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Batten Brothers Battle for Best Results

Written by Giles Lloyd-Williams Saturday, 06 November 2010 22:50

Last weekend saw the final event in the 29er Grand Prix Circuit at Northampton Sailing Club in the midlands. This national series, sponsored by Lymington based HARKEN UK, consisted of six events spread throughout the year at Rutland, Brightlingsea, Parkstone, Draycote, Thorpe Bay & Northampton. Sailors compete for the impressive Harken Trophy, and count their best four results from the six event series, however the Northampton event was non-discardable, making last weekend ‘a must’ for every team looking to end the series in the best possible place.

With a record turn out and many new faces in the class, it was difficult to predict who was going to make the running at this event. The Batten brothers Sam & Ben enjoyed some sibling rivalry on the start line, with Sam aiming to continue his unbroken winning run with helm Henry Lloyd Williams, and Ben, new to the class only 6 months ago, with crew Luke Burywood, looking to continue their climb up the series results board. Sadly Ben & Luke suffered some rigging problems in the first race along with fellow Lymington sailors Tom Bucktrout & Will Glover. By contrast, Henry & Sam’s meticulous attention to detail ensured a trouble free weekend, apart from an encounter with a mega gust: While racing through a squall on the Saturday, Henry & Sam where hit by an exceptional gust which resulted in a bent rudder blade, broken trapeze + gunwale toe-strap and a rare capsize. Luckily they where able to sail on to complete the race & then make repairs & replace the rudder blade without having to miss subsequent races.

Final event results for Lymington boats were 1st - Henry & Sam; 9th – Tom & Will; 18th – Ben & Luke.

Final 2010 Harken Grand Prix results are 1st – Henry & Sam (1,1,1,1); 7th – Tom & Will(18,14,13,9); 13th Arthur & Ed Romano (4,9,2,dnc); 14th - Ben & Luke (20,13,16,18)

The 29er is one of a new breed of skiff dinghy that offers fast, exciting sailing. It’s an RYA youth boat, and is the feeder for the Olympic high performance 49er. More details from This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

LTSC Sailors top Leader Board in Accumulator Series

Written by Giles Lloyd-Williams Sunday, 10 October 2010 20:34

Last weekend saw the final event in the 29er Shock Accumulator at Hayling Island Sailing Club. The series consisted of four events in 2010, the other events having taken place at Weymouth in May, Datchet in August and Lymington in September. The Accumulator series uses a slightly unconventional high-points scoring system with each event having a weighting greater than the last. This made Hayling potentially worth twice as many points as the first event at Weymouth, hence there was everything to sail for at this last event for all those near the top of the series leader board. The Accumulator series is kindly sponsored by ex Olympic sailor, Simon Hiscocks of Shock sailing, who this year provided some very generous cash prizes for the winning teams, plus the first all girl boat and best new comer to the class.

Sadly the weather at Hayling only allowed racing on the Saturday, before the winds increased to 30knts on the Sunday. The event was combined with an International 14 open meeting, racing in Hayling Bay around large windward-leeward courses. With both the A3 & M3 being closed for a time on Saturday morning, racing was delayed to allow competitors to get to the venue, which only left time for 3 races to be sailed that day and what turned out to be for the whole event. This meant that the current Accumulator series leaders, Henry Lloyd Williams & Sam Batten, were not able to discard a disqualification for being over the line during a ‘black flag’ start, that they picked up in the third race. This allowed fellow Lymington sailors, Art & Ed Romano to win the event by 5 points, and end the series on equal points with Henry & Sam. However using the count-back tie-break method, Henry & Sam were eventually crowned Shock Accumulator champions by the closest of margins.

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Final event results for Lymington boats were 1st - Arthur & Ed, 3rd - Henry & Sam, 8th – Giles Lloyd Williams & Fiona Mayo.

