Volvo Noble Marine RS700 National Championship – Day 4

by Jerry Wales on 26 Sep 2017 Another fine day in paradise. Who would have thought, as we approach the end of September we would be looking forward to a fourth day consecutive day of perfect sailing (and spectating) weather to conclude the 2017 RS700 Volvo Noble Marine National Championships?

With two races left to sail Jerry Wales had all but (but not quite) secured the overall win. Second to fifth overall was still very close, and there were other battles being fought right down the fleet, so we all had something to play for on the final day.

Was it nerves or just the Easterly flowing tide pushing us towards the line that resulted in the first start being called back? There were a few relieved sailors to see the general recall flag flying from the committee boat rather than the individual recall! The second start was a more orderly affair. The line was heavily biased towards the pin but local hero Richard Wadsworth chose the committee boat end and tacked straight out into the favourable tide. If the day turned out very badly for Jerry Wales, Richard could still take the overall lead so Wales chose to cover and they both lead the charge to the favoured side of the course. Meanwhile Robbie Bell had pulled of a perfect port tack start (more on perfect port tack starting later) at the favoured end of the line and headed out into the favourable tide but with the benefit of a substantial lead, care of the line bias. Robbie was followed round the top mark by Ian Nolan and these two classy sailors fought over first place for three laps with Robbie taking the win on the line. Wales came home in third followed by Richard Wadsworth. This was enough to secure the title for Wales and all but guarantee a popular second place for Richard.

The second race of the day and the concluding race for this year’s championships was also to be defined by a port tack start.

For a perfect port start you need a well-timed approach to the line and a GAP! In the absence of a gap; well you can guess what happened next. It involved poor Pete Purkiss the innocent victim, being towed home followed by a tangled mess of mast, sail and broken rigging.

Bell and Wales manged to avoid the carnage at the pin end but with no room to tack had to head inshore out of the favourable tide. Richard Wadsworth having started mid-line was also heading inshore? Of the contenders fighting for third to fifth overall only Colin Dacey was heading out into the tide and if conformation was needed that this was the right thing to do, lead round the first mark by a healthy margin followed by Ian Nolan. Those who had headed inshore were well down the fleet and faced a battle to get back to respectability. After three laps of racing in perfect conditions Colin Dacey secured his first win to add to a couple of second places which lifted him to third overall. It has been a good season for Colin. This result follows a third place at the last big UK event, the RS Summer Championships and a third place at the recent European Champs. One of the nicest folk in the fleet, Colin quietly goes about his business and his reward is consistently good results.

Jerry Wales managed to climb back through the fleet to just pip Ian Nolan for second in the final race to confirm a fourth consecutive national title.

Richard Wadsworth showed his quality to also climb back through the fleet to claim a fourth place and second overall for the championship. Richard also adds this second place to his second at the Euro champs help in the Czech Republic.

This year’s event will be remembered amongst the best of recent years. Four days of great racing in great condition hosted by a great sailing club. Despite what the results show (I think more DNFs rather than DNCs) all bar one (boat maintenance issues aside) stayed out for the final race. How often can you say that?

There were six different race winners. The newest boat in the fleet was followed home by the oldest. The lightest sailor in the fleet weighed in at 70kgs and heaviest was, let’s just say North of 110kg and all appeared to be racing on as an even footing as experience allowed.

We, the sailors are very grateful for all those that supported this event, so all those connected with Stokes Bay Sailing Club, the event sponsors: Volvo, Noble Marine, Forward WIP and SpeedSix and of course RS Sailing and the RS700 Class Association.

The 2018 Nationals is being held at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy 16-19 August 2018. It will be a combined European and National championships and will a part of the month long mega RS Games.

The next event is the Brightlingsea Skiff Fest in two weeks’ time 7-8 Oct 2017.



Results

Rank	Sail No	Helm	Club	Nt Pts
1	1053	Jerry Wales	Windsport	12
2	720	Richard Wadsworth	Stokes Bay SC / RNSA	24
3	1027	Colin Dacey	Snettisham Beach SC	30
4	875	Robbie Bell	Snettisham Beach SC	33
5	1042	Pete Purkiss	Brightlingsea SC	35
6	1023	Ian Nolan	Snettisham Beach SC	39
7	966	Matt Carter	Lancing SC	47
8	944	James Bayliss	Queen Mary SC	64
9	1022	Ian Swann	Hayling Island SC	65
10	991	Theo Galyer	Stokes Bay SC	74
11	839	Phillip Highfield	Gt. Yarmouth & Gorleston	89
12	808	Spike Daniels	Hayling Island SC	90
13	970	Simon Redfearn	Brightlingsea SC	93
14	1041	Matt Conner	Queen Mary SC	95
15	926	Simon Clark	Lyme Regis SC	106
16	859	Peter O'nions	Queen Mary SC	110
17	914	Graham Blake	Queen Mary SC	117
18	1046	Miles Roebuck	Oxford SC	122
19	855	David Bridle	Brightlingsea SC	127
20	882	Ed Napolitano	Snettisham Beach SC	136
21	1014	Chris Chambers	Restronguet SC	141
22	871	Mark Nicholson	Hayling Island SC	146
23	1031	Hamish Griffiths	Hayling Island SC	161
24	984	Adam Golding	Hayling Island SC	172
25	756	Alistair Paul	Grafham Water SC	183
26	982	Roland Smith	Queen Mary SC	192
27	1035	Roger Taylor	Hayling Island SC	195
28	801	Stephen Carr	Brightlingsea SC	208
29	762	Adrian Howe	Oxford SC	225