RS500 Gul Grand Prix at Datchet Water SC

by Debbie Darling on 25 Apr 2012 The RS500 Gul Grand Prix was held at Datchet Water Sailing Club last weekend, 21st and 22nd April. The water levels were high with lots of varied weather for sailing in.

On Saturday coaching was laid on, and 10 boats took part in the programme of short races, focusing on race starts and boat speed in the light winds between squalls, and blasting around with big grins in them! Needless to say there was some swimming practice thrown in for good measure. A video debrief provided a chance to discuss the finer points of sailing technique, and to see who was looking good on film!

Sunday proved a good chance to put the newly honed skills to the test with the second round of the Gul circuit, and numbers on the start line were bolstered by some circuit regulars. Four windward leeward races were laid on in quick succession by DWSC, and once again race tactics were dictated by the big grey clouds rolling through the course every now and then bringing big windshifts and increasing wind strength to a fun force four from the light shifty stuff in between.

Fast out of the Blocks in race one were Ian Mairs and Tally Watson from Parkstone YC, who had a close battle with Matthew and Annabel Larkin from Weir Wood and locals Allan and Linda Fraser. On the last downwind leg the race could have gone to whoever hooked into the best pressure, but Ian and Tally held their nerve and position to take the race win. Behind them the next three boats converged from different sides of the course to a photo finish, with Matt and Annabel just getting a nose (or should that be pole) in front to rake second from Allan and Linda in third and Tim and Peter Wilkins from Great Yarmouth and Gorleston SC in fourth.

Race two saw a cloud move through and the 500s dramatically changed gear to go apparent wind sailing (aka blasting around having fun) downwind. In the changing conditions it was brothers Tim and Peter who found form, finding the best pressure downwind to take the race win from Ian and Tally, with Allan and Linda again taking third place.

In race three the wind shifted massively to the left just after the start, and it was Surrey University’s Andrew Wishart and Theo Howard who positioned themselves best on the start line to take advantage and lead the first beat, but over the course of the race the more experienced RS500 teams made the most of the huge gains to be had by finding pressure downwind to come through, with Tim and Peter again taking the win from Matt and Bel. The pattern was very similar for race four and Tim and Peter were able to stretch their lead after a good first beat to take the race win and the event. After another fast first beat Andrew and Theo were able to hold onto third place in this race, relegating Ian and Tally into fourth, while Matt and Bel were second.

A massive thank you to DWSC for providing such fun and interesting racing in challenging weather, and it was great to see old and new friends alike on the water after the winter break. Looking ahead we anticipate some hot competition and big parties at the first leg RS500 Eurocup in May in Holland, a nice warm up to international competition ahead of the World Champs at Lake Garda this summer.

Resuñts:

RS Class Association website

Rank	Sail No	Club	Helm Name	Crew Name	Rating	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	Nett
1st	625	Hickling Broad SC	Tim Wilkins	Peter Wilkins	972	(4.0)	1.0	1.0	1.0	7.0	3.0
2nd	538	Weir Wood	Matthew Larkin	Annable Larkin		2.0	(6.0)	2.0	2.0	12.0	6.0
3rd	508	PYC	Ian Mairs	Tally Watson		1.0	2.0	(4.0)	4.0	11.0	7.0
4th	624	Datchet Water SC	Alan Fraser	Linda Fraser	972	3.0	3.0	3.0	(5.0)	14.0	9.0
5th	545	Surrey University	Andrew Wishart	Theo Howard		5.0	(13.0 DNC)	5.0	3.0	26.0	13.0
6th	678	Datchet Water SC	Tom Crockford	Fenella Williams		(8.0)	4.0	8.0	8.0	28.0	20.0
7th	928	Parkstone SC	Jon Partridge	Ben Oliver		6.0	(10.0)	7.0	7.0	30.0	20.0
8th	826	Datchet Water SC	Michael Clapp	Sue Risbridger	972	7.0	8.0	(10.0)	6.0	31.0	21.0
9th	748	Gorleston	Anna Zmura	Keith Sykes	972	(10.0)	9.0	6.0	9.0	34.0	24.0
10th	544	Wembley	Sam Collins	Joe Illife		(11.0)	5.0	11.0	11.0	38.0	27.0
11th	865	Newham	Paul Phelan	Mandy Phelan		(13.0 DNC)	7.0	9.0	13.0 DNC	42.0	29.0
12th	575	Datchet Water SC	Ben Wells	Petra Carran		9.0	11.0	(12.0)	10.0	42.0	30.0