Final 2010 Shock Accumulator results were 1st – Henry & Sam (720 points), 2nd Arthur & Ed (720 points), 6th – Giles & Fiona (345 points), 10th – Tom Bucktrout & Will Glover (275 points), 13th - Ben Batten & Luke Burywood (175 points), 15th Geoff Havers & Jo Barriball (150 points)

29er Action In The Thames Estuary

Written by Giles Lloyd-Williams Sunday, 03 October 2010 19:30

Last weekend saw the penultimate event in the 29er 2010 Grand Prix circuit take place at Thorpe Bay Yacht Club. This circuit is a UK wide series of 6 Open Meetings sponsored by Harken which this year comes to a close at Northampton next month. With driving rain plus cold and blustery northerly winds blowing off-shore across the Thames estuary it was not a weekend for the faint hearted! The wind hit 30knts on both days leading to several breakages. After the three races on Saturday the relatively small 23 strong fleet had suffered 4 broken masts & numerous minor gear failures. Luckily the design of these boats allows for rapid repair and most boats were on the water again by Sunday. Henry Lloyd Williams & Sam Batten continued their winning ways, hardly seeming to notice the atrocious conditions, scoring 3 firsts on the Saturday plus a first & a second on the Sunday, thus winning the event without needing to sail the last race. Sam’s younger brother Ben, also did well and showed great seamanship when a spreader failed, managing to get his boat back to the shore without the mast collapsing. Following an overnight repair he & his crew Luke Burywood where able to compete again on the Sunday to beat many more experienced teams by the end of the weekend.

Final results for Lymington boats were 1st - Henry & Sam, 13th - Arthur & Ed Romano (who were only able to sail on the Saturday), 16th - Ben & Luke, 20th – Tom Bucktrout & Will Glover (they suffered irreparable damage to their mast in the third race and had to retire from the rest of the competition). Henry and Sam are now leading the 2010 Grand Prix series with three event firsts to their name, hence are well placed to win the series title next month, having come second last year by just one point.

Rollercoaster week for the Lymington 29ers

Written by Giles Lloyd-Williams Friday, 27 August 2010 22:25

It was a rollercoaster week for the Lymington 29er sailors in Wales during their National & Open Championships at Pwllheli Sailing Club. This year the 14 race event attracted 41 teams from three different countries to the Pen Llyn peninsula in North Wales. After several days location training for the Lymington teams, the event started on the Monday in light and unpredictable winds. Light wind experts Art & Ed Romano had a good day finishing in 8th place by the evening, Giles Lloyd Williams & Jeremy Williamson managed a 3rd in the last race of the day putting them in 11th place overall, while son Henry Lloyd Williams and Sam Batten (who were tipped to win the event) had a disastrous day including a black flag disqualification to finish 26th. Day two by contrast was windy allowing Tom Bucktrout & Will Glover to record their best day of the week in the demanding conditions. Henry & Sam also took advantage of the stronger conditions to recover their overall position with two 1sts & a 4th. Giles & Jeremy kept the pressure on with another 5th which moved them up to =10th overall with Henry & Sam. Younger brother Ben Batten & Luke Burywood also had an exciting day, recording their best result of the week, a 21st.

Wednesday & Thursday turned out to be light wind affairs with no racing on the Friday do to the early part of the weekend’s storms affecting Wales first. Sadly Art & Ed Romano suffered their second major disappointment of the year when they miss judged a port-starboard incident off the start-line and suffered major hull damage in the first race on Thursday and were unable to sail any more . Henry & Sam continued their charge up the leader board in an attempt to recover from their disappointing first day, never finishing below 7th. Giles & Jeremy had a disappointing two days slipping 10 places in the final results.

