420 End of Seasons

420 End of Seasons

The 420 end of seasons 2018 were held at Grafham water, we had about 35 boats entered with some very competitive boats at the front. The wind was scheduled to be light but with potential to build to medium conditions. Prior to the event we’d just got a new boat so I had an intense week of preparing the boat to fit our preferred mast. Thanks to the support from Sailing Chandlery for making this possible.

On Saturday we launched in unpredictable light conditions which settled slightly so we could get racing underway. The event got off to a perfect start for us by picking up two bullets, this was an amazing feeling as they were also our first race wins in the 420. The wind increased slightly to roughly 10 kts for the last two races of the day and we managed to sail a respectable 4th and 6th. The results from the day saw us sitting in first place over night which was unexpected but also a very welcome surprise for us.

Sunday had a slightly increased forecast, the fleet launched early in the morning and racing got underway. Our first race wasn’t very good and it became our discard, we were too conservative on the line and then got on the wrong side of a big right hand shift. Our penultimate race of the event was a 3rd and the last race was a nice 5th to round the competition off. Overall we managed to pick up second place which is a great achievement for us and a very positive step forward to the winter training.

Thanks as always to Sailing Chandlery as they made it possible to get the new boat prepped for the event. Also a big thanks as always to the support from the WYA and Gill.