Grand Prix RTYC

Entries: 39 Races Sailed: 5 Discard: 1

Series Place	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	Series Points	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5
1	2510	Rory Odell	Josh Bonsey	Northampton/HISC	6	1	1	1	4	3
2	4945	Jack Lewis	Lucas Marshall	Draycote Water SC	8	3	2	2	1	17
3	5450	Daniel Lewis	Tristan Payne	Draycote Water SC	10	2	3	5	3	2
4	5029	Iain Bird	Jake Hardman	Hayling Island SC	13	4	6	12	2	1
5	4890	Fin Armstrong	Dan Armstrong	Royal Torbay YC	22	40	4	4	8	6
6	5161	Matthew Leckie	Izzi Bristow	Leigh Lowton SC	23	9	7	6	5	5
7	5763	Henry Jameson	Rupert Jameson	Hayling Island SC	26	12	5	11	6	4
8	3182	William Cunliffe	James Cunliffe	Royal Torbay YC	28	5	9	3	11	19
9	3638	Alice Edmonds	Louis Gibbs	Chew Valley Lake SC	38	7	12	17	10	9
10	4631	Freya Black	Harriet Cage	Hayling Island SC	45	21	14	9	15	7
11	4635	Lorelei Bates	Felicity Allen	CBYC/Bowmoor SC	46	11	24	13	7	15
12	4625	Dermot Gannon	James Gent	Burghfield SC	50	27	8	7	17	18
13	5288	Toby Atherton	Matt Bamber	Ryde School	51	20	13	8	18	12
14	5537	Pierce Harris	Alfie Cogger	Windermere School	51	40	10	15	13	13
15	922	Chris Conlan	Josh Relph	Bowmoor SC	57	14	19	10	25	14
16	4974	Victoria Upton	Annabel Dewing	Exe SC	59	16	17	16	22	10
17	5631	Ewan Luke	Daisy Lee-Browne	Rydal Penrhos School/Llandudno SC	62	6	11	24	23	22
18	5782	Lucy Pennant	Nathan Lomas	Hayling Island SC	63	13	16	20	14	26
19	2508	Jess Jobson	Caitlin Webster	Royal Torbay YC	68	19	20	21	24	8
20	4530	Michael Dyer	Samuel Dyer	Herne Bay SC	69	8	22	18	28	21
21	3774	Flossie Tanner	Ollie Perry	SilverWing SC	79	24	23	27	12	20
22	5775	Tom Holliday	Ollie Dennis	Emsworth SC	79	23	21	19	27	16
23	783	David Nunn	Lucinda Cotterill	Bowmoor/CBYC	83	26	26	22	9	31
24	4385	Jude McFarlane Bond	Eric McFarlane Bond	Baltic Wharf SC	86	18	29	28	16	24
25	5279	Issy Spurway	Holly Harvey	Bowmoor SC	93	22	25	23	34	23
26	5630	Thomas Bale	Amy Bale	South Caernarfonshire YC	94	10	28	33	26	30
27	4963	Louis Wright	Jamie Allen	Hayling Island SC	94	25	15	14	40	40
28	4065	Emma Tardrew	Isobel Clark	Hayling Island SC	94	17	18	32	31	28
29	24	Albert Gilmore	Joe Cunliffe	Royal Torbay YC	97	15	31	31	20	34
30	3792	India Edwards	Fin Maciver	Shropshire SC	99	29	30	30	29	11
31	3672	Alexander Ratsey	Bertie Ratsey	Royal Plymouth CYC	108	34	33	29	21	25
32	4614	Poppy Oliver	Grace Gadd	Royal Torbay YC	113	28	27	25	35	33
33	5796	Maisie Harkess	Annabel Hitchmough	Bowmoor SC	115	30	32	26	32	27
34	1354	Jamie Crossan	William Wetherley	Royal Torbay YC	121	32	36	35	19	35
35	5773	Luke Humphries	Tom Barnes	Royal Torbay YC	127	40	34	34	30	29
36	5847	Julia Barnes	Lauren Paton	Royal Torbay YC	138	31	39	37	33	37
37	2556	Paddy James	Fred Aniyi	Royal Western YC	142	36	38	36	40	32
38	516	Sandy Bailey	Woody Powderley-Turner	Exe SC	143	35	35	40	37	36
39	5772	Tom Feeney	Sherife Agbabiaka	Royal Torbay YC	146	33	37	40	36	40