Bayliss wins RS700s

Reports from day four and five of the Nationals

RS 700 Nationals - Day 4

After yesterdays exertions, and a missed race (called off due to a squall of demonic proportions), competitors were dismayed to see another day dawn with torrential rain and 20+ knot winds. Fortunately for those who found the previous days rather windy, the wind abated before racing to an entirely more reasonable 15 knots, and so battle commenced.

Race 7 was a wake-up call for many people whose minds were still in bed. A strong west going tide coupled with a significant wind shift to the west, caught dozens of boats out, who were then reaching into the windward mark on port. Nigel King, sometime Ellen MacArthur crewmate was first round the mark, finding the right gears in the 700 at last. Second and third place overall, Andy White and Neil Robinson were amongst the next few round, but Championship leader Bayliss was down in the pack.

King was still trying to work out how the coloured flappy thing at the front worked as White and Robinson whizzed past, meanwhile like some sort of Houdini act, Bayliss then managed to extract himself from oblivion, and found the gust from heaven down the middle of the run. With White and Robinson, along with Andy Peake rounding the unfavoured leeward mark in the gate, Bayliss set off after Jason Belben up the beat. Spotting another monster shift, and remembering the tide, Bayliss tacked early, and to everybody’s disgust rounded the windward mark in the lead which he held to the finish. He was followed in by White, Peake, and Belben, whilst Robinson had sunk to fifth.

Race 8 saw the three points leaders battling it out again. Robinson established an early lead, and was challenged through the race by White. Tim Dickinson was also up there in third place, whilst Bayliss was paying the price of being conservative, and was once again following Belben around the course.. Going into the last lap, it was all a White / Robinson show, with Bayliss getting through to third. Going into the run to the finish, Bayliss received a gift in the form of the two leaders splitting and banging opposite corners. The best wind however, was to be found in the middle of the course, and once again, White and Robinson lost out in the closing stages of the race, with Bayliss winning, a rather agitated Robinson in second, White in third, and Belben again in fourth. Behind this pack were Tony Freer in fifth, at last showing some of the speed he has promised for some time, and Steve Tylecote, welcoming the more relaxed conditions in sixth.

Race 6 was re-sailed following this, and with the wind and tide dying, it was going to prove to be more like the first days light wind racing - slow and processional. Robinson, having castigated himself (and his boat) for his earlier mistakes, was making none this time, and led from start to finish, keeping his hopes of the championship alive. Ben Oakley showed a timely return to form by finishing in second place, and Neil Upton-Brown was also taking advantage of the lighter winds to take third.

With Bayliss in fourth, Peake in fifth, and Belben again in sixth, White has all but blown his chances of the series. Only an exemplary day and a complete disaster by Robinson and Bayliss could see him take the championship that he has twice finished as runner-up. So it’s down to the latter two to see who can prevail. Bayliss can take the title with a single top three finish, in the final two races. If he fails to do this, and Robinson can summon up some of his magic to score a couple of top two results, its all there for the taking. Seconds away, round five ……….

RS700 Nationals Day 5

You can’t have it all your own way. Following 2 days of wind and rain and cold, the final day of the RS700 Nationals dawned gloriously sunny and warm. Unfortunately the wind wasn’t joining the party. Three winds, from the NE, NW and SW spent the day fighting each other for supremacy, with “interesting” results. Going into the final two races, defending champion Paul Bayliss was 7 points in the lead courtesy of a purple patch in the windy middle of the week, when he scored 5 bullets in a row. However, both Neil Robinson and Andy White could still theoretically still snatch the title, and Hayling Bay in a northerly is just the place to deliver surprises….

The first race of the day was started at the second attempt, and Robinson shot out of the pin end of the line demonstrating his intentions not to give up without a good fight. Unfortunately for him however, the sea breeze towards which he was sailing, just didn’t quite arrive, and Robinson sat in a hole in the wind, effectively ending his hopes of overall victory. Meanwhile, Neil Upton-Brown established an early lead, hotly pursued by Bayliss, White and Jason Belben. Belben then sailed a magnificent race, to take victory from Ben Oakley, with a slightly unlucky Upton-Brown in third. Bayliss finished fourth, which was enough to give him victory with a race to spare, and Leigh Albrecht from Queen Mary SC scored a fifth, his best result of the championships, which was the same for Buzz Keck who finished a glorious sixth.

The final race of the series was also one of the most difficult. The early series leader Nick Rizzi established an early lead, which he then threw away by not knowing the number of rounds to be sailed. Tim Dickinson seized his chance and ran away with the race, a hugely popular win. Neil Robinson consolidated his second position overall with a second place, whilst Rizzi came home third. Ben Oakley finished a solid day with a fourth, and Andy White made sure of third overall with fifth.

So overall Bayliss wins his second championship in the RS700 with clever sailing and good overall speed, but blistering pace in the stronger breezes. Neil Robinson was always going to be a real challenger for the title, but just couldn’t match Bayliss’s boat handling and tactics in the breeze. Andy White will be slightly disappointed with his third place, as he knows he has the capability to win on his day, and Jason Belben despite sailing his socks off in the stronger winds, couldn’t convert this into a consistent enough series. Neil Upton-Brown sailed the oldest boat in the fleet to fifth place, mounting a late charge up the leader board. Likewise Ben Oakley ended the week with some top results but just couldn’t get going in the early part of the series. The very deserving winner of the silver fleet was Leigh Albrecht, who has been improving dramatically in the RS700 all season and on his day is right up there when it matters. Popular winner of the “Masters” category was Nick Rizzi, and who could forget the look on his face in day one when he scored two bullets to take an early championship lead.

