2015 Volvo Noble Marine RS800 National Championship – Final day

by Tim Saxton on 26 Aug 2015 The final day of the Volvo Noble Marine RS800 Nationals dawned with what can only be described as “typical British weather” - torrential rain! As the RS800s began to slowly emerge from the warmth of the clubhouse after protracted bacon sandwiches and hot cups of tea there was considerable envy for some of the front runners of the RS700 fleet, who having already sewn up their finishing positions were able to stay inside!

Not so for us! After three days and nine very well run and closely fought races (thanks to Richard Woof and all of the Castle Cove volunteers) the fleet remained tight throughout with the fight still on for the podium places, despite there only being one race left!

The situation was perhaps most simple for event leaders Tim Saxton and Fiona Hampshire, who, thanks to their consistency and a discarded fifth place, simply needed to prevent second place Matt Humphreys and Amy Cartwright from winning the race. The ever consistent reigning champions Roger Phillips and Will Crocker, entered the day in third place. Despite the event win being just beyond them, Roger and Will were still hunting for second place, with their best chance also appearing to be slowing Matt and Amy. It certainly looked like it was going to be a tough day for Matt and Amy after BFD and an unfortunate capsize on day two left them with a potentially costly 12th as their current discard!

Hot on the heels of these three were Hugh Shone and out-going class Chair Hannah Tattersall, and former champion Pete Barton sailing with incoming Chair Chris Feibusch. It was certainly set up be an interesting race as the fleet launched into the 12-15kt Westerly on Portland Harbour!

Once in sequence it was quickly apparent that Saxton/Hampshire planned to slow Humphreys/Cartwright with Phillips/Crocker taking a slightly more stand-off approach. As these three started their games off the line a number of boats, including Shone/Tatersall, Barton/Feibusch, James Green/James Trewick and Russell Gibbs/Jamie Dawson executed great starts and first beats to lead off into the distance.

With the podium players languishing outside the top ten on the first lap the race would be played out between those four boats with Shone/Tatersall taking a convincing win to end their event with a consistently brilliant two, one, one in the final three races!

Huge amounts of credit must go to Matt and Amy, who using their impressive boat speed managed to wriggle free of both Saxton/Hampshire and Phillips/Crocker before distancing both and advancing through the fleet at great pace to recover to seventh by the finish. However with the race win out of reach Saxton/Hampshire claimed the championship, finishing on 20 points.

Behind them the points were set to be very close. The incredible final race recovery from Humphreys/Cartwright was enough for them to squeak the silver medal, ending on 25 points, with Phillips/Crocker a mere 0.9 points behind them after an earlier redress claim on day three. Shone/Tatersall ended fourth, missing out on the podium by a wafer thin 0.1 points ending with 26!

Second in the final race handed Barton/Feibusch fifth overall (and first Masters). Andy and Allyson Jeffries ended sixth, beating the fast starting Hugh Watson and Andy Watkins into seventh on countback. Luke and Emma McEwen, Dave and Lou Steed, and Ben Schooling/George Kingsnorth rounded out the top 10, with Schooling/Kingsnorth also scooping the prize for first “old-style” main.

Other notable performances included Paul and Peter Jenkins who despite just missing the top 10 scooped first Silver trophy.

Such tight and enjoyable racing throughout the week was a great advertisement for the versatility, performance and fun that racing the RS800 always offers. 2015 also saw a resurgence of the female crews, with Fiona Hampshire becoming the second female national champion (after super-crew Roz McGrane) and females sailing in six of the top 10 boats. Figures any other performance class is surely jealous of!

With weight equalisation, one-design equipment, and minimal boat work required the RS800 really does offer accessible performance racing to all! I highly encourage you to give it a go whether you are coming towards the end of the RYA youth programmes or simply looking for some great fun racing in a friendly but competitive fleet!

I cannot end this report without thanking Castle Cove Sailing Club for putting on a truly exemplary event. From the ever-friendly welcome, to the expert race team and helpers, and the bar and galley staff the whole event was a perfect example of how a community sailing club should run an event on, and off the water!

Thanks should also go to all the other volunteers from the club, Clare Sargent from the RS Class Association, and out-going Chair Hannah Tatersall (and soon to be husband Hugh Shone) for all their hard work prior to, and during the event.

A great four days of racing! Bring on the rest of the season.



Results:

