2016 RS800 European Championship - Day 4

by Andy Jeffries on 29 Jul 2016 Day 4 of the RS800 European Championship was a simple affair: we launched, the Ora arrived and we sailed two fantastic races in a glorious 14-16 knot breeze and then came ashore and had a pasta party and a couple of beers. OK you want to know the detail? Well here goes...

Race one saw the fleet split 25/75, with the main contenders heading right but a few wise old heads had a trick up their sleeve smashing the left side. The biggest winners from the left were Dave Pike and Nick Jerkins who deployed their years of experience to round the top make in first place followed in from the left by Chris Feibusch and Jeremy Williamson. The leaders of the right group were the McEwens who showed brilliant speed to sail the wrong side and only lose two boats! On the run down, the Eastern shore paid, as the leading boats gybed with feet to spare from the shore.

On the second lap Pike and Jerkins let the “red mist” in and decided they could hold their spinnaker between the top mark and the spacer. This ultimately was not the case and the pair had to drop and then re-hoist letting the fast charging McEwens and Feibusch and Williamson past. These two held position to the line with Hawkins and Hunter taking third.

Race two of the day saw more breeze and a third lap was set. A starboard bias line saw the majority of the top of the fleet tack early to the right. At this point the Jeffries put the hammer down and pulled out a lead over Paul and Peter Jenkins as the right looked like it would pay. However, as the boats sailed in on the starboard lifting lay line, the wind swung back to the left leaving lots of boats struggling to lay on a skinny approach. The Jeffries managed to squeeze around the mark and head down the run on a huge starboard let down opening up a big lead.

In hot pursuit was the “Eastbourne Dad’s army” of Pike and Jerkins and the Jenkins. As the race developed the left side of the beat became the favoured side and short tacking up the shore became the norm. At the end of the race the Jeffries took line honours from Pike and Jerkins with the McEwens in a safe third.

So with one day left the leader board has changed. The McEwens now have a three point lead over Saxton and Hampshire and five points over the Jeffries. Friday looks set to be hot with settled weather. Will Garda serve up a Big Day to see which sailors have the nerves and boat handling skills to get the job done? Who knows but let’s hope so!