West Kirby and Magdalen College School dominate at Team Racing Trials 

Rutland Sailing Club played host to Worlds Trials from 17-18 January

West Kirby Hawks and Magdalen College School came out on top at an RYA Selection Trials event for the 2015 ISAF Team Racing World Championships, held this weekend (17-18 January) at Rutland Sailing Club.

The event, held at the site of the Worlds venue this July, saw ten adult teams and five youth teams race a total of 64 races amid 7-12 knot conditions – including one critical re-sail – on Saturday’s opening day, with six adult teams and four youth teams then invited to continue the Trials process on Sunday.

In the adult section the shortlisted teams were West Kirby Hawks, Royal Forth, Bristol University, SMVC, Wessex Exempt & Cambridge University, while in the Youths Magdalen College School, WKSC Highlanders, Sevenoaks & Royal Hospital School 1 were invited to continue.

Sunday provided a tougher test for the race management teams, with lighter more unstable winds making course setting a challenge. After an hour’s postponement the round robin got underway, with West Kirby Hawks and Magdalen College School dominating in their respective adult and youth categories.

The Selectors decided that they needed some more racing, primarily to see who might be second, so after a brief team captains meeting, the second stage began.

This comprised a round robin of the top four senior teams and in the youths a ‘first to three points’ competition between West Kirby Highlanders and Sevenoaks School. The youths split the first two races, picking up one each, but Sevenoaks School won the next two races to emerge ahead of the West Kirby Highlanders by at 3-1 margin.

The adult contest saw West Kirby Hawks continue to dominate, winning all of their races to take their winning total across the weekend to 15.  Royal Forth Hoosiers had two wins to take their total to 11, while Bristol University beat Cambridge University to take their total to 9 with Cambridge on 8.

With an original trials weekend from 10-11 January unable to be held due to adverse weather, the RYA will now determine whether or not to select its two adult and two youth teams for the Worlds based on the 17-18 January event results, or to continue the trials process.

Adults – final four
1. West Kirby Hawks (Andy Cornah-Graeme Walker; Ben Field-Tom Foster; Dom Johnson-Debs Steele)
2. Royal Forth Hoosiers (Mark Powell-Isobel Walker; Robert Friend-George Clark; Tim Saxton-Holly Scott)
3. Bristol University (James Grant-James Duncalfe; Cameron Douglas-Sarah Lombard; Phil Sparks-Henry Forward)
4. Cambridge University (Tim Gratton-Hannah Bibby; Arthur Henderson-Thomas Maxwell; Josh Flack-Francine Counsell)

Youth – final four
1. Magdalen College School (Owen Hallett-Adam Rathnell; Tom Elder-Tom Daggitt; Gabriel Ing-James Tomlinson)
2.  Sevenoaks School (George Haynes-James Rudd-Jones; Alice Kidd- Remi Pfister; Hamish Oliver-Isabella Gordon
3. WKSC Highlanders (Octavia Owen-Amber Riggs; Ruby Riggs-Hebe Hemming; Alex Middleton-Alex Williams)
4. RHS 1 (Alexander Slatter-Phoebe Twigg; Tom Joice-Luke Bailey; Alex Platt-Freya Harris)

Click here for full results