Class: RS800										Series: Volvo Noble Marine RS800 National Championship
Rank	Sail No	Bow	Flags	Name	Helm	Crew	Club	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Race 5	Race 6	Race 7	Race 8	Race 9	Race 10	Nt Pts
1	1203	E	G		Tim Saxton	Fiona Hampshire	Royal Thames YC/ Grafham Water SC	2	1	4	3	3	1	(9)	1	5	(17)	20
2	1200	F	G		Matthew Humphreys	Amy Cartwright	Weston SC	1	2	3	1	(38/BFD)	(12)	2	3	6	7	25
3	1204	A	G		Roger Phillips	Will Crocker	Burghfield & Emberton Park SC	4	4	2	4	1	4	3	(9)	3.9/RDG_3	(11)	25.9
4	1189	C	G		Hugh Shone	Hannah Tattersall	Castle Cove SC	6	3	(7)	(38/RET)	4	2	7	2	1	1	26
5	1219	B	G		Peter Barton	Chris Feibusch	Lymington Town SC	3	7	1	5	(38/BFD)	(38/BFD)	1	8	3	2	30
6	1212	D	G		Andy Jeffries	Allyson Jeffries	Eastbourne Sovereign SC	(8)	8	5	7	5	3	(10)	7	8	5	48
7	1133	L	G		Hugh Watson	Andy Watkins	Emsworth SC	5	6	(9)	8	8	(10)	5	4	4	8	48
8	1129	H	G		Luke McEwen	Emma McEwen	Royal Lymington YC	7	9	10	(11)	2	9	11	5	(12)	9	62
9	1154	M	G		David Steed	Louise Steed	Netley SC	14	13	8	2	(38/BFD)	5	6	(17)	9	10	67
10	1113	I	G		Ben Schooling	George Kingsnorth	Datchet Water SC	9	10	11	6	6	6	12	13	(38/DNC)	(38/DNC)	73
11	1163	G	G		James Green	James Trewick	Beer SC	12	23	6	18	(38/DNC)	(38/DNC)	8	6	2	3	78
12	1164	K	G		Russell Gibbs	Jamie Dawson	Starcross YC	(18)	5	14	9	(38/BFD)	16	14	14	11	4	87
13	1057				Sarah Martin	Dan Kilsby		13	14	(16)	13	11	(38/BFD)	4	12	16	6	89
14	1195	P	S		Paul Jenkins	Peter Jenkins	Eastbourne Sovereign SC	10	12	12	12	(38/BFD)	7	(20)	15	10	18	96
15	1166	N	G		Ralph Singleton	Sophie Singleton	Datchet Water SC	(16)	15	15	15	7	8	15	16	(26)	12	103
16	1202	P	S		Andrew Blundell	Maddie Fenner	Warsash SC	11	11	(21)	17	9	18	18	(22)	17	16	117
17	1146	Z	S		Martin Orton	Ian Brooks	Chichester YC & Trearddur Bay SC	19	17	13	16	(38/BFD)	11	16	(27)	13	13	118
18	1050	N	S		Joe Joyner	Will Broom	Lyme Regis SC	15	16	19	(23)	12	14	21	(24)	15	14	126
19	1148	O	S		Steven Greaves	Caroline Edwards	Rickmansworth SC	(21)	(26)	17	10	10	21	17	20	19	15	129
20	983	E	S		Chris Cowan	Stu Moore	Weston SC	(23)	18	(26)	14	15	23	19	18	14	19	140
21	1045	F	S		Richard Smith	Ellie Smith	Wilsonian SC	(38/DNF)	22	18	19	(38/BFD)	13	26	19	18	20	155
22	1010	M	S		John Warburton	James Clapham	Chew Valley Lake SC	17	20	20	(26)	(38/BFD)	15	25	23	21	21	162
23	1144	H	S		Daniel Goodman	Debbie Robertshaw	Datchet Water SC	22	24	(25)	20	13	22	(34)	21	20	22	164
24	1211	G	S		Philip Gladman	Natasha Gladman	Itchenor SC	20	(28)	23	21	14	17	22	26	23	(38/DNC)	166
25	1091	K	S		Alex Benfield	Nick Ireland	Stokes Bay SC	28	25	(29)	24	16	27	29	(32)	25	24	198
26	1047	C	S		Adam Knight	Peter Knight	Guernesy YC	30	(31)	24	27	17	20	(31)	29	28	23	198
27	1062	B	S		Cameron Moss	Darrol Moss	Lyme Regis SC	26	(33)	22	32	19	24	27	(38/OCS)	31	26	207
28	1169	J	S		David Williams	Nick Searle	Itchenor SC	25	30	27	25	18	26	28	(31)	29	(38/DNC)	208
29	1058	I	S		Ian Lodder	Tom Prower	Itchenor SC	(32)	21	28	30	(38/BFD)	19	30	30	30	27	215
30	1099	L	S		Alistair Hodgson	Penny Hooper	RYA	29	29	(38/DSQ)	22	(38/BFD)	28	32	28	24	25	217
31	121				Phil Walker	John Mathers		(38/DNC)	(38/DNC)	38/DNC	38/DNC	38/DNC	38/DNC	13	10	7	38/DNC	220
32	1132	O	G		Mick Whitmore	Sarah Smith	Eastbourne Sovereign SC	24	19	(38/DNF)	(38/DNC)	38/DNC	38/DNC	23	11	38/DNC	38/DNC	229
33	1015	D	S		Simon Payne	Fenella Williams	Oxford SC	31	32	30	29	20	25	(35)	33	32	(38/DNC)	232
34	922	A	S		Ian Paterson	Carol Paterson	Grafham Water SC	27	27	(38/DNF)	28	(38/DNC)	38/DNC	33	35	27	38/DNC	253
35	1052				Mark Sewell	Matt Barker		33	34	(38/DNF)	31	21	29	36	34	(38/DNC)	38/DNC	256
36	1215				Steve Brown	Phil Bairstow		(38/DNC)	(38/DNC)	38/DNC	38/DNC	38/DNC	38/DNC	24	25	22	38/DNC	261