RS700 Volvo Noble Marine National Championship – Day 3

by Richard Wadsworth on 24 Sep 2017 The RS700 sailors were treated to a glorious sunny day in Stokes Bay for the third day of the Volvo Noble Marine championship.

With a steady southerly 8-10kts of wind, the competitors enjoyed trapezing conditions throughout day which generated some very close and competitive action. For the first time in the competition the tidal stream became a significant factor with big gains and losses seen across the fleet depending on when you thought the tidal flow turned.

After a short delay, race one started with a very heavy pin end bias. Jerry Wales and Robbie Bell tacked across the front of the fleet and began to pull away from the chasing Pete Purkiss and Richard Wadsworth. Jerry showed great speed throughout to take the win with Robbie close behind, but there was a very close battle playing out behind for third place.

By the last downwind mark Ian Swann had made his way past Richard who was just ahead of Pete. Ian chose not to fly his kite on the reach to the finish line, but Richard and Pete did for most of the way before dropping and close reaching for the line. The gamble worked in Richard's favour as he crossed the line about a foot ahead of Ian, with Pete in close formation behind.

Race two began cleanly and by most people's calculations the tide should have been running West, both inshore and in the channel. This meant the majority of the fleet headed inshore up the first beat to avoid the stronger tide in the channel. James Bayliss had clearly done some better calculations, as he headed out into the channel up the first beat and rounded the windward mark clear ahead of the chasing pack. Despite leading valiantly some a couple of laps, James was eventually overhauled with Jerry taking his second win of the day, followed by Pete in second and Ian Swann in third place.

By race three the tide was beginning to run West inshore and in the channel by the start of the race so the pack once again headed inshore up the beat. Jerry squeezed ahead Richard up the first beat, where they met Pete at the windward mark, who having started late tacked off early and headed into the channel once more.

By the second lap of the race this tactic no longer worked and Pete was overtaken by Richard and Colin up the second beat when he ventured out too far from the shoreline. Jerry once again showed great skill to make it three wins for the day, with Colin taking second place and Pete overhauled Richard once more to take a well earned third place.

Rank	Sail No	Helm	Club	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Nt Pts
1	1053	Jerry Wales	Windsport	1	-7	2	1	(30/OCS)	1	1	1	7
2	720	Richard Wadsworth	Stokes Bay SC / RNSA	2	1	-8	-10	2	3	4	4	16
3	1042	Pete Purkiss	Brightlingsea SC	4	3	-9	-9	3	5	2	3	20
4	875	Robbie Bell	Snettisham Beach SC	3	-9	5	2	(30/DNC)	2	6	5	23
5	1027	Colin Dacey	Snettisham Beach SC	-9	2	4	5	4	-7	7	2	24
6	966	Matt Carter	Lancing SC	5	8	1	3	6	8	(30/DNF)	-9	31
7	1023	Ian Nolan	Snettisham Beach SC	-12	5	6	6	1	6	10	-17	34
8	1022	Ian Swann	Hayling Island SC	-21	11	3	7	-17	4	3	11	39
9	944	James Bayliss	Queen Mary SC	6	4	10	8	(30/DNF)	-13	5	6	39
10	991	Theo Galyer	Stokes Bay SC	7	(30/DNC)	7	4	10	14	17	(30/DNC)	59
11	970	Simon Redfearn	Brightlingsea SC	8	-17	14	15	7	-20	8	10	62
12	808	Spike Daniels	Hayling Island SC	10	-18	13	18	-20	12	9	8	70
13	1041	Matt Conner	Queen Mary SC	15	6	-22	11	13	10	-19	18	73
14	839	Phillip Highfield	Gt. Yarmouth & Gorleston	11	-19	-17	14	11	11	12	15	74
15	1046	Miles Roebuck	Oxford SC	13	20	19	-23	-22	9	13	7	81
16	926	Simon Clark	Lyme Regis SC	17	13	12	-19	-18	16	11	12	81
17	871	Mark Nicholson	Hayling Island SC	(30/DNC)	(30/DNC)	16	13	5	17	16	19	86
18	914	Graham Blake	Queen Mary SC	-20	12	15	-20	9	15	20	16	87
19	859	Peter O'nions	Queen Mary SC	16	14	-23	17	12	-22	15	13	87
20	855	David Bridle	Brightlingsea SC	-22	15	18	16	15	-21	14	20	98
21	882	Ed Napolitano	Snettisham Beach SC	14	16	-25	(30/DNF)	8	19	22	22	101
22	1014	Chris Chambers	Restronguet SC	(30/DNC)	(30/DNC)	20	21	14	18	18	14	105
23	984	Adam Golding	Hayling Island SC	19	10	11	12	(30/DNC)	(30/DNC)	30/DNC	30/DNC	112
24	1031	Hamish Griffiths	Hayling Island SC	18	22	21	-25	16	23	(30/DNF)	21	121
25	756	Alistair Paul	Grafham Water SC	-25	24	-27	22	21	25	21	24	137
26	982	Roland Smith	Queen Mary SC	(30/DNF)	23	24	24	19	26	24	(30/DNC)	140
27	1035	Roger Taylor	Hayling Island SC	23	25	(30/DNC)	(30/DNC)	30/DNC	24	23	23	148
28	801	Stephen Carr	Brightlingsea SC	(30/DNC)	26	26	(30/DNF)	30/DNC	27	25	25	159
29	762	Adrian Howe	Oxford SC	24	21	(30/DNC)	(30/DNC)	30/DNC	30/DNC	30/DNC	30/DNC	165