RS400 Winter Championship at Grafham Water SC
by Debbie Darling on 15 Mar 2012
RS400 Winter Championship 2012 at Grafham SC Mike Shaw
RS400 Winter Championship was held at Grafham Water SC over the weekend of 10th and 11th March 2012. The weather was brisk and above the forecasted 12 knots for the first start which saw many boats dropping their rigs back in anticipation of a windy day.
Race one saw a big shift on the first leg to the left giving quite and advantage, this however was not enough to prevent Craig rounding first ahead of the Allens. The rest of the pack was tight behind with Dave Ex 1275 and the Fletchers and 1139 close behind. In true specky form Nick jumped on to a gust pulling half a leg ahead by the leeward mark. Lap two saw a procession begin with the top six all playing for positions two-seven with Nick way out in front. The Fletchers had a near miss down wind causing them to capsize.
Race two began with strong pressure which favoured the left of the course and quickly saw the pressure drop levying large holes in the wind. Nick again did his magic with the Allens in second.
Race three Dave Ex rounded first, got passed by Specky on the first downwind and by the Allens on the last run to the finish. The rest of the pack fought hard to find pressure particularly on the last run where the wind had dropped to about 10 knots.
In race four, 1275 rounded in the top with Craig the Allens and Mr Ex once again showing that Leigh and Lowtons winter series had trained the boys very well. 1275 sadly could not hold on to the pack and found themselves slipping down the numbers. 1298, once again Nick Craig finished first with the Allens in second.
With four races done in one day many people were suffering from the hard hiking and licking their wounds from the pasting that 'team Leigh and occupying positions two-four' and Craig had delivered.
Sunday brought a well received light breeze with clear skies and sunshine. Race five began with a dying five knot breeze which heavily favoured the right but eventually say the usual boys rise to the top. It did however deliver some very colourful shouting for all to hear as a small commission at the final leward mark put the Allens in to three.
A good weekend had by all with most learning the hard lesson that unless your Nick Craig then sailing all winter does pay dividends! It was very nice to finish in hot 18 degree sunshine worrying about sunburn as your packing up in early March.
Results:
|
Rank
|
Sail
No
|
Helm
Name
|
Crew
Name
|
Club
|
R1
|
R2
|
R3
|
R4
|
R5
|
Total
|
Nett
|
|
1st
|
1383
|
Nick Craig
|
Toby Lewis
|
Frensham SC
|
(1.0)
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
5.0
|
4.0
|
|
2nd
|
1395
|
Paul Allen
|
Jude Allen
|
Leigh+Lowton SC
|
2.0
|
2.0
|
2.0
|
2.0
|
(7.0)
|
15.0
|
8.0
|
|
3rd
|
1186
|
Dave Exley
|
Rich Brown
|
Leigh+Lowton Sailing Club
|
5.0
|
3.0
|
3.0
|
3.0
|
(6.0)
|
20.0
|
14.0
|
|
4th
|
1298
|
Martin Parker
|
Liam Parker
|
Leigh+Lowton SC
|
3.0
|
5.0
|
(6.0)
|
4.0
|
5.0
|
23.0
|
17.0
|
|
5th
|
1275
|
Jasper Barnham
|
Graham Sexton
|
Snettisham Beach SC
|
(8.0)
|
6.0
|
5.0
|
5.0
|
3.0
|
27.0
|
19.0
|
|
6th
|
1014
|
Hamish Gledhill
|
Simon Dowse
|
West Riding Sailing Club
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
4.0
|
7.0
|
(9.0)
|
28.0
|
19.0
|
|
7th
|
1139
|
James George
|
Izzi Mitchell
|
Queen Mary Sailing Club
|
6.0
|
8.0
|
7.0
|
8.0
|
(11.0)
|
40.0
|
29.0
|
|
8th
|
1029
|
Wayne Fletcher
|
Deb Fletcher
|
Scaling Dam
|
(13.0)
|
7.0
|
9.0
|
6.0
|
8.0
|
43.0
|
30.0
|
|
9th
|
1325
|
Joan Cooper
|
Becci Wigley
|
Lymington TSC
|
11.0
|
(20.0 DNF)
|
8.0
|
9.0
|
10.0
|
58.0
|
38.0
|
|
10th
|
1263
|
Chris Bailey
|
Jane Bailey
|
|
9.0
|
9.0
|
10.0
|
10.0
|
(20.0 DNC)
|
58.0
|
38.0
|
|
11th
|
725
|
Bill Kenyon
|
Ben Ditchburn
|
Budworth SC
|
12.0
|
11.0
|
(13.0)
|
12.0
|
4.0
|
52.0
|
39.0
|
|
12th
|
840
|
Peter Snowdon
|
Pippa Fletcher
|
Scaling Dam
|
10.0
|
10.0
|
11.0
|
(16.0)
|
13.0
|
60.0
|
44.0
|
|
13th
|
854
|
Dave Rickard
|
Chris Brown
|
Weston SC
|
(20.0 OCS)
|
16.0
|
17.0
|
11.0
|
2.0
|
66.0
|
46.0
|
|
14th
|
1313
|
Emmet Ryan
|
James Ryan
|
Royal St George Yacht Club
|
7.0
|
13.0
|
(18.0)
|
13.0
|
14.0
|
65.0
|
47.0
|
|
15th
|
1340
|
Sam Neil
|
Neil Cooney
|
GWSC
|
14.0
|
12.0
|
12.0
|
(15.0)
|
12.0
|
65.0
|
50.0
|
|
16th
|
964
|
Emma Johnstone
|
Pip Johnstone
|
Locks Sailing Club
|
(15.0)
|
14.0
|
14.0
|
14.0
|
15.0
|
72.0
|
57.0
|
|
17th
|
852
|
Mourice Barnes
|
Sam Wilford
|
Hollowell Sailing Club
|
16.0
|
15.0
|
15.0
|
(18.0)
|
17.0
|
81.0
|
63.0
|
|
18th
|
1240
|
Simon Read
|
Eleanor Read
|
Lee on Solent Sailing Club
|
17.0
|
17.0
|
16.0
|
17.0
|
(18.0)
|
85.0
|
67.0
|
|
19th
|
809
|
Tom Osorio
|
Zoe Osorio
|
Ulswater YC
|
(20.0 DNC)
|
20.0 DNC
|
20.0 DNC
|
20.0 DNC
|
16.0
|
96.0
|
76.0
|
RS Association website
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