Two very different days

The RS200 and RS400 Club Championships took place over the weekend

Northampton SC provided their usual excellent hospitality and two very different sailing days for the GUL RS200 and RS400 Club Championships.

The GUL Club Championships have special rules where the top 15 overall at the GUL Nationals and the top three at any Fat Face circuit events are excluded; those competing qualify through taking part in their home clubs series. Thanks to LDC and GUL there were superb prizes up for grabs including brand new jibs for the winner, free entry to next years nationals and a days coaching.

Saturday and racing started in sunshine but not the steadiest southerly breeze. For the first two races there were some very flat patches which gave the leaders very mixed fortunes on the run as new breeze filled in. For races three and four the breeze firmed up and stayed much more constant around eight to ten knots. PRO Anthony “Chunky” York had really gone into the swing of things with smart turn arounds and ran a fifth race, not to the great pleasure of his wife Emma competing in a 200, no nooky for him that night!

Everyone was happy that the weather forecast predicted 15 knots for Sunday and went to bed optimistic that the morning would bring ideal conditions. Sunday definitely produced wind but a lot more than forecast; 18-23 knots gave awesome action downwind and plenty of thrills, spills and wipe outs. After four sharp races there were some very tired crews.

Saturday in the RS400’s and the races developed a real pattern. Datchet Waters Peter and Alicia Bennett led most of the races at the first windward mark but Queen Mary’s Richard Gray and Nathan Pinch had superior downwind speed to win four of the five races. The only other boat to win a race was Queen Mary’s Jim Lowden and Louise Hoskin who won race five just ahead of the Bennett’s.

There was no such pattern in the RS200’s with five different race winners, Rob and Jan Martin, Steve Janering and Lottie Wakeling, Katie Shepherd and Dan Phillips, Rob Janering and Jane Hill and Jeremy Collins and Megan Backhouse. Producing a consistent set of results was very tricky; the Martins just led overall overnight from Fiona Hall and Jo Lloyd and Andrew Gill and Ian Gill.

Sunday and in the RS400’s Rob Jones and Liz Jones from Weston and Northampton’s John Wayling and Peter Warnes seemed to appreciate the stronger wind to lead races but again Gray and Pinch blasted through downwind to win three more races to win overall. The Bennett’s won the last race to secure second overall just ahead of Wayling and Warnes. Good luck to John and Vicky (who was in the galley all weekend keeping us all well fed) who are getting married next weekend stag/hen night or sailing? Good lad, sailing wins! Queen Mary were top club and won a days coaching for their 400 fleet.

In the 200’s Chris Martin and Rachel Harrison turned on the style to demolish the fleet. In three of the races they won the pin end of the start, crossed the fleet early had a good lead at the first mark and disappeared in clouds of spray to win by big margins. Simon Gillow and Emma Harniman won the second race of the day to prevent a clean sweep. Martin and Harrison had four top ten results on Saturday with a best of fifth so despite having three wins and a fourth on Sunday no one was sure who had won. It turned out to be very close with only four points covering the top four overall. Fiona Hall and Jo Lloyd finishing second in the last two races won them a brand new jib, thank you LDC, by a point from Gillow ans Harniman. A further point behind were Rob and Jan Martin who had a spectacular wipe out in the final race with the bank fast approaching; they finished tenth in the race, fifth would have given them overall victory. Another point behind Martin and Harrison must have wished they had sailed slightly better on Saturday. Wembley just won the top club from Burghfield and Littleton.

A very successful Club Championship, if your club was not involved and you missed out don’t make the same mistake next year, take responsibility and get your club involved.