Ovington Memorial Race and final open meeting

by Ovington media on 14 Nov 2005 After the terrible tragedy of Dave Ovingtons untimely death, his family, friends and many sailors wanted the opportunity to celebrate the man and his lifes work.

Dave had an enormously positive impact on the World of sailing and a race that allowed all classes to come to celebrate together seemed totally appropriate. This celebration was not only for Daves boats but his amazing spirit, opitomised by his bright warm smile, the un-missable feature of every
photograph of him.

150 boats as varied as Ossie Stewarts Thames Rater and 18’ Skiffs to RS200s and Flying Fifteens arrived at Grafham Water for the Ovington Memorial Race and final open meeting and were rewarded with superb Autumn sailing, 12 to 15 knots of wind, flat water and to boot not too chilly. Olympic Legends and enthusiastic youth mixed and represented the depth and range of Dave and his boats appeal.

The weekend consisted of three races on the Saturday open to any boat while the open meeting continued on Sunday for the 9ers, B14s, Musto Skiffs and 14s. The main event of the weekend turned out to be the Saturday night party in celebration of Dave's life, with DJ Gareth Edwards on the ones & twos. The bar was drunk dry, and some serious dancing took place (well a mixture of punk & moshing). The management attempted to shut-down the music at 12:30am but only to be hi-jacked by Simon Hiscock's, until the power was cut (but glad to say the bar remained open!).

A mega raffle was held during the evening and thanks must go to Musto, Ovington Boats, Paul Brotherton, Yachts & Yachting, Sea Sure and Dinghy Magazine for their great prizes.

Memorial Races
The fleets were split into two groups with the 18’s 14’s and 49er on one course and the 29ers. B14s, Musto Skiffs and handicap on the other.

80+ boats made it out on Saturday morning to the medium fast race track and were greeted with a shifty 8-12knots. In the first race the 29ers dominated but the 59er sailed by Chris Turner and Kathryn Broom pulled out enough of a lead to keep the 29er of Dylan Fletcher and Rob Partridge behind, who were followed by 29er Sarah Martin and Nicola Groves. In Race two the Musto Skiffs took the top three positions lead by Ian Trotter then Richard Stenhouse and Graeme Oliver followed by the 29ers and the B14's.

The last race of the day saw the 29er of Huw Humphries and Max Todd go on to win the race followed by Dylan and Rob then Phil Walker and Matt Gotrel, with Richard Stenhouse in the Musto coming in at 5th. Although not featuring in the results because of the unfavorable course the 20 B14s had some tight racing, A guest appearance from Chris Draper and H Brown didn’t deter from the close battle which resulted in Matt Searle/ Andy Ramus winning the day from Tim Fells/ Sean Dwyer followed by Nils Joliffe / Jon Branch. With such a collection of classes, overall it was constancy that won the day with most of the fleet having varied results due to the size of the fleet.

Results for Medium fleet
1 29er Dylan Fletcher Rob Partridge Northampton/Draycote SC 4 2 7 2
2 29er Huw Humphreys Max Todd Holyhead SC 5 37.5 4 1
3 Mskiff Richard Stenhouse 7 36 2 5
4 29er Phil Walker Matt Gotrel Draycote Water SC 8 13 5 3
5 RS200 Sarah Allen Littleton SC 13 7 34 6
6 Mskiff Graeme Oliver Whitstable YC 14 39 3 11

On the fast course it was just that, with eight 18’ Skiffs on the race track and nearly 50 49ers and Int 14s racing was lively. It was the 14s that filled most of the top places, a tight battle between old hands Robinson/ Elliot and Jones / Anderson ended up with Robinson just ahead. The 49er fleet saw a return from Paul Brotherton crewed by Alex Hopson. The team showed the new boys that they still had it and were first 49er by a clear margin. However it was the 18’Skif of Rob Dulson, Paul Constable and Alec McKinley that one the day. They also won the overall prize and the beautiful wooden trophy.

