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Excess Catamarans

Competitive action at RS400 Sprint Championships

by Hamish Gledhill on 26 Apr 2017
Race start – RS400 Sprint Championships Peter Fothergill
A record thirty RS400s arrived at Rutland Sailing Club for the ever increasingly popular Sprint Championships. As ever the fleet had a very competitive look about it with the current and previous National Champions present.

As the briefing took place at 1200hrs on the Saturday, the lake had a glassy look to it, but the fleet confidently set off to the starting area for the round robin qualifying series, which would ultimately decide the flights for Sunday’s racing. The wind rotated a full 360 degrees, not to mention vanishing completely as the crews waited for the wind. (What can two people in a boat talk about for two hours waiting for the wind arrive?)

The wind did arrive, and in far greater strength than anyone dared hoped for to create some great racing. The round robin format meant that after three races, everyone had raced everyone else in the fleet. Ideally six races would have been sailed, but the long postponement meant there was only time for three. The crash and burn nature of the event meant consistency was important, a little error cost you dearly. With the fleet returning to the shore there was uncertainty amongst crews as to whether they had done enough to reach their hoped-for flight. With great efficiency, the results were soon posted with some surprise names missing the cut for the Gold Fleet.

Sunday dawned with a better breeze than greeted the competitors on Saturday, but on the way to the start line it was clear it was by no means constant. It was going to be one of those days!

As the day progressed there were times when both crews were hiking hard, reaching for the kicker, before the crew was packed up into a box and tucked up under the foredeck with the spinnaker and chocolate bars (OK some athletes may have packed something resembling bird seed cast in epoxy).

Remember no discards – even more stress!

The OOD promptly got the fleets away and soon it was evident that shuffles in the pack could come at any time.

In the Bronze fleet consistency was the name of the game, with Chris and Claire Bownes from Bartley SC finishing consistently in the top five, including three first places, to win the six-race series. However, only five points separated the top three boats with Mark Dingsdale and Vanessa Evans from Leigh and Lowton SC taking second place and Mike Tustin and Emily Watson from Bowmoor SC third.



On another day, the many of the names in the Silver Fleet would comfortably have been in the Gold Fleet. Richard Catchpole and Gary Coop from Leigh and Lowton SC strung together six excellent scores all in the top four to take the series. Howard Fairbrother and Lou Hosken from Queen Mary SC, were under pressure after an eighth in the first race, but kept cool to recover well, including three firsts to take second place, whilst Caroline Whitehouse and Jason McDonnell from Bartley SC won the scrap for third place.

In the Gold Fleet, with the rest of the fleet bouncing up and down the results, Dave Exley and Mark Lunn from Leigh and Lowton SC were imperious finishing all three races in the top three to win overall. Every other boat in the fleet included a seventh or worse! Mark and Paul Oakey from Portchester SC, except for the obligatory seventh, were equally consistent with seconds, one third and fourths. They took second place from Hamish Gledhill and Simon Dowse from West Riding SC, who managed two firsts in the last two races to pull ahead from others, with only six points separating the next four boats.

At the prize-giving Dave Exley thanked the club, and in particular the OOD and race team, for running such a super event. Thanks to Magic Marine our National Tour sponsors.

What a great event -if you’ve not done it you must try next year. If you have I’m sure you’ll be there next year 21-22 April 2018!



RS400 Gold Class

Rank

Fleet

Class

Helm

Crew

Sail No

Club

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

Total

Nett

1st

 

RS400 Gold

Dave Exley

Mark Lunn

1460

Leigh & Lowton SC

2

2

1

1

2

3

11

11

2nd

 

RS400 Gold

Paul Oakey

Mark Oakey

1441

Portchester SC

3

4

2

2

7

4

22

22

3rd

 

RS400 Gold

Hamish Gledhill

Simon Dowse

1407

West Riding SC

4

5

8

5

1

1

24

24

4th

 

RS400 Gold

Mike Simms

Keith Bedborough

1432

Dalgety Bay SC

5

1

3

8

3

9

29

29

5th

 

RS400 Gold

Steve Restall

Chris Stubbs

1189

Downs SC

1

8

4

3

8

7

31

31

6th

 

RS400 Gold

Russell Clark

Penny Clark

1309

RNSA/Stokes Bay SC

8

9

6

4

4

2

33

33

7th

 

RS400 Gold

Sam Knight

John Knight

1202

Bartley SC

6

6

5

7

6

5

35

35

8th

 

RS400 Gold

Josh Metcalfe

Jack Holden

1262

Y Felinheli SC

9

3

9

9

5

6

41

41

9th

 

RS400 Gold

Sean Cleary

Annalise Nixon

1017

Oxford SC

7

7

7

6

9

8

44

44

RS400 Silver Class

Rank

Class

Helm

Crew

Sail No

Club

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

Total

Nett

1st

RS400 Silver

Richard Catchpole

Gary Coop

1396

Leigh & Lowton SC

2

4

1

2

3

2

14

14

2nd

RS400 Silver

Howard Farbroher

Lou Hosken

1418

Queen Mary SC

8

1

5

1

1

5

21

21

3rd

RS400 Silver

Caroline Whitehouse

Jason McDonnell

1414

Bartley SC

9

2

2

9

2

3

27

27

4th

RS400 Silver

Francisco Lobato

Teresa Lobato

1215

QMSC

1

6

10

5

5

1

28

28

5th

RS400 Silver

Adam Whitehouse

Sam Pickering

963

Weirwood SC

3

3

4

8

8

4

30

30

6th

RS400 Silver

Ben Williamson

Jon Willars

1465

Welton SC

7

8

7

7

4

6

39

39

7th

RS400 Silver

Richard Ashwell

Tony Cliff

1212

Bartley SC

6

7

8

4

6

9

40

40

8th

RS400 Silver

Wayne Hancox

Gareth Blakemore

767

Bartley SC

10

5

6

3

10

7

41

41

9th

RS400 Silver

Caroline Exley

Jonny Limebear

1461

Leigh & Lowton SC

5

9

9

10

7

8

48

48

10th

RS400 Silver

Nick Eaves

Greg Pace

1450

Bartley SC

4

10

3

11

11

11

50

50

11th

RS400 Silver

Max Tosetti

Anna Wallin

1342

QMSC

11

11

11

6

9

10

58

58


RS400 Bronze Class

Rank

Class

Helm

Crew

Sail No

Club

R1

R2

R3

R4

R5

R6

Total

Nett

1st

RS400 Bronze

Chris Bownes

Claire Bownes

1235

Bartley SC

4

5

1

1

2

1

14

14

2nd

RS400 Bronze

Mark Dingsdale

Vanessa Evans

1257

Leigh & Lowton SC

1

2

6

2

4

2

17

17

3rd

RS400 Bronze

Mike Tustin

Emily Watson

1447

Bowmoor SC

5

1

3

6

1

3

19

19

4th

RS400 Bronze

Chris Williams

Martin Spencer

828

Leigh & Lowton SC

2

6

4

8

3

6

29

29

5th

RS400 Bronze

Richard Wharram

Hannah Wharram

1380

Welton SC

8

8

2

3

5

4

30

30

6th

RS400 Bronze

Rob Dunkley

Angie Grimes

1313

Hollowell

3

7

5

4

6

8

33

33

7th

RS400 Bronze

Uel Webb

Stephen Webb

1156

 

6

3

7

7

7

7

37

37

8th

RS400 Bronze

Matt Sheahan

Ellie Sheahan

1435

QMSC

7

4

8

5

8

5

37

37

9th

RS400 Bronze

Andy Powell

Ian Verso

527

Warsash SC

9

9

9

9

9

9

54

54

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