Volvo Noble Marine RS700 National Championship - Day two

by Richard Wadsworth on 22 Aug 2015 With the weather for day three looking marginal the decision was made to complete four races on day two. In order to sail a larger course the fleet headed out into the bay in 10-15 knots of breeze.

Race one - The start line had a slight pin end bias which loaded that end of the line. Jerry Wales made a clean start and led the fleet from start to finish. Ben Willows, Neil Ashby and Richard Wadsworth were in tight formation around the course with Neil helping the others by getting stuck on the windward mark. Jerry took the win with Ben narrowly beating Neil to the line.

Race two - Race two followed the pattern of the first race with Jerry pulling out a lead on the chasing Ben, Neil and Richard. In the last lap Ben showed great speed downwind to nearly catch Jerry and show a clean pair of heels to the chasing pack.

Race three - Richard was smothered on the line by Neil and decided to cut his losses and tack of up the right hand side of the course and promptly sail into a windless hole. Fortunately the wind shifted and filled in from that side of the course and so Richard popped out significantly ahead of the fleet. Richard hung on for the wind despite Jerry chasing hard. Ian Swann and Neil took third and forth. The fleet was beginning to tire at this point with cramp widespread amongst the sailors.

Race four - Most sailors were secretly hoping that the postponement flag was actually the race abandonment flag but it was not to be. Race four was a race of attrition with sailors merely trying to get around the course with cramp ridden fingers and arms. Jerry won by some margin, followed by Neil, Richard and Andrew Brown close behind.

The sailors returned to the bar for a well-earned beer!

Results:

Class: RS700								Series: Volvo Noble Marine RS700 National Championship
Rank	Sail No	Name	Helm	Club	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Race 9	Nt Pts
1	1043		Jerry Wales	Windsport	1	(2)	1	1	2	1	1	1	(3)	8
2	1011		Neil Ashby		2	(4)	3	3	(4)	2	3	4	2	19
3	720		Richard Wadsworth	Stokes Bay SC	(8)	3	4	4	1	3	6	(17)	4	25
4	1042		Simon Letten	Hayling Island SC	5	1	5	(6)	(23/RET)	6	5	3	5	30
5	1022		Ian Swann	Hayling Island SC	4	(8)	6	(8)	3	8	2	7	6	36
6	1041		Huw Reynolds	Restronguet/RNSA	9	7	(12)	(23/OCS)	9	9	8	2	1	45
7	958		Andrew Brown	Hayling Island SC	7	(11)	7	7	7	4	9	6	(10)	47
8	944		James Bayliss		10	6	8	5	5	(11)	(14)	9	8	51
9	984		Adam Golding	Hayling Island SC	6	9	(11)	10	8	5	7	(18)	7	52
10	737		Richard Kennedy	Thorney Island SC	(11)	10	9	9	6	7	10	(23/DNC)	9	60
11	859		Peter Onions		(13)	13	10	13	11	10	11	11	(16)	79
12	1039		Ben Willows	Gurnard SC	3	5	2	2	(23/DNC)	(23/DNC)	23/DNC	23/DNC	23/DNC	81
13	871		Mark Nicholson	Hayling Island SC	12	15	16	11	(23/DNC)	(23/DNC)	4	12	11	81
14	1029		Chris Kirk	QMSC	14	16	13	14	(23/DNC)	(23/DNC)	12	5	13	87
15	1031		Hamish Griffiths	QMSC	(15)	14	15	15	13	14	15	8	(18)	94
16	839		Phillip Highfield	Gt Yarmouth & Gorleston SC	(16)	12	14	12	12	(23/RET)	16	14	14	94
17	820		James Fuller		(17)	(17)	17	16	10	13	13	13	17	99
18	756		Alistair Paul		(18)	18	18	17	14	12	18	15	(19)	112
19	1020		Stephen Hermanson	QMSC	(23/DNC)	(23/DNC)	23/DNC	23/DNC	23/DNC	23/DNC	17	16	12	137
20	914		Graham Blake		(23/DNC)	(23/DNC)	23/DNC	23/DNC	23/DNC	23/DNC	23/RET	10	15	140