Ranking series wraps up

The RYA National Ranking Series winners were crowned this weekend at Weymouth

The RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series drew to a close this weekend, with both seasoned campaigners and young guns clinching victories after the final event of the three-weekend Series at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (20-21 October).

Winning this weekend by a single point over Paul Campbell-James and Mark Asquith, World Champions Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes also took the overall Series crown in the 49er class, while victory this weekend in the 470 class for Luke Patience and Chris Grube handed them a second National Ranking Series title.

But it was the performance of the recently-crowned Techno 293 Under 17 windsurfing world champion Ali Masters which once again caught the eye.  Having only just moved on to the larger RS:X 8.5 board, the 15-year-old took a clean sweep of race wins at WPNSA this weekend, which saw him take the overall Series title by one point over more experienced racers in the class. 

Skandia Team GBR’s world bronze medallist Nick Dempsey put in a solid performance this weekend to top the leaderboard in the RS:X 9.5 class, only to then be hit with disqualification from his last two races for failing to wear a buoyancy aid.  The weekend win therefore went to Leo McCallin, who also claimed victory in the overall series with development squad sailors Elliot Carney and Richard Hamilton enjoying their share of the spoils in second and third.

Double Olympic gold medallist Ben Ainslie swept to victory this weekend in the Finn class, although didn’t quite have it all his own way after initially sailing the wrong course in the opening race of the event.  However, it was Giles Scott who, with a string of consistent performances across the three events, took the overall series crown after just a year competing in the class.  Edward Thorburn took the prize for top Finn Master.

In the Tornado class, former 49er World Champion Chris Draper did a fine job of standing in for Leigh McMillan, competing with Will Howden for Saturday’s racing as McMillan was on usher duty at a friend’s wedding.  But the Beijing-nominated helmsman returned for Sunday and continued where Draper left off with him and Howden taking the weekend win by a point over Andy Walsh and Ed Barney, who themselves took the overall series crown.  Tornado performance squad sailors Rob Wilson and Mark Bulkeley missed out on the podium this weekend, but had their share of the chocolates, finishing second in the overall Series standings ahead of John Gimson and Stuart Bithell.

Ali Martin and Beth Carden took the weekend win in the 470 women’s class, but it’s world bronze medallists Christina Bassadone and Saskia Clark who take the National Ranking Series title over Hannah Mills and Katrina Hughes.

The 2.4mR class missed out on the two previous Series events due to a clash with the IFDS World Disabled Championships in Rochester, USA, but they were in action for this final event this weekend.  With racing open to disabled and able-bodied sailors, Skandia Team GBR’s 2.4mR coach Adam May took the opportunity to race against his charges Helena Lucas and Megan Pascoe, and clinched victory with four wins from the six races – Lucas finished second with Pascoe in third.

Series Results:

Finn
1-Giles Scott
2-Mark Andrews
3-Andrew Mills
Finn Master - Edward Thorburn

49er
1-Stevie Morrison-Ben Rhodes
2-Paul Campbell-James-Mark Asquith
3-John Pink-Simon Wheeler

470 Men
1-Luke Patience-Chris Grube
2-Nic Asher-Elliot Willis
3-Nick Rogers-Joe Glanfield

470 Women
1-Christina Bassadone-Saskia Clark

RS:X 9.5
1-Leo McCallin
2-Elliot Carney
3-Richard Hamilton

RS:X 8.5
1-Ali Masters
2-Beth Williamson
3-Tom Eskdale

Tornado
1-Andrew Walsh-Ed Barney
2-Rob Wilson-Mark Bulkeley
3-John Gimson-Stuart Bithell