RS400 Northern Tour - Overall report

by Hamish Gledhill on 25 May 2017 Nine visitors joined six home boats for the second leg of the RS400 Northern Tour held at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club. In previous years, the wind had pulled boat covers from the hands and masts had to be stepped in the lee of the clubhouse, so it was with a certain amount of relief to arrive on a relatively quiet and calm Sunday morning. It looked like the force two to three Southerly breeze that had been forecast would actually happen.

The fleet headed for the start line, ahead of the menagerie of boats competing in the club’s windward leeward event. The Southerly wind left the OOD Graham Tinsley with the difficult job of setting a windward/leeward course across the width of the lake, with a swing and gusty breeze. Bill Kenyon and Mark Lunn from Budworth SC were quickest out of the traps at the favoured port end and soon tacked onto port in what looked like a healthy position. However major shifts were as common as new political manifesto pledges, and nearly as tiresome - they kept coming and kept the pack shuffling. Chris Pickles and Matt Sharman from Delph SC joined Kenyon/Lunn at the front of the fleet, with Richard Catchpole and Gary Coop from Leigh and Lowton SC. Hamish Gledhill and Steve Blackburn from West Riding Sailing club joined the party at the front but a clumsy collision left them turning like a spin doctor (without the doctor), and dropping from the bunch. However, it was Dave Exley and Nigel Hall from Leigh and Lowton SC, continuing Dave’s form from the Sprints, who adapted to the shift gusty conditions best to take the bullet, in what was a tight encounter with Pickles/Sharman and Catchpole Coop.

As the wind swung left the OOD quickly moved the windward mark, and re-set the line for another true windward/leeward course. Once again Exley/Hall mastered the conditions to take the bullet ahead of Catchpole/Coop and Pickles/Sharman. The fleet headed ashore for a much needed breather and the shedding of a layer or too – is this really Yorkshire Dales?

After lunch race three was soon underway, with Jacob Ainsworth and Kayleigh Roberts from South Shields SC making the early running and joining the scrap at the front of the fleet, along with Louise McKeand and Matt Jenkins from Leigh and Lowton SC. The positions in the top seven or eight changed as much as a pollsters predictions in a tight marginal, but the final positions had a certain predictability about them, with Exley/Hall maintaining their excellent form to take the win, ahead of Pickles/Sharman and Catchpole/Coop. The win had given Exley/Hall an unassailable lead but all was to play for going into the final race for the placings.

Once again positions changes were frequent with McKeand/Jenkins, Gledhill/Blackburn joining the top three in having a turn at the front. In the end, it was Pickles/Sharman who took the bullet, and with it second overall ahead of Exley/Hall and Catchpole/Coop.

At the prize-giving Dave Exley thanked the club, and in particular the OOD and race team, for running the event.

Results:

Rank	Sail No	Club	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	1460	LLSC	Dave Exley	Nigel Hall	1	1	1	2	5
2	1283	Delph	Chris Pickles	Matt Sharman	2	3	2	1	8
3	1396	LLSC	Richard Catchpole	Gary Coop	3	2	3	3	11
4	1401	West Riding SC	Hamish Gledhill	Steve Blackburn	5	4	4	4	17
5	1401	Budworth SC	Bill Kenyon	Mark Lunn	4	5	5	6	20
6	1191	LLSC	Louise McKeand	Matt Jenkins	6	7	7	5	25
7	669	South Shields SC	Jacob Ainsworth	Kayleigh Roberts	7	6	6	7	26
8	1282		Clive Harries	Martin Ogley	8	8	8	9	33
9	532	YDSC	John Simms	Adam Simms	10	13	10	8	41
10	1133				9	10	9	10	38
11	1131	YDSC	Erica Caswell	Ian Caswell	11	9	12	13	45
12	1216	YDSC	Simon Byrne	Mike Hargraves	13	11	11	11	46
13	868	YDSC	Steve Rickwood	David Crabbs	12	12	15	12	51
14	1248	YDSC	Wolfie Dyer	Alan Rogers	15	14	13	14	56
15	754	YDSC	Rob Jones	Graham Cooke	14	15	14	15	58