First for Itchenor

Very light winds and strong tides made for close racing at the RS200 Open

This was Itchenor’s first year in the South East Area Series and the club was pleased to welcome 16 visitors in the 29 boat fleet for the RS200 Open. They arrived to find little wind, in contrast to recent events. Race officer Andy Penman signalled an hour’s postponement with some prospect of a sea breeze later on. Tides were close to springs with a flood tide running through the middle of the day until 3.00 pm.

A course was set in the Thorney Reach and by 12.30 there was a reasonably steady five knots of breeze from the south west, giving a fair beat against the strong incoming tide.

The key to the racing was to get clear through the start line and away to the banks out of the strongest tide. Ian Dobson and Katie Restall put their marker down in race one with the best start followed by Martyn and Clare Jones. Behind them there was close racing with Tom and Jo Hewitson coming through from mid fleet to take third place at the finish, behind the leading pair.

In race two Katrina Gilbert and Jenny Root broke clear at the start and sailed away from the fleet. Hugo and Olwen Fisher looked good away from the start, though it was Hamish Walker and Claire Stubbs who judged the approach to the first windward mark just right to take second place, with the consistent Hewitsons again in third place by the finish.

Race three saw the advantage off the start line switch to the left hand side of the course with a port bias line and a weakening tide. Harry and Prue Roome led at the first mark, followed by Philip Pascall and Sue Kalderon. The Hewitsons led the group from the right hand side of the course and worked their way through to the lead. Mike Chapman and Lynne Ratcliffe were always in close contact with the lead group and grabbed second place on the finish line from the Roomes.

The tide was now turning, accompanied by the sea breeze beginning to veer. Attempts to get the fleet away were hampered by over enthusiasm from the sailors and after a general recall and an abandoned start it was clear that the breeze was going to drop and the tide strengthen so racing was abandoned for the day.

This left Tom and Jo Hewitson as winners for the weekend, one point ahead of Katarina Gilbert and Jenny Root and Ian Dobson and Katie Restall who had to be split on their discard; fourth was Hamish Walker and Clare Stubbs with Martyn and Clare Jones the first home team in fifth. Katarina Gilbert was top lady helm and Harry Roome won the Old Man’s prize.

Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	Tot
1st	Tom Hewitson	Jo Hewitson	-3	3	1	4
2nd	Katrina Gilbert	Jennie Root	-15	1	4	5
3rd	Ian Dobson	Katie Restall	1	4	-16	5
4th	Hamish Walker	Clare Stubbs	4	2	-9	6
5th	Martin Jones	Clare Jones	2	5	-6	7
6th	Harry Roome	Prue Roome	5	-7	3	8
7th	Mike Chapham	Lynne Ratcliffe	8	-16	2	10
8th	Gareth Robinson	Sarah Holland	7	-8	7	14
9th	Sarah Taylor	Lucy Matthews	13	-17	5	18
10th	Richard Neall	Sarah Terry	6	-15	12	18
11th	Andy Fitzgerald	Rosie Sibthorp	-19	6	13	19
12th	Phil Ford	Lucy Ford	9	10	-18	19
13th	Patch Fillery	Sarah Sterton	12	9	(DNS)	21
14th	Hugo Fisher	Olwen Fisher	10	11	-17	21
15th	Philip Pascall	Sue Kalderon	-17	14	8	22
16th	Mike Jaffe	Emma Jaffe	-27	13	10	23
17th	Martin Vinson	Sue Antonelli	11	12	-22	23
18th	Simon Gillow	Emma Harniman	16	-22	11	27
19th	Paul Lewis	Caroline Harries	-20	18	15	33
20th	Charlie Muir-Sands	Jane Muir-Sands	14	20	-23	34
21st	Ian Pickard	Jane Wilson	22	-25	14	36
22nd	David Patient	Clare Senior	18	-24	19	37
23rd	Steve Davies	J Davies	-24	19	21	40
24th	Pip Tagg	Rebecca Lang	-23	21	20	41
25th	Paul Whitbread	Corrine Whitbread	21	23	-24	44
26th	Tony Cock	Caroline Scutt	26	-27	25	51
27th	Mark Timberlake	Annabel Timberlake	25	26	(DNS)	51
28th	Richard Thisby	Lyndall Lohman	28	(DNF)	DNS	58
29th	Hayley Poulain	Alastair Poulain	29	(DNF)	DNS	59