Pinner pinches the lead at the BUSA RYA Match Racing Qualifier 2

Jon Pinner (Cambridge), Stephen Powell (Exeter 1), Nick Cherry (Southampton), Robbie Allam (Cardiff), Matt Greenfield (Bath) and Mary Rook (Exeter 2) have all won a place at the BUSA RYA Match Racing Finals being held at Queen Mary Sailing Club, at the end of March (17-18 March).

Tough conditions of up to 28 knots met the teams at Queen Mary Sailing Club on Thursday morning, but they where all eager to get on the water.  The first six teams completed their mini round robin, with Southamptons’s Nick Cherry clearly leading the pack with 5 wins and 0 loses. 

As the wind calmed during the afternoon to around 18 knots, the second group went out to start their racing.  After two flights, the race committee were forced to call it a day as it became too dark to sail!

Day two brought lighter breeze, and the completion of the second groups mini round robin.  Leading this group were Cardiff’s Robbie Allam and Cambridge’s Jon Pinner, with some very close and exciting racing. 

Also scrapping through to the quarters were Matt Greenfield (Bath), Mary Rook (Exeter 2), Phil White (Warwick) and Matt Pinner (Bath), with White and Pinner (Bristol) being knocked out in sudden death playoff matches for fifth and sixth place.

The top six continued to race in semi-finals and finals, again using sudden death format, which dramatically saw a change in the positions with Jon Pinner pulling into the lead to win by a narrow margin. These six teams will now go through to the final where they will face fierce competition from the Scottish teams.   

Results: 

/>
/>
/>

/>
/>
/>

/>
/>
/>

/>
/>
/>

/>
/>
/>

/>
/>
/>

/>
/>
/>

/>
/>
/>

/>
/>
/>

/>
/>
/>

/>
/>
/>

/>
/>
/>