Tim and Ed Riley stake claim at 420 Curradinghy Spring Championships

by Jackie Taylor on 23 Mar 2012 The UK 420 Class completed the second of three World and Junior Europeans team selection events at Weymouth at the weekend.

Tim and Ed Riley won the Curradinghy Spring Championships to signal their challenge to the Selectors and the other competing teams. The Selection Series, currently led by the 2011 420 World Ladies’ Champions, Annabel Vose & Kirstie Urwin, will complete at the RYA UK Youth Championships at the beginning of April, when the UK team for the ISAF Youth World Championships in Dublin in July will be chosen.

The 420s assembled at Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy for the Curradinghy Spring Championships. The UK Fleet was joined by two teams from USAM Voile, Brest in France and four teams from Ireland. Unlike any previous 420 Class event, we were joined by the Laser 4.7s who were holding their second European Selection and Ladder event.

The 420s led the charge on to the water with the intention of having one race before the 4.7’s launched. However, contrary to the previous night’s weather forecast, the wind didn’t play ball and, when the 4.7’s made it to the start line for their first race, the 420s were still waiting patiently. Race 1 finally got under way as the wind started to fill, and Tim and Ed Riley took a convincing first place. Race 2 followed with Craig Dibb and Charlie Cox taking the gun. For Race 3 the wind started to pick up, and the sailors were more than happy to see the Oscar flag fly for a while meaning the Jury could take a tea break. Sarah Alton and Molly Frost crossed the line first, putting them back in the running.

After three races the 4.7’s set off for the shore, but the hardy 420s stayed out for one more race. Having grumbled slightly about a fourth race, 2011 World Ladies’ Champion helm, Annabel Vose with her crew, Kirstie Urwin crossed the line smiling, to take the win. The day ended with Tim and Ed Riley leading overall to win the Spring Championship, closely followed by Annabel Vose and Kirstie Urwin, and with Craig Dibb and Charlie Cox and Sarah Alton and Molly Frost on equal points in third and fourth respectively.

Sailors awoke on Sunday to find even less wind than expected, i.e. none! At launch time, some breeze had started to fill in, but it was very unstable. Race 5 was started, but half way up the first beat a massive wind shift meant the race was abandoned, and the sailors all returned to the start line for another go. The Committee boat moved several times as the wind continued to shift around, allowing time for tea and sausage rolls for the Race Committee. Then it was decided to have another go. This time the fleet made it to the windward mark, and the race was won by Eleni Morus and Anna Greenwell, followed by Harry Derbyshire and Tom Lovesey. After a further frustrating couple of hours, the wind was not prepared to play ball and was too unsteady to lay a course, so racing was abandoned for the day and the 420s headed ashore.

With five races completed and one discard, the event was won by Tim and Ed Riley, with Annabel Vose and Kirstie Urwin second and first women, and Harry Derbyshire and Tom Lovesey were third. The Class would like to thank everyone who helped over the weekend and CurraDinghy Sailing, our sponsor, which donated the prizes.

This event was the second of three regatta in the GBR Selector Series to choose teams for the World Championships in Austria and the Junior Europeans on Garda.

Annabel Vose & Kirstie Urwin pull ahead of Craig Dibb & Charlie Cox by a couple of points to lead the ranking table. But there have been some more dramatic moves up the leaderboard, with the Rileys up six places to third overall, Harry Derbyshire & Tom Lovesey up seven to fifth, Sarah Alton & Molly Frost up three to sixth, Isabel Fitzgerald & Kat Colvin up five to 10th and Tarra Gill-Taylor & Megan Brickwood up four to 12th. And there seems to be an equal number of Open and Ladies’ teams in the top 14, impressive balance!

The Series will complete with five days of racing, potentially 14 races, in the first week of April at the RYA UK Youth Championships at Clwb Hwylio Pwllheli Sailing Club, the North Wales venue for the 420 Junior European Championships in 2013. The Youth Championships will be the RYAs selection event for teams to represent GBR at the ISAF World Youth Championships at Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland in July.

Selector Series Top 15 standings:
1 Annabel Vose & Kirstie Urwin (23 points)
2 Craig Dibb & Charlie Cox (26 pts)
3 Tim & Ed Riley (37 pts)
4 Toby Morsley & Matt Wallis (52 pts)
5 Harry Derbyshire & Tom Lovesey (55 pts)
6 Sarah Alton & Molly Frost (56 pts)
7 Callum Airlie & Joseph Butterworth (62 pts)
8 Charlotte Fitzgerald & Emma Spruce (67 points)
9 Jess Lavery & Georgie Mothersele (68 pts)
10 Isabel Fitzgerald & Kat Colvin (76 pts)
11 Hugo Sloper & James Dodd (87 pts)
12 Tarra Gill-Taylor & Megan Brickwood (92 pts)
13 Annabel Cattermole & Bryony Bennett-Lloyd (96 pts)
14 Caroline Croft & Henriette Brand (97 pts)
15 Scott Wallis & Josh Voller (112 pts)