2015 Volvo Noble Marine RS300 National Championship overall

by Steve Bolland on 13 Jul 2015 2015 Volvo Noble Marine RS300 National Championship – It’s Monday morning and we ache all over, so that means we had a great championship, right? After a couple of light days to start off, we finished with a couple of big ones in the race, also sponsored by The Boatyard at Beer, hosted by Dovey YC in mid-Wales.

Saturday was immense in all senses of the word. One race in Cardigan Bay in 25 knots and huge seas followed by two further races in the estuary with, again, huge waves near the windward mark caused by the wind against ripping tide. Steve Bolland (Bristol Corinthian) had a good day to narrow the points difference to Dave Acres (Thorney Island/Emsworth) to only two points at the top of leaderboard ahead of the final two races scheduled for the last day.

The evening was immense too with the Jenny Stevens Band and the mast of the disaster taking over from the boom of doom as the drinking aid of choice. This kept the bulk of the fleet occupied until the small hours and, in some cases, to the quite large hours too. Acres and Bolland, with a championship to fight for, sneaked off early at 2am...

On Sunday, the racing was once again restricted to the estuary for the final races. With a rapidly ebbing tide and restricted space, there was little room for error. In the penultimate race Acres, sailing coolly under pressure and making most effective use of the tide, extricated himself from an average start to lead at the windward mark from Matt Jenkins (Sheffield Viking), Pete Ellis (Stewartby) and Bolland. With Acres taking the win and Bolland only managing a third, all was looking rosy for Acres going into the final race with a four-point cushion.

Things got rosier still in the final race when Bolland broke his rudder downhaul following a collision with a sandbank cunningly disguised as a patch of water. With Bolland gone Acres sailed serenely to another race win and the championship, finishing ahead of Jenkins and Tim Keen (Sheffield Viking) in the final race. Special mention must go to Declan Clamp, newcomer to the fleet this season, who thought he had his moment of glory when he bore off around the windward mark with a nice lead in the final race, only to see everyone else carry on upwind to the proper mark. He won the week’s wooden spoon for that one.

Thanks to everyone at Dovey YC, in particular, Race Officer Rupert Tildesley, for putting on a magnificent championship and also to the generous sponsors – Volvo, Noble Marine and The Boatyard at Beer.

Next year’s Nationals are at Exe SC 8-11 September 2016. The next RS300 event is a double-header at Attenborough and Bartley SCs on 12/13 September.

Prize winners
Apprentice (competing in their first RS300 Nationals) – Sam Knight
Lightweight (helm under 75kg) – Steve Sallis
Master (old guy) – Mike Bees
Fidelis (having competed in at least three previous championships) – Neil Beveridge
Silver fleet – Andy Bayliss
Under 25s – Ben Green
Biggest improver – Alistair McLaughlin (from 29th last year to 16th)
Top buddies – Steve Sallis and Matt Jenkins
Top club – Hykeham SC

Complete results

Pos	Helm	Sailing Club	Class	Sail no.	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Race 9	Race 10	Gross	Net
1	Dave Acres	Thorney Island Emsworth	RS 300	480	6	5	1	1	2	2	4	9	1	1	32	17
2	Steve Bolland	Bristol Corinthian SC	RS 300	411	3	7	2	11	3	1	30	1	3	30	91	31
3	Matt Jenkins	Sheffield Viking SC	RS 300	323	1	30	3	8	9	16	1	11	2	2	83	37
4	Steve Sallis	Hykeham SC	RS 300	476	4	3	5	12	5	6	7	3	7	30	82	40
5	Sam Knight	Bartley SC	RS 300	335	9	1	7	3	6	19	6	12	8	5	76	45
6	Tim Keen	Sheffield Viking SC/Nefyn SC	RS 300	328	12	4	8	7	16	14	2	16	6	3	88	56
7	Mike Bees	Brightlingsea SC	RS 300	520	11	11	4	2	1	9	30	30	10	11	119	59
8	Neil Beveridge	Prestwick SC	RS 300	416	5	15	14	18	18	7	3	7	9	10	106	70
9	Pete Ellis	Stewartby Watersports Club	RS 300	500	14	2	16	27	8	5	13	18	4	9	116	71
10	Matt Sargent	ASA Thorney Island SC	RS 300	524	22	24	12	13	23	3	11	5	11	4	128	81
11	Luke Pepper	Hykeham SC	RS 300	518	18	16	11	5	13	12	15	30	5	7	132	84
12	Luke Ridout	Christchurch SC	RS 300	419	10	9	19	25	21	8	5	6	16	13	132	86
13	Stuart Hopson	Shotwick Lake	RS 300	383	15	12	6	22	12	13	8	14	17	6	125	86
14	Andy Bayliss	Hykeham SC	RS 300	321	7	30	21	19	10	17	10	4	14	14	146	95
15	Richard Le Mare	Bartley SC	RS 300	540	16	14	17	16	17	10	30	2	15	8	145	98
16	Alistair McLaughlin	Prestwick SC	RS 300	490	2	6	18	9	7	22	30	30	23	12	159	99
17	Thomas Whitehead	Prestwick SC	RS 300	374	13	30	9	6	11	15	19	15	12	30	160	100
18	Chris Bridle	Hykeham SC	RS 300	542	8	19	10	4	4	18	30	30	30	30	183	123
19	Dave Sinclair	Prestwick SC	RS 300	503	30	23	15	15	22	11	12	10	21	18	177	124
20	Chris Gandy	Draycote Water SC	RS 300	425	24	20	26	26	25	4	9	8	22	17	181	129
21	Alastair Wood	Bough Beech SC	RS 300	422	19	10	25	10	15	30	30	30	20	15	204	144
22	Mark Taylor	Prestwick SC	RS 300	336	23	22	22	20	20	21	14	13	19	16	190	145
23	Ben Green	Highcliffe SC	RS 300	313	25	21	24	17	19	23	16	30	18	19	212	157
24	Chris Arnell	Christchurch SC	RS 300	393	17	13	13	14	14	30	30	30	30	30	221	161
25	Ian Hopkins	Southport SC	RS 300	342	26	8	28	28	27	30	18	17	24	20	226	168
26	Declan Clamp	Lymington Town SC	RS 300	341	21	18	23	21	30	20	17	30	25	30	235	175
27	James Ruddiman	Glossop SC	RS 300	426	27	30	20	23	24	30	30	30	13	30	257	197
28	Gary Morris	South Cerney SC	RS 300	318	20	17	27	24	26	30	30	30	30	30	264	204
29	Alan Sinclair	Prestwick SC	RS 300	508	28	30	30	29	28	30	30	30	30	30	295	235