Larr by one point

The Gul RS Vario National Championships were a big wind affair

35 Boats ventured down to LOSSC to take part in the 2008 Gul RS Vareo Nationals. The forecast was for a windy first couple of days and the promise of lighter stuff towards the end. It was set to be a great battle of the Salad Dodgers at the beginning with the calorie controlled racing snakes playing catch up on the final day.

Day one lived up to the forecast with 15-22 knots coming down the course. The strong tide took the fleet up to the line and off to a clean start. Those who attended the previous days coaching hit the lay lines with precision but half the fleet significantly over stood the first mark. Chris Larr, Alain Sign and Andy Temple battled it out at the front. Sign and his lack of weight suffered upwind but unleashed blistering performances downwind making Larr play catch up upwind. It was Larr who took line honours with Sign second and Temple third. The next two races saw the three medal contenders swapping results with the Grand Master Kemp Salt scoring a couple of thirds.

Day two was forecast for over 20 knots and it arrived in buckets. The P.R.O recorded 32 knots and postponed for two hours. At midday it was still 20 knots and racing was abandoned. The inevitable boat bimbiling and splicing lessons ensued. Junior was kept busy for the rest of the afternoon whilst everyone else headed off to sample the delights of Gosport. The evenings Class meeting passed without bloodshed and everyone headed upstairs for an epic evening. Junior promised dancing girls and delivered.

Day Three started with 12-14 knots but the Racing Snakes were content with the knowledge that it would drop. Race one got off to a clean start. Those that had done their homework headed inshore. A 20 degree shift put pay to the homework and many top ten sailors became stuck in the middle of the fleet. Up front Kemp Salt was left smarting after becoming confused with the position of the new windward mark and dropped from first to seventh. Andy (The Ringer) Temple picked up a bullet with Larr second and Sign third.

The wind failed to drop and instead picked up to a force five. Strong wind over tide conditions produced the usual Solent Chop leading to many swimmers. Race two had the tide push fleet over the line for a General Recall. Cheryl Wood learnt how the resulting black flag works. Once again the usual four suspects dominated the places at the front. The rest of the fleet was starting to tire of swimming resulting in six DNF’s and fewer and fewer kites coming out to play.

Race three saw the wind pick up again to a consistent force six and the spring tide now in full ebb convinced nearly half the fleet to head for home. Of the 18 starters only seven flew kites. Sign picked up his second bullet of the day. It was enough to beat Temple by one point but not enough to beat Larr. Chris Larr claimed the glory in a closely fought championship in testing conditions reclaiming his rightful title.

Results:

Pos	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Tot	Net
1st	CHRIS LARR	NORTHAMPTON SC	1	2	1	2	-4	2	12	8
2nd	ALAIN SIGN	STOKES BAY SC	2	-4	2	3	1	1	13	9
3rd	ANDY TEMPLE	BROADSTAIRS SC	3	1	-4	1	2	3	14	10
4th	RICHARD KEMP-SALT	BRIGHTLINGSEA SC	4	3	3	-7	3	4	24	17
5th	CHRIS MOORE	HAYLING ISLAND SC	6	5	5	9	(36.0 DNF)	6	67	31
6th	DAVID FEWINGS	BOWMOOR SC	7	11	10	5	-12	5	50	38
7th	NIGEL TINKLER	LLANDEGFEDD SC	5	7	-11	10	8	9	50	39
8th	RICHARD WILLOWS	NORTHAMPTON SC	8	9	8	15	6	(36.0 DNC)	82	46
9th	JIM HOOD	CALSHOT SC	9	8	7	13	9	-15	61	46
10th	PAUL HOWELL	KING GEORGE SC	-18	10	13	6	11	11	69	51
11th	NICHOLAS CRICKMORE	WAVENEY & OULTON BROAD YC	14	13	14	-18	5	7	71	53
12th	KEN MILES	SHOREHAM SC	15	-19	17	12	7	8	78	59
13th	KEVIN JONES	HAYLING ISLAND SC	-19	14	12	11	18	16	90	71
14th	RORY YARDLEY	BASSENTHWAITE SC	10	21	6	4	(36.0 DNF)	36.0 DNC	113	77
15th	CHERYL WOOD	PENNINE SC	22	15	20	8	(36.0 DNC)	12	113	77
16th	MARTYN PETERS	LLANDEGFEDD SC	20	-22	22	21	10	13	108	86
17th	ANDY FLITCROFT	BOLTON SC	17	18	18	-19	16	18	106	87
18th	PAUL BAILEY	CALSHOT SC	21	-23	21	16	17	14	112	89
19th	HAMISH SHEPHERD	QUEEN MARY SC	25	16	16	24	(36.0 DNF)	10	127	91
20th	SCOTT BUTLER	HARDWAY SC	13	20	(36.0 DNF)	14	14	36.0 DNC	133	97
21st	GEOFF SHAW	ROADFORD SC	12	6	9	(36.0 DNC)	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	135	99
22nd	NIGEL TEBBUTT	HAVERSHAM SC	23	24	24	-25	13	17	126	101
23rd	JEREMY SYMONS	LLANDEGFEDD SC	(36.0 DNC)	12	15	20	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	155	119
24th	CHRIS JORDOUN	BURGHFIELD SC	16	17	19	(36.0 DNC)	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	160	124
25th	GARETH EDWARDS	LLANDEGFEDD SC	24	25	23	23	(36.0 DNF)	36.0 DNC	167	131
26th	JOHN REGAN	LLANDEGFEDD SC	(36.0 DNF)	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	22	15	36.0 DNC	181	145
27th	ANTHONY PAINE	BROADSTAIRS SC	11	(36.0 DNF)	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	191	155
28th	JULIAN BROOKE-HOUGHTON	CARGREEN YC	(36.0 DNC)	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	17	36.0 DNF	36.0 DNC	197	161
29th	ANDY SEYMOUR	BURGHFIELD SC	(36.0 DNC)	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	26	36.0 DNF	36.0 DNF	206	170
30th	STEVEN TRIGG	BURGHFIELD SC	(36.0 DNF)	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNF	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	216	180
30th	JAMES HAMILTON	BURY LAKE YOUNG MARINERS SC	(36.0 DNF)	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNF	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	216	180
30th	ALAN WELSH	ROADFORD SC	(36.0 DNC)	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNF	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	216	180
30th	ALEX NEWTON-SOUTHON	ROYAL SOUTHAMPTON YC	(36.0 DNC)	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	216	180
30th	PERHAM HARDING	SWANAGE SC	(36.0 DNC)	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	216	180
30th	MARTIN PHILIPS	LLANDEGFEDD SC	(36.0 DNC)	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNF	36.0 DNC	36.0 DNF	216	180