Touring the north

The RS400 fleet gathered in the Lake District for round four of their Northern Tour

18 RS400s were greeted by a beautiful Bassenthwaite Lake for round four of the inaugural RS400 Northern Tour sponsored by Purple Marine.

The breeze shifted to the north immediately after the first start resulting in a one sided upwind downwind race. Locals Robin Dawson and Mike Cowen made the most of the new breeze to lead around the first windward mark, followed by Paul and Mike Allen with Dave Jones and Joe Hartigan in close pursuit. The Allens sneaked passed Robin downwind to take the gun with Dave Jones in third.

The race officer quickly adapted to the new breeze and got race two off immediately. Dave Jones made the most of a shift from the right, leading round the windward mark and eventually winning the race by a mile. The Allens snatched second off Richard and Elaine Marsh in a dieing breeze.

Race three began in a patchy force two from the north. Dave Exley and Chris Bassett rounded the windward mark first only to hoist into no wind. The majority of the fleet decided to leave the kite, watch the burgee do a 360 and role gybe every 30 seconds! Dave Exley rounded the leeward mark first with the Allens second and Dave Jones third. With the race officer signalling a finish at the windward mark the battle began. The Allens headed hard right out and stopped. Dave Ex hit hard left with similar results. Richard Marsh eventually won sailing up the middle with fleet newcomers Alex Fleming and Nick Blore taking a well-earned second place.

The majority of the fleet camped onsite resulting Saturday night becoming a wash out! Some individuals hit the SnakeBite so hard they couldn’t sail the next day. No names mentioned but Elaine Marsh had to crew for Paul Allen with Richard drafting in super-crew pregnant wife Heather.

Sunday delivered a healthy force three making for spectacular viewing for those who couldn’t sail! Paul Allen and Elaine Marsh battled through to take first place from Richard and Heather in race one. Chris Gowers and June Riley snatched third from Dave Jones on the last run.

After a great first leg Dave Exley and Chris Bassett won race two with Robin Dawson and Mike Cowen a close second. Richard and Heather continued to be consistent counting a third.

Race three began after lunch. Paul Allen and Richard Marsh were equal on 9 points with the same discard. And with Dave Jones just two points behind it was absolutely to the wire. Richard Marsh and Chris Gowers started on the pin and lead round the windward mark via a shift from the right. Dave Jones and Dave Exley rounded just behind with Paul Allen rounding in the teens. Gowers and Marsh battled throughout the race with the lead changing hands on several occasions, however it was Richard Marsh who eventually won by a bowsprit, and with it claimed a well-earned event win. Dave Jones eventually overhauled Dave Exley. Paul Allen and Elaine Marsh slowly climbed through the fleet, claiming water on Dave Jones at the last leeward mark to take third place and second overall.

A special award was given to Shaun Woodcock and Tony Cliff from Bartley SC for perseverance and marking the end of the race as he crossed the line to the final hooter.

Overall a fantastic weekend both on and off the water. Well done to Richard, Heather, Elaine and ‘The Bump’ Marsh! And to Bassenthwaite SC for a great event.

Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Tot	Net
1st	Richard Marsh	Elaine Marsh	-6	3	1	2	3	2	17	11
2nd	Paul Allen	Mike Allen	1	2	-6	1	5	3	18	12
3rd	Dave Jones	Joe Hartigan	3	1	3	4	-6	4	21	15
4th	David Exley	Chris Basset	-8	4	5	5	1	5	28	20
5th	Chris Gowers	June Riley	-13	5	4	3	8	1	34	21
6th	Robin Dawson	Mike Cowan	2	8	-13	6	2	7	38	25
7th	Tim Hall	Jess Roberts	4	9	7	9	4	-10	43	33
8th	Mark Somerville	Joe Roberts	5	-14	8	8	9	6	50	36
9th	Chris Hogan	Patrick Metcalf	-11	6	10	7	7	8	49	38
10th	Caroline Exley	Owyn Wallace	7	10	11	-12	10	9	59	47
11th	Alex Fleming	Nick Blore	12	12	2	-16	15	12	69	53
12th	John Whalley	Jenny Whalley	-14	11	9	13	11	11	69	55
13th	William Carruthers	Elaine Hunt	9	-16	14	11	12	14	76	60
14th	Steve Hunt	Ruth Critchley	(DNF)	7	12	10	DNF	DNC	83	65
15th	Phil Titmarsh	Paul NIx	10	13	(DNF)	14	14	15	84	66
16th	Alistair Rose	Yvette Rose	-15	15	15	15	13	13	86	71
17th	Shawn Woodcock	Tony Cliff	16	17	16	17	(DNF)	DNC	102	84