Results of the Fast Fleet
1 18 ft skiff Rob Dulson Paul Constable/Alec McKinlay King George SC 3 7 1 2
2 Int 14 Tim Robinson Zeb Elliot Hayling Island SC 4 4 3 1
3 Int 14 Martin Jones Kevin Anderson Hayling Island SC 5 1 5 4
4 Int 14 Jarrod Simpson Tim Paull Itchenor SC 7 5 2 9
5 Int 14 Douglas Pattison Daniel Ayton Itchenor SC 9 54 6 3
6 49er Paul Brotherton Alex Hopson 12 6 13 6

Open Meeting
The wind picked up on Sunday morning and after the night before some of the sailors decided to stay ashore. The 49ers, 14s and B14 fleets managed one race before the conditions took their toll. However, the 29er’s managed to complete all three races over the course of the day. The first race, in winds of around 25knots saw many of the fleet capsize, however all but 5 boats finished the race which was won by Huw and Max with Dylan and Rob second and Phil and Matt third. The fleet went ashore until 1.00pm to wait for the wind to drop.

The second race in very shifty conditions between 8 to 12mph saw a real battle between the top three boats, with places changing throughout the race. An error by the National Champions Max and Hugh meant that Phil and Matt took 1st place. Second place went to Paul Turnill and Preston Taylor and third to Will Tremlow and Peter Perera.

By the time the third race started the wind was much lighter. There was a real battle for 1st place between Dylan and Rob and Phil and Matt, both aware that the winner of this race would win the event. The Inland champions Dylan and Rob showed their class and won the final race of the weekend.
The final places were Dylan Fletcher and Rob Partrdige 1st, Phil Walker and Matt Gotrel 2nd, Huw Humphries and Max Todd 3rd. This concluded the 29er Grand Prix Series of 2005 with winning results for North, South and Overall dominated by Dylan Fletcher, former crew Nick Hollis and successful new teammate Rob Partridge.

29er Open results
1 Dylan Fletcher Rob Partridge Northampton/Draycote SC 9 1 3 2 2 4 1
2 Phil Walker Matt Gotrel Draycote Water SC 11 8 2 3 3 1 2
3 Huw Humphreys Max Todd Holyhead SC 15 22 1 1 1 6 6
4 Paul Turnill Preston Taylor Bewl Valley SC 21 14 5 4 5 2 5
5 Sarah Martin Nicola Groves Island Barn SC 24 2 11 8 6 5 3
6 Will Tremlow Peter Perera Notts County/Staunton Harrold 25 4 12 7 7 3

With a few of the 49er fleet staying ashore it was left to heavy weather boys Richard Bone and Chris Rodway to show the fleet around. In what conditions that were bordering on marginal to say the least the battle for second place was eventually won by Dave Evans and Rick Peacock from Ian Martin and Ben McGrane. Overall though it was still Paul and Alex that had done enough on Saturday to win the open.

49er Open results.
1 Paul Brotherton Alex Hopson 6 1 4 1 25
2 Dave Evans Rick Peacock Corus SC Margam 7 4 1 4 2
3 Ian Martin Ben McGrane Weymouth&Portland SA 7 3 2 2 3
4 Simon Hiscocks Weymouth & Portland SA 8 2 3 3 25
5 Richard Bone Chris Rodway Bough Beech SC 11 8 5 5 1
6 Jonny Coates Charlie Muir RYA 21 10 6 13

It was the same story in the International 14 fleet. With some of the teams ashore it was left to the Father and Son team of Andy and Tom Partington to fly the flag. But it was not enough to take the overall event awat from Tim Robinson and Zeb Elliot.

Int 14s Opn Results
1 Tim Robinson Zeb Elliot Hayling Island SC 7 4 2 1 15
2 Martin Jones Kevin Anderson Hayling Island SC 7 1 3 3 15
3 Douglas Pattison Daniel Ayton Itchenor SC 8 2 4 2 15
4 Jarrod Simpson Tim Paull Itchenor SC 12 5 1 6 15
5 Charles Duchesne Will Broom Itchenor SC 12 7 5 5 2
6 Andy Partington Tom Partington Hayling Island SC 17 15 9 7 1

With the big winds the bulk of the B14 fleet decided to call it a day as 14 of them were packing their boats off the Australia the following morning.