RS400 Gul Grand Prix at Royal Windermere YC

by RS Class Association on 26 Apr 2012 RS400 Gul Grand Prix and Bollé Northern Tour second round were held at Royal Windermere Yacht Club over the weekend of 21st and 22nd April 2012.

A good turnout of 18 boats came to the start line for the first race in very light and shifty conditions. Wayne and Deb Fletcher settled into the conditions and took a convincing win ahead of Paul Allen crewed by brother Mike, and Martin Cooper crewed by Alex Oyston. Race two, sailed in similar testing conditions saw Allen take the honours followed by Fletcher and Hamish Gledhill, crewed by Simon Dowse, in third place. The westerly breeze refused to play ball and downpours threatened most of the afternoon. Race three saw Fletcher back to winning ways while Cooper took second and Peter Snowdon, crewed by Pippa Fletcher, finished third.

Race four was the real talking point in the evening. Starting in a southwesterly breeze, which fell away to almost nothing, the wind then began to fill in from the northwest This left the fleet with two long fetches and a short run to the spreader mark! The race officer allowed the race to run it's full distance of three laps but Allen who was leading at the bottom gate and Snowdon, immediately behind him had lost count of the laps. These two boats started another lap while Fletcher calmly sailed for the line and a third win of the day. Dave Exley, crewed by Nigel Hall, and Gledhill also took advantage of the leaders mistake to take second and third respectively.

The usual excellent dinner was provided by the club on Saturday evening, and some folks went out on the town perhaps a little longer than they should have!

Sunday morning dawned with bright sunshine but little breeze. The forecast was not looking good, just 7mph forecast. However, the race officer took the fleet out and, as they sailed out to the race area the breeze began to fill in from the north building steadily to a force 2. Race five again saw Team Fletcher romp away with Exley finishing second and Gledhill third. Race six again saw Fletcher take line honours with Cooper second and Caroline Exley, crewed by Jude Allen, taking third place.

A seventh race sequence was started but abandoned as the breeze died away to nothing.

Wayne thanked the club for it's excellent hospitality, and the race officer for his skill and persistence in some very testing conditions.

Results

RS Class Association website

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1st	1029		Wayne Fletcher	Deb Fletcher	Scaling Dam SC	1	-2	1	1	1	1	5
2nd	1135		Martin Cooper	Alex Oyston	Scaling Dam SC	3	5	2	7	-9	2	19
3rd	1186		David Exley	Nigel Hall	Leigh and Lowton SC	-6	6	5	2	2	4	19
4th	1014		Hamish Gledhill	Simon Dowse	West Riding SC	5	3	-6	3	3	6	20
5th	1395	Bang Bus	Paul Allen	Michael Allen	Leigh and Lowton SC	2	1	4	6	-10	9	22
6th	1216		Caroline Exley	Jude Allen	Leigh and Lowton SC	4	8	-11	9	6	3	30
7th	840		Peter Snowdon	Pippa Fletcher	Scaling Dam SC	-10	9	3	5	8	5	30
8th	725		Bill Kenyon	Ben Ditchburn	Budworth SC	7	4	-8	8	4	7	30
9th	1293	New Placebo	John Richardson	Alice Fisher	RWYC	-11	10	9	11	5	8	43
10th	929	Pendragon	John Whalley	Jenny Whalley	RWYC	8	11	7	-14	7	10	43
11th	1191	Louby Lou	Louise McKeand	Joe Hartigan	Leigh and Lowton SC	12	7	10	10	-13	12	51
12th	1345		Mike Adams	David Stedman	Bexhill SC	-14	12	12	4	14	11	53
13th	872	Breeze Block	Duncan Hodkinson	Ed Duncan	Glossop and District SC	9	13	13	12	11	-14	58
14th	509	Pink Pig	Darren Martin	Helen Jackson	RWYC	13	14	-15	13	12	13	65
15th	1001	-595	Richard Craig	Zena Martin	Bolton SC	16	15	14	16	-17	16	77
16th	1289	She's a Screamer	K Tickle	G Greenacre	Leigh and Lowton SC	15	16	16	(DNF)	15	15	77
17th	945		Tim Craig	Simon Hulme	Elton SC	-17	17	17	15	16	17	82
18th	773	The Charltonator	John Charlton	Sarah Bailey	RWYC	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNF	DSQ	95