2016 Magic Marine RS300 Slalom Championship - Tough fight for podium

by Tim Keen on 28 May 2016 2016 Magic Marine RS300 Slalom Championship - It was the second running of the RS300 Slalom Championships at Bristol Corinthian YC and 15 competitors from three countries turned up the battle it out for the magnificent prize of five liters of bendyleg cider and smelly cheese.

First obstacle of the day was to get through the briefing and getting everyone to understand the course and that one race with eight tacks up two beats alongside two runs would take under three minutes.

In the morning’s races the 15 competitors were divided into two groups to sail a round-robin format to select who would got through the gold and silver fleets in the afternoon.

The silver fleet consisted of Ian Clark, Stuart Woodger, Dan Treloar (camera man), Tom Moore (team Wales/Africa), Ben Green, Alister McLaughlin (one half of team Scotland) and Garry Morris.

The gold fleet battled it out between themselves with early casualties including Paul Watson, Mark Taylor (second half of team Scotland), George Cousins and shockingly Steve Bolland.

The semi-finals were straight knock out between Tim Keen (2015 winner) and Rich Fryer, and Dave Acres and Pete Ellis. Keen beat Fryer and Acres beat Ellis.

In the third and fourth run-off Fryer took an early bath which meant he was disqualified and Ellis went on to the win.

The final between Tim Keen and Dave Acres would be a double length race to decide the champion. It was a bit of a one-sided affair as Keen got the better start and slowly pulled away to win.

The main credits for the weekend go to Steve Bolland and Bristol Corinthian YC who planned and prepared a brilliant event, and to get through 102 starts over the two courses like clockwork.

2016 Magic Marine RS300 Slalom Championship - Results

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	Round 1 points	Round 2 points	Semi-final	3rd/4th sail-off	Final
1	328	Tim Keen	Sheffield Viking	16	20	Win		Win
2	544	Dave Acres	Emsworth & Thorney Island	18	19	Win		Loss
3	500	Pete Ellis	Stewartby Water	21	19	Loss	Win
4	424	Richard Fryer	Great Yarmouth & Gorleston	18	17	Loss	Loss
5	411	Steve Bolland	Bristol Corinthian	18	17
6	0	George Cousins	Bristol Corinthian	20	16
7	336	Mark Taylor	Prestwick	14	15
8	337	Paul Watson	Bowmoor	17	15
9	527	Ian Clark	Warsash	13	17
10	321	Stuart Woodger	Plymouth	15	17
11	417	Dan Treloar	Stewartby Water	11	16
12	519	Tom Moore	Out of Africa	12	15
13	313	Ben Green	Highcliffe	13	14
14	490	Alistair McLaughlin	Prestwick	11	13
15	318	Gary Morris	South Cerney	13	11