RS monster

Ben Saxton and Kate MacGregor dominate the 200 racing at the RS Eurocup

The combined 130 boat fleet of RS200s, 400s, 600s, 700s and 800s descended on Carnac YC for the RS Eurocup from 27- 31 July. Located in the beautiful bay of Quiberon, this venue is an old favourite of the RSs, but this is the first time they have attended for their summer Eurocup event. They will be back ….

Afloat for Day 1 (Monday) and conditions were as close to paradise as could be imagined; as one sailor put it I thought I had died and gone to heaven. With wall to wall blue skies, glorious sunshine and 16-20kts the term champagne conditions was particularly apt.

The quality 37 boat 200 fleet had an incident packed day. Nick Charles/Helen Wightman led race 1 but headed for the 400 leeward mark. Ian Pickard/Karen Falcon were the only leading boat to get the gybe angle right into the first proper leeward mark as many over cooked it but they lost out to Ric/Liz Peacock on the second run. With James Peters/Alan Roberts in close company the Peacocks then lost the race win at the end of the third run heading for the wrong finish mark. In race 2 Charles/Wightman showed the fleet what could have happened if they had altered their GPS to French timing by sailing a faultless race and winning by a big margin from the Peacocks.

Tuesday again saw wall to wall sunshine and 10-12 knots of breeze from the south which was to the liking of some and gave everyone a slightly easier day. Ben Saxton/Kate McGregor were so dominant on Tuesday, leading both races from the first mark to win both comfortably. Pete Vincent/Tessa Nicholls surprised many to claim second in both races with Clive Eplett/Bryony Gregory equally secure with their two thirds. The racing was a lot closer than these results would suggest.

After majestic Monday and terrific Tuesday it clouded up for the racing on Wednesday but no one cared as there was an awesome 18-20 knots from the south west with some classic wave action downwind. As all the fleets finished the wind really picked up and within an hour of coming ashore there was 30 knots and the odd scud of rain.

After a not good Tuesday by their standards James Peters/Alan Roberts were fired up for Wednesdays racing. After an immense battle with Ben Saxton/Kate McGregor in race 5 they won by two boat lengths after the lead changed hands frequently on the last run. Race 6 and Peters/Roberts led throughout with the consistent Ric/Liz Peacock second and Saxton/McGregor third.

Thursday was an almost carbon copy of Tuesday with a slightly firmer breeze as the day progressed but it was back to total sun bloc. Ben/Kate led race 7 from start to finish with James Ross/Ian Robertson and Pete Vincent/Tessa Nicholls equally secure in 2nd and 3rd. Race 8 was a much closer affair, Ben/Kate again led but Harry/Prue Roome showed the old codgers could still sail by having the audacity to overtake them down wind, normal service was resumed by the finish whist 2nd to 6th all changed places in the last 100 yards to the finish.

Friday and the wind let us down; after an hour’s wait on the water a promising looking 7-8 knots set in from the south. Charlotte Savage/Darren McNamara led for a lap but as the wind became soft Ben/Kate pulled through to take their fifth bullet along with overall victory with the impressive Goss/Robertson second to secure 4th overall.

With the wind now very light PRO Tony O Gorman wisely sent the fleet home to round off a very impressive week from the Yacht Club of Carnac race team. The club as a whole had been most excellent hosts and very friendly, what a setting, what a club and what immense fun; when can we do it again.

Results

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Tot	Net
1	SAXTON Ben	MACGREGOR Kate	7	3	1	1	2	3	1	1	1	20	10
2	PEACOCK Rick	PEACOCK LIZ	2	2	4	OCS	3	2	4	8	5	68	22
3	PETERS James	ROBERTS Alan	1	4	6	8	1	1	8	2	8	39	23
4	GOSS James	ROKERTSON Ian	10	6	OCS	10	4	5	2	3	2	80	32
5	CHARLES Nicholas	WIGHTMAN Helen	6	1	17	7	10	4	6	7	12	70	41
6	ROOME Harry	ROOME Prue	5	16	7	4	9	11	5	4	24	85	45
7	VINCENT Pete	NICHOLLS Tessa	9	23	2	2	6	19	3	5	20	89	46
8	EPLETT Clive	GREGORY Bryony	14	5	3	3	16	6	11	13	19	90	55
9	PICKARD Ian	FALCON Karen	3	7	14	6	7	8	19	18	13	95	58
10	CHAPMAN Mike	RATCLIFFE Lynne	4	14	9	9	12	14	17	6	9	94	63
11	PETERS Frances	ANDREW Georgie	15	15	10	21	8	12	12	9	6	108	72
12	DAVIS Steve	HAVILL Kate	11	8	5	17	11	9	16	16	21	114	76
13	BREARLEY Rosie	BREARLEY Tom	12	10	26	16	13	13	7	24	10	131	81
14	SAVAGE Charlotte	MC NAMARA Darren	17	12	15	12	21	15	14	10	4	120	82
15	STRUCKETT Rob	KNIGHT Sophie	13	28	11	14	24	7	13	11	18	139	87
16	PASONS Elliott	MATTHEWS Pete	8	11	19	27	27	10	9	17	15	143	89
17	MARTIN Caroline	MARTIN Nick	16	13	22	18	5	17	15	12	26	144	96
18	MILLS Ian	STOPPS Claire	32	17	OCS	13	15	25	10	22	7	179	109
19	WALSH Claire	HUSBAND Jasmine	24	19	30	15	19	23	20	14	3	167	113
20	WALSH Maia	BENTLEY Peter	18	20	13	5	22	20	18	34	23	173	116
21	TEAGUE Liz	CRUICKSHANK Pete	19	9	8	23	BFD	21	25	19	30	192	124
22	CORBY Steve	CORBY Alex	20	32	25	30	17	16	21	15	17	193	131
23	CHADBORN Neil	CHADBORN Lucy	25	29	21	11	20	22	28	30	11	197	138
24	GREENFIELD Matt	ROLFE David	22	18	27	25	14	DNS	27	20	16	207	142
25	GILL John	FAULDS Judy	30	22	12	20	31	29	22	23	25	214	153
26	JOHNSON Emma	JOHNSON Penny	26	21	23	29	25	24	32	27	14	221	160
27	LEWIS Paul	PEARSON Felicity	21	27	20	24	26	26	24	25	29	222	166
28	GILL Andrew	GILL Ian	28	31	16	22	23	27	26	26	28	227	168
29	HARDWICK Robert	PRESTON Lucy	29	33	28	26	18	18	23	28	33	236	170
30	MARTIN Chloe	RUSSELL Suzy	33	24	24	28	32	28	33	21	22	245	179
31	SHEAHAN Matt	SHEAHAN Ellie	23	25	18	31	28	30	31	32	27	245	182
32	PORTWAY Jessica	PAVEY Holly	27	30	31	32	29	31	30	29	35	274	207
33	PORTWAY Collette	HUNT Joe	DNF	DNF	29	19	33	33	29	33	32	284	208
34	MAXWELL Douglas	KILLWICK Sheridan	31	26	32	33	30	32	37	31	31	283	213
35	MANNING Patrick	STEPHENSON Gary	DNF	34	34	36	34	34	34	35	34	313	239
36	AMPHLETT Nigel	TANKARD Jennifer	DNF	DNF	33	34	DNF	DNS	36	36	BFD	329	253
37	YOUNG Peter	COLLINS BENT Nolan	DNF	DNF	35	35	DNF	DNF	35	37	DNF	332	256