A hugely successful week, some of the most exciting single handed racing on offer, conditions to suit everybody, and with masterful race officering by Peter Wareham, the event was capped with a fantastic party in the new Hayling clubhouse. Thanks HISC, we’ll be back…..

Results:

Pos	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Pts
1	Paul Bayliss  G	HISC	6	6	1	1	1	1	1	4	4	50	19
2	Neil Robinson G	HISC	11	3	3	5	2	5	2	1	14	2	23
3	Andy White G	Stokes Bay	4	4	4	2	3	2	3	7	12	5	27
4	Jason Belben G	Stokes Bay	2	2	6	10	8	4	4	6	1	13	33
5	Neil Upton-Brown G	HISC	12	9	2	11	5	12	8	3	3	6	47
6	Ben Oakley G	HISC	9	10	8	8	9	9	18	2	2	4	51
7	Steve Tylecote G	Burghfield	3	7	7	13	7	6	6	10	50	50	59
8	Andrew Peake G	Bough Beech	13	14	10	7	13	3	13	5	7	8	66
9	Andy Irons G		5	5	12	4	6	15	12	25	29	7	66
10	Nick Rizzi G M	HISC	1	1	25	6	18	7	19	18	18	3	72
11	Leigh Albrecht S	Queen Mary	14	50	13	36	10	13	11	23	5	9	98
12	Tim Dickinson G	HISC	21	17	16	17	17	11	15	13	9	1	99
13	Ian Gorringe S	HISC	10	50	9	9	4	10	33	28	19	11	100
14	Dave Smithwhite G M	HISC	7	19	50	50	12	8	7	22	20	18	113
15	David Geal G	Eastbourne Sovereign	31	35	5	3	19	16	9	15	30	17	114
16	Jon Emmett G	Weir Wood	19	8	17	24	16	21	17	8	22	15	121
17	Alex Koukourakis S	Eastbourne Sovereign	23	11	11	12	11	24	20	24	15	19	122
18	Tony Freer G	Chew Valley	15	13	28	50	26	14	5	9	28	16	126
19	Buzz Keck S	Bowmoor	17	21	20	50	14	27	28	12	6	25	142
20	Nick Rawlings G M	HISC	8	23	18	21	21	22	26	20	23	10	143
21	Christian Brandt G		25	16	14	50	50	17	23	27	11	12	145
22	Stephen Main G	Weston	22	20	23	20	22	18	21	29	17	20	160
23	Graham Simmonds G	HISC	24	27	27	19	28	26	22	11	10	22	161
24	Dave Griffiths S	Bough Beech	18	25	26	28	34	20	25	31	13	14	169
25	Andrew Jameson G	HISC	36	12	30	18	24	41	10	16	50	50	187
26	Andrew Streeter S	HISC	29	22	21	26	20	25	41	34	21	23	187
27	Eddie Gatehouse G	Chichester	28	24	50	22	25	33	32	14	16	28	189
28	James Stewart	Stokes Bay	35	33	19	16	15	40	27	26	26	29	191
29	Gerard Hughes S	HISC	27	29	15	15	23	34	29	50	27	30	195
30	Keri Harris S	RNSA	16	26	24	23	38	35	39	17	50	21	200
31	Angus Chisholm S	HISC	26	15	36	31	32	29	35	30	8	50	206
32	David Gorringe S	Lymington Town	37	31	22	32	30	19	31	21	32	24	210
33	Demo Dave Merchant G	HISC	32	32	29	30	27	30	16	32	50	50	228
34	Neil Sanders S	Cardiff Bay	38	36	34	29	31	28	34	35	33	33	257
35	Andrew Beynon S	HISC	41	41	32	33	40	23	30	36	35	36	265
36	Adam Wright S	Stokes Bay	39	37	50	35	33	39	24	37	34	34	273
37	Matthew Stark S	HISC	42	50	37	37	39	38	36	38	25	31	281
38	Richard Wadsworth S		34	34	31	50	36	37	14	50	50	50	286
39	Stephen Hermanson S	Datchet Water	20	28	50	50	50	31	38	19	50	50	286
40	Stephen Butcher S	HISC	33	30	33	14	29	50	50	50	50	50	289
41	Grahame Sanderson S	Brightlingsea	40	18	50	50	50	36	40	50	31	27	292
42	Nigel King G	Lymington Town	50	50	50	50	50	32	37	33	24	26	302
43	Richard Nieveen S		43	39	50	34	37	42	42	39	50	32	308
44	Miles Odell S M	HISC	30	38	35	25	35	50	50	50	50	50	313
45	Andrew Sweet S	HISC	44	40	50	50	50	50	50	50	36	35	355
46	Ivan Snell S	HISC	45	42	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	37	374
47	Giles Marshall S M	HISC	46	43	50	50	50	50	50	50	37	50	376
48	Keith Haydon S		50	50	50	27	50	50	50	50	50	50	377
49	Tim Polglase	HISC	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	50	400