Ovington Boats 29er Championships 2024 at the WPNSA

Ovington Boats 29er Championships at WPNSA © Oli King Photography

Saturday morning dawned with a steady 10-12 knots of breeze, promising an excellent day of racing for the9er fleet assembled at WPNSA. The sailors arrived early, fuelled by the prospect of competitive racing with lots of new teams ready to build on the experience they've developed at their clubs.

Race 1 finally got under way after some overeagerness on the line and was an intense start with the fleet battling for a clean lane off the start. The wind provided some consistent shifts and lovely trapezing conditions allowing the crews to stretch their legs.

The racing continued throughout the day with three more races, each presenting their own tactical challenges. The gusts and shifts in breeze allowed for some exciting downwind legs, with gains to be made for anyone who kept their heads out the boat.

By the end of day one, the leaderboard was tight at the top, with only a handful of points separating the five teams however with some poor line discipline some of the top teams ended their chance of a podium by adding too many letters to their results.

Ovington Boats9er Championships at WPNSA - photo © Oli King Photography

Sunday continued with similar wind conditions, providing slightly shiftier racing conditions with a fraction more breeze. The fleet demonstrated more caution on the line with no BFDs.

Despite being a relatively young fleet there was a lot of skill on display, with positioning and tactical decisions giving new sailors to the fleet a perfect environment to learn and be tested by the older more experienced teams.

The decision was also made to merge the transition fleet into the main fleet and there were some promising performances from these boats in particular Rachel Elms and Laura Jubb showing finishes well into the fleet.

Ovington Boats9er Championships at WPNSA - photo © Oli King Photography

Jac Bailey and Ben Sinfield put in another excellent day of racing taking the overall win followed by Joe Wimpory and Charlie Gran in second followed by Charlie Gatehouse and Jamie Gatehouse rounding up the top three. First girls team was taken by Kitty O'halloran and Lilly O'halloran, first mixed team was taken by Allegra Massey and Jake Rawes and finally first junior team was taken by Ben Greenhalgh and Tom Sinfield.

A massive thanks goes to:

• WPNSA for hosting
• The race management team
• Parents and supporters
• Ovington Boats for their continued support of the class

The event once again showcased the incredible talent and competitiveness of the9er class, with young sailors displaying remarkable skill and sportsmanship and a great future with all the new talent coming through. Finally a massive thank you to Ovington for sponsoring the event and looking forward to some further tight sailing at Rutland and a fine display of Christmas jumpers at the Christmas party!

Ovington Boats9er Championships at WPNSA - photo © Oli King Photography

Main Fleet Results:

Transition Fleet Results: