RS800 National Championship - Warm welcome on day 1

by Emma and Luke McEwen on 22 Aug 2014 The Volvo Noble Marine RS800 National Championships kicked off today in Plymouth with a warm welcome from the Mount Batten Centre and a feisty force 4-5 with sparkling sunshine.

With at least five boats realistically capable of winning the Championships, plus a few dark horses, it was all to play for on the first two-race day. The course inside Plymouth Sound started from just under Jennycliff in a building south-westerly sea breeze.

The first race got away cleanly despite a strong starboard bias to the line. Boats that took the tidal advantage on the left along the cliffs came out strongly at the windward mark, led by Dave Hivey and John Mather, with Seb Baucutt and Alex Farrall chasing hard. After a lively run many followed the leaders up the left again, but the cliff course cost them dearly as the middle-right paid big dividends. Despite this, pretty much everyone went left on the final beat so the huge right shift didn’t change many places at the front, with Hivey/Mather holding a big lead, followed by European Champions Tim Saxton and Sam Littlejohn just ahead of reigning National Champions James Date and Toby Wincer.

A long wait in cloud and lighter winds followed while the Brittany Ferry sailed through the course. Right on cue the wind and sunshine returned for the second start, but by then the tide had also turned, so right started to pay big-time upwind. Boats with messy starts tacked off right and found themselves smelling of roses at the windward mark. However leading out of the left side were Matt Chapman and Will Rogers, closely followed by their buddy team mates Luke and Emma McEwen, salvaging their race from the right. Date/Wincer rounded just behind and showed off their legendary speed in the breeze to build up a convincing lead to the finish. Many of the rest who went left overstood, not realising the windward mark had moved between races.

On the final run the building wind challenged many of the sailors including Richard Lovering and Olivier Vidal, who by this time had pulled through to second place but broke their bowsprit at the final gybe. This left Saxton/Littlejohn to clinch second after a blinding last beat, while James Green and Jamie Trewick rolled several boats downwind to take a well-deserved third.

Pasties and pasta in the dinghy park were well received after the great day’s sailing, followed by a hearty curry and pud to restore us for a big three-race day tomorrow.

800 Fleet
Rank	Tally		SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	R1	R2	Total	Nett
1st	1		1195	Port Dinorwic SC	James Date	Toby Wincer	3	1	4	4
2nd	3		1203	Graham Water SC	Tim Saxton	Sam Littlejohn	2	2	4	4
3rd	7		1129	Royal Lymington SC	Luke McEwen	Emma McEwen	4	4	8	8
4th	5		1211	RYA	David Hivey	John Mather	1	12	13	13
5th	23		1187	Hayling Island	Richard Lovering	Olivier Vidal	8	6	14	14
6th	33		1138		Martin Boatman	Andrew Brown	7	8	15	15
7th	13		1204	Emberton Park SC	Roger Phillips	Will Crocker	11	5	16	16
8th	34		1163	Beer SC	James Green	Jamie Trewick	15	3	18	18
9th	15		1154	Netley SC	David Steed	Louise Steed	9	9	18	18
10th	9		1212	Eastbourne Sovereign SC	Andy Jeffries	Allyson Jeffries	5	14	19	19
11th	8		1014	RYA	Matthew Chapman	Will Rogers	12	7	19	19
12th	17		1189	Castle Cove SC	Hugh Shone	Hannah Tattersall	6	15	21	21
13th	29		1124		Laurie Fitzjohn-Sykes	Daniel Allin	13	10	23	23
14th	25		1128	Essex YC	Seb Baucutt	Alex Farrall	14	11	25	25
15th	19		1133	Emsworth SC	Hugh Watson	Andy Watkins	10	16	26	26
16th	26		1166	Datchet Water SC	Ralph Singleton	Sophie Singleton	16	17	33	33
17th	22		1200	Weston SC	Matt Humphreys	Amy Cartwright	18	20	38	38
18th	16		983	Weston SC/Castle Cove SC	Sam Barker	Stu Moore	17	23	40	40
19th	28		1010	Royal Torbay YC	John Warburton	James Clapham	20	22	42	42
20th	31		1142	Itchenor SC	Oli Woods	Jane Turner	25	19	44	44
21st	32		1131	Emsworth Slipper SC	Adam Cockerill	Ben Hodges	21	25	46	46
22nd	11		1180		Tom Halhead	Stu Jagger	34.0 RET	13	47	47
23rd	14		1045	Wilsonian SC	Richard Smith	Ellie Smith	23	24	47	47
24th	18		932	Brightlingsea SC	Brian Allen	Claire Allen	19	30	49	49
25th	4		834	Plymouth Youth Sailing	Josh Ridley	Jamie Johnson	28	21	49	49
26th	10		1087		Tim Palmer	H Nelson	24	26	50	50
27th	27		868	Lancing SC	Joel Walker	Sarah Crossman	34.0 RET	18	52	52
28th	2		822		Simon Pryor	Jamie Dawson	26	27	53	53
29th	12		1194	Hayling Island SC	Christopher Miles	Julian Miles	27	28	55	55
30th	21		1057	Nottinghamshire County SC	Tom Jeffcoate	Mark Hogan	22	34.0 DNC	56	56
31st	6		889	Snettisham Beach SC	Edward Napolitano	Jack Napolitano	34.0 RET	29	63	63
32nd	24		1099	Draycote Water SC	Alistair Hodgson	Rebecca Eno	34.0 DNC	31	65	65
33rd	20		1015	Oxford SC	Simon Payne	Fenella Williams	34.0 DNC	34.0 DNC	68	68