The event was won by the French pair of Gael Jaffrezic & Julien Bloyet who also won the ISAF Youth Worlds last month. Final Lymington positions were 4th Henry & Sam (second British boat & first UK youth), 15th Art & Ed (despite missing the last 3 races), 16th Tom & Will, 20th Giles & Jeremy and 29th Ben & Luke (first junior, u15 boat)

29er EuroCup Series - Jule 24th & 25th

Written by Giles Lloyd-Williams Tuesday, 27 July 2010 22:11

The UK leg of the 29er EuroCup series took place in Poole Bay on 24-25 July hosted by Parkstone Yacht Club; the event also formed the second leg of the Harken UK Grand Prix circuit, attracting sailors from all over the country. Additionally the Musto Skiff class joined the 29ers at PYC following their successful Nationals at Hayling. Five 29ers and one Musto Skiff from Lymington Town Sailing Club took part in the combined event. The race course was set outside Poole Harbour in the bay, requiring the competitors to navigate their way out of the harbour and past the chain ferry each day. Eight races were scheduled for the weekend but due to repeated general recalls in the 29er fleet, this class only completed seven. On the Saturday the wind increased during the day providing good planning conditions for most of the races, however the direction was not constant leading to big gains for those who could correctly read the shifts (and losses for those who could not!). After racing on the Saturday, competitors and spectators were treated to a barbeque on the club’s veranda looking out across the harbour which provided an opportunity for the Lymington sailors to compare notes on the day’s racing. Sunday produced lighter winds which were also more variable in direction. This resulted in shortened and in one case abandoned races, but eventually both classes did manage to complete four races as scheduled.

Youth sailors Henry Lloyd Williams and Sam Batten (just back from the ISAF World Championships in Istanbul) sailed a consistent series in the shifting conditions, to be overnight joint leaders, and then went on to establish an unassailable lead on the Sunday with a race to spare. Art & Ed Romano on their first outing since Ed’s injury at the Europeans in Spain finished 9th. Tom Bucktrout and Will Glover finished 13th despite being disqualified following a black flag start. Giles Lloyd Williams & Fiona Ramus finished 16th and Ben Batten & Luke Burywood finished 20th. In the smaller Musto Skiff fleet, Nigel Walbank finished 3rd, despite having to retire from the third race due to a broken main halyard.

2010 29er European Championship report

Written by Giles Lloyd-Williams Wednesday, 14 July 2010 00:00

Last week the 2010 29er European Championships were held at Sant Pere Pescador near Barcelona with 114 teams from 14 nations taking part. The event consisted of a qualifying series that was run over the first two days with the competitors split into randomly seeded flights. Then a three day championship series, with competitors ranked into Gold, Silver, Bronze & Emerald fleets based on their qualifying series positions. 22 British boats travelled down to the Mediterranean coast for the event including 4 from Lymington. Conditions were perfect for much of the week with good winds, very hot weather and occasionally big waves. Sadly the big waves proved too much for some resulting in two people breaking bones, including one of the Lymington boats when Ed Romano suffered a broken ankle following a down-wind pitch-pole.

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The championship fleet was supplemented this year by a number of 49er sailors who dropped back into a 29er for the event, and demonstrated their greater experience by finishing mostly in the top ten. A number of boats from outside Europe were also using the event as a work-up regatta while preparing for the ISAF Youth World Championships that started in Istanbul the following week. This produced a second competition within the championships as the various youth boats spared against each other in preparation for their Worlds.

Lymington school boys Henry Lloyd Williams & Sam Batten lead the Team GBR charge finishing 6th in the qualifying series, but after a bad second day in the final series dropped to 10th overall (Gold fleet) and 5th youth boat. Tom Bucktrout & Will Glover finished 10th in Silver fleet and Giles Lloyd Williams & Jeremy Romano finished 28th. Arthur & Ed Romano were lying 3rd in Bronze fleet at the time of their accident. Following the event prize giving and closing ceremony, Henry & Sam flew directly to Istanbul were they are now representing GBR in the ISAF Youth Worlds.

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The 29er is one of a new breed of skiff dinghy that offers fast, exciting sailing. It’s an RYA youth boat, and is the feeder for the Olympic high performance 49er. More details from This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Henry Lloyd Williams & Sam Batten win the 29er event at the RYA Youth National Championships

Written by Henry & Sam Saturday, 17 April 2010 19:33

2010_henryandsam29erryayouth The 2010 under-19 championships took place over 5 days, starting on the Easter weekend, at the Olympic sailing venue in Portland harbour. Saturday and Easter Sunday were set aside for measurement & registration before the first of 16 scheduled races started on Easter Monday.

