Battle of the clubs

The RS200 and 400 fleets saw light winds at their Club Championships

Sunshine and light winds greeted the competitors for the Gul sponsored RS200 and RS400 club championships at Northampton SC.

RS200

It was a depleted entry of RS200s due to the light wind forecast.  Race one started in challenging conditions with John Teague and Iain Millar leading from Julie Harrison and Fiona Hall, until the final leeward mark when Paul and Corrine Whitbread pulled through to take second from Julie Harrison and Fiona Hall in a photo finish followed by Caroline Martin and Sam Childs in fourth and Rosie and Tom Brearley in fifth. 

A quick turnaround by the race team saw race two start in similarly light conditions, Julie Harrison and Fiona Hall led to the first windward mark with the rest of the fleet close on their heels, John Teague and Iain Millar pulled through downwind closely followed by Caroline Martin and Sam Childs to hold on to the finish with Rosie and Tom Brearley in third position followed by Julian Bradle and Lesley Bates in fourth and Julie Harrison and Fiona Hall in fifth. 

A third race was attempted but the wind completely disappeared before the start, giving the race team no choice but to send the fleet ashore.  The bar, evening sun and an excellent meal rounded off the day.

Sunday dawned with yet more sun, and even less wind.  The occasional gust of wind kept the competitors on their toes ashore, but a consistent wind proved elusive so the race team wisely called it a day.  This gave John Teague and Iain Millar victory with Caroline Martin and Sam Childs taking second and Rosie and Tom Brearley in third on equal points with Julie Harrison and Fiona Hall in fourth and Paul and Corrine Whitbread in fifth. 

The prize for the top club went to Burghfield who won a days coaching for their club from a top 200 coach.  Many thanks must go to Northampton SC for a friendly and welcoming event in challenging conditions, and to Gul, LDC and the RS class association for some generous prizes.

RS400

Saturday saw boats take to the water on schedule having been informed there would be no restriction on the number of races over the weekend and they would run as many as possible. This was a great prospect for everyone so hats off to Anthony York the Race officer
 
Race one was started in four to five knots with Alex Fleming and Joe Hartigan first to windward mark followed closely by Rob and Jan Martin. The downwind leg saw the Martin’s gybe off early steering their way in consistent breeze to take the lead by the leeward mark. For the final lap first and second place stayed the same with the rest of the fleet contending for third, which was finally taken by Bob and Isabel Jole.
 
Race two was started in slightly less wind with Rob and Jan storming off the line and leading at the windward mark. Alex and Joe were closely behind and benefited from a better hoist to take the lead by the spacer Buoy. The Martin’s chose to take the early gybe, which treated them so well in the first race but left them struggling to maintain second place at the leeward mark. Alex and Joe went on to win the race after another lap with Rob and Jan securing second place after a final solid beat. There was close racing in the chasing fleet for third place with Adrian and Sarah Sherratt heading the pack to the line.
 
The Race Officer had set the course for the next race only to be hit by a 180-degree wind shift on the one minute. The right decision was made to postpone and after a long sail in the abandonment was given for the day.
 
Sailors were greeted on Sunday by cracking sunshine and 20 degrees but no wind. The Race Officer made the right decision to abandon at twelve, which was welcomed by all.
 
Many thanks to the Race Officer Anthony York and the rest of Northampton Sailing Club members for getting two races in during a weekend of light conditions that could have easily resulted in a non-event.

Results:

RS200

Pos	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	Tot	Net
1	John Teague	Iain Millar	BCYC	1	1	2	2
2	C Martin	Sam Childs	Burghfield	4	2	6	6
3	Rosie Brearley	Tom Brearley	Littleton	5	3	8	8
4	Julie Harrison	Fiona Hall	Littleton	3	5	8	8
5	Paul Whitbread	Corinne Whitbread	Burghfield	2	9	11	11
6	Julian Bradley	Lesley Bates	Wembley	7	4	11	11
7	Paul Teague	Pat Teague	BCYC	6	7	13	13
8	Toby Ashton	Rachel Ashton	Burghfield	8	6	14	14
9	Chris Appleton	Pete Cruickshank	Bristol Corinthian	9	8	17	17

RS400

Pos	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	Tot	Net
1	Alex Fleming	Joe Haktigan	Leigh and Lowton	2	1	3	3
2	Rob Martin	Jan Martin	Burghfield	1	2	3	3
3	Adrian Sherratt	Sarah Sherratt	NSC	4	3	7	7
4	Bob Jole	Isabel Jole	Queen Mary SC	3	4	7	7
5	Danielle Franklin	Tom Evans	Weston	5	5	10	10
6	D Hawking	Cassie Beasley	Weston	7	6	13	13
7	James Cutler	Marcus Mossman	BSC	6	7	13	13