GUL RS700 Nationals 2007 – Final Day

by Ian Nolan on 8 Jun 2006 The final day of the 2006 dawned once again with bright sunshine and a shifty force 1-2 blowing from the East and a slight sea running.

Paul Bayliss had a commanding lead and looked certain to take the championship. However in theory there was a mathematical chance that either Andy White or Peter Purkiss could beat him. All he needed to do was achieve a top six finish to put the championship away.

The fight for second place on the other hand was well and truly joined as Pete and Andy were tied on 25 points with similar discards.

The racing started on time and it was Matt Humphreys who led off the line and built a comfortable lead in the shifty conditions to take his first win of the championship. Paul Bayliss was sailing conservatively in second place, trying hard to avoid any confrontations.

This allowed Leigh Albrecht to blast through at the end of the second run to take second place with Paul coming