We arrived at the host club, Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA), early on Friday and had a good day practicing on the competition course area in strong winds & rain.

On the Saturday we submitted our boat for scruteneering, but the event measurer concluded that it did not meet class rules (a new material we had used to pack the dagger board slot & rudder stock was not considered legal under the 2010 updated measurement rules). Following lengthy consultations with the RYA’s Technical Manager and the 29er World-Wide Measurer based in Perth, Australia, it was eventually confirmed on the Sunday that the boat could not be used at the competition. This left us with less than 24 hours to switch to our old boat, now only used for training, and prepare it for the competition. Our race boat is still the subject of some debate and we await a final decision from the Internal Sailing Federation (ISAF) who is testing material samples from the boat.

Racing began on Easter Monday with some high winds and exciting racing. The winds decreased during the week, to such an extent that by Friday there was no sailing due to insufficient wind. The Princess Royal came to open Portland House, the new RYA accommodation facility for the Olympics in the middle of the week, and came out on the water to watch the racing and talk with some of the sailors afterwards.

We sailed a consistent series performing well in both strong and light winds despite having to swap to our stand-by hull. We finished well ahead of the rest of the fleet being 17 points clear of our nearest rival and in an unassailable position with a day and a half to go before the end of the championships. As a result of our win, we have been selected as the British 29er entry to the ISAF Youth World Championships in Istanbul in July.

Being both only 16 years old, we are among the youngest sailors to ever have won the RYA Youth National Championships or be selected to represent Britain at the ISAF Youth World Championships.

2010_29erpodium_henryandsam

The 29er is one of a new breed of skiff dinghy that offers fast, exciting sailing. It’s an RYA youth boat, and is the feeder for the Olympic high performance 49er.

Henry Lloyd Williams & Sam Batten win the 29er event at the RYA Youth National Championships

Written by Giles Lloyd-Williams Monday, 12 April 2010 00:00

The 2010 under-19 championships took place over 5 days, starting over the Easter weekend, at the Olympic sailing venue in Weymouth. The event included all the RYA Youth classes which this year are: Laser, Laser Radial, RS:X windsurfer, 29er, 420, and Spitfire catamaran.

Lymington was well represented by 5 Laser Radial sailors, 11 420 sailors and 5 29er sailors. The event attracted over 320 sailors in total from England, N Ireland, Scotland & Wales. Most of the Lymington team arrived two to four days before the event to prepare equipment and practice on location.

Saturday and Easter Sunday were set aside for measurement & registration which immediately caused controversy as Henry Lloyd Williams & Sam Batten’s 29er was ruled out of the competition as not meeting the new 29er class rules introduced last November. With less than 24 hours to go Henry and Sam had to switch to another hull, usually only used for training, and prepare it for the competition. Subsequently the original hull was revaluated by a world wide measurer on the Wednesday and a final decision is still awaited from Internal Sailing Federation (ISAF) next week on its legality.

There were mixed fortunes amongst the Lymington sailors –

The Laser Radial fleet was very competitive with top Lymington sailors Tom Britz, Ollie Porter and Robbie Urwin finishing 15th, 16th and 17th respectively.

In 420s, Charlie Cox and helm Craig Dibb from Warsash sailed a consisted series finishing with a bullet in the last race.

In 29ers, the Romano brothers ended up in 6th place whilst Will Glover and helm Tom Bucktrout finished 11th. Sam and Henry sailed a consistent series performing well in both strong and light winds despite having to swap to the stand-by hull. They finished well ahead of the rest of the fleet - they were 17 points clear of their nearest rival and were in an unassailable position a day and a half before the end of the championship. As a result of this win, they have been selected as the single British entry to the ISAF Youth World Championships in Istanbul in July.

Congratulations to all the sailors and best of luck to the qualifiers.