420 End of Seasons 2022 at Grafham Water Sailing Club

420 End of Seasons 2022 at Grafham Water © Jon Cawthorne

On the 19th & 20th of November GWSC hosted the 420 end of seasons. On the first day we were met with light conditions with the wind coming from the west averaging 4-6 knots.

The first race was recalled twice but after the third attempt it was under way with Alice Davis and Oliver Rayner making the most of the oscillating wind and leading the pack. A large left shift on the second lap allowed Joe Jones to close the gap and put pressure on the leaders but Alice and Oliver held the lead, Joe and Charlie in second closely followed by George Creasy and David Bromilow.

420 End of Seasons 2022 at Grafham Water - photo © Jon Cawthorne

Race two was similar to race one with shifty conditions and a recalled start, three boats collected a black flag, this time Oli and Amber Hale lead the pack round the windward mark with the very consistent David and George right behind them, another well timed tack onto a shift coupled with their boat speed meant Alice and Oliver overtook George and David and Amber and Oli, therefore taking the victory in race two.

Even with the very testing conditions the race officer managed to get a third race going after re-setting the course, this time Patrick Bromilow and Olivia Creasy rounded the windward mark at the top of the fleet, with George and David putting the pressure on in second. The next two laps were a close battle between George & David, Pat & Olivia, Noa & Gabs and Imogen & Teddy, with it all coming down to the last mark rounding before the small reach to the finish, Imogen and Teddy managed to work inside the others taking the win, followed by David and George and Pat and Olivia.

420 End of Seasons 2022 at Grafham Water - photo © Jon Cawthorne

With the results tightly packed it all came down to day two, we were blessed with wind varying from 12-18 knots. For race four there was 12 knots consistent across the course, David and George played the left-hand side and played the shifts allowing them to lead the first and second lap of the race, dominating race four followed by the new pairing of Mattias Potter and Olivia Nixon. Alice and Oliver took third.

Saturday night is fancy dress night, with the helms choosing the crews outfits and vice versa. Safe to say the fleet fully embraced this challenge and costumes included Father Christmas, characters from Rainbow, Ali G, Elf, the Village People, a sumo wrestler and a couple of Tera sailors.

420 End of Seasons 2022 at Grafham Water - photo © Jon Cawthorne

The clouds moved in and race five saw 18 knots across the course and as a result the pumping flag went up. Using their heavy wind skillset Henry Heathcote and Oscar Cawthorne created a big gap after the first two laps, Joe and Hugo went on a hunt on the third lap but Henry and Oscar took the bullet.

Race six was similar to race five causing some teams to proceed to rake two in order to cope with the strengthening breeze, Oliver and Alice played the middle of the beat and with good positioning into gusts and expertise in fleet management they lead round the windward mark, closely followed by the very fast Henry and Oscar, the wind began to drop off but Oliver and Alice held onto the win followed by Henry and Oscar in second and Joe and Hugo in third.

420 End of Seasons 2022 at Grafham Water - photo © Jon Cawthorne

For the final race the wind began to turn off, dropping to 7-12 knots across the course Alice and Oliver asserted their skillset and lead from start to finish, followed by David and George both pairings sailing a very constant event, third place was snatched by Arwen and Arlo.

Alice and Oliver sailing a very consistent event took the win followed by David and George despite suffering from a black flag, and Imogen and Teddy taking the last spot on the podium. Looking forward to seeing as many British boats as possible in Palamos for the Christmas Regatta and the last international event of the year.

420 End of Seasons 2022 at Grafham Water - photo © Jon Cawthorne

Overall Results: