THE final weekend of racing at the RYA Olympic Classes National Ranking Series wasn’t for the faint-hearted, with windy and wintery conditions greeting competitors at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA).

Both event honours and positions in the overall series standings were at stake across the seven fleets racing in Portland Harbour, with the 49er/49erFX Inland Championships held concurrently at Grafham.

Some 67 boats were in action at WPNSA in conditions that whilst chilly from the north were bathed in bright sunshine with near perfect 10-18kts of wind, providing a great opportunity for new and rising talents in the Olympic Classes to test out their racing skills against seasoned campaigners and British Sailing Team squad members.

Portland’s open world champion Megan Pascoe racked up the near-perfect scoreline to claim both the weekend and the 2016 series victories in the 2.4mR event.

Pascoe won eight races of the nine-race series to seal her win at WPNSA, which, added to her victories at the October event and the 2.4mR Inlands in August, sees her crowned 2016 series champion ahead of Carol Dugdale.

Ben Hazeldine and Ryan Orr also claimed the weekend and overall series double in the 470 men’s fleet while Josh Carey took series victory in the RS:X 8.5 fleet after a second place at the regatta behind weekend winner Andy Brown.

Izzy Hamilton was the top female RS:X 8.5 sailor at this weekend’s final event, third overall, but missed the previous event due to a Tokyo training trip so Lily Young was crowned this year’s overall series female 8.5 champion.

Tom Squires earned bragging rights in the RS:X 9.5 event, dropping just one race win from eight races, while a second place for Joe Bennett saw him take the 2016 series win.

Henry Wetherell got the better of his British Sailing Team squad-mates Hector Simpson and Peter McCoy in the Finn event, but the series win went to Markus Bettum.

Georgia Booth-Esme Jones took the series crown in the 470 women’s fleet, with Sophie Weguelin and Eilidh McIntyre scoring the event win ahead of Podium squad team-mates Amy Seabright and Anna Carpenter.

Nacra 17 pairing John Gimson and Anna Burnet scooped both event and series honours, while Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell and Oli Aldridge and Jamie Jobson saw respective victories at the 49er and 49erFX Inlands at Grafham.

With a second at the Inlands, Jack Hawkins and Chris Thomas took the overall win, which also encompassed the 49er National Championships, while Tilly James and Steph Orton were the series’ 49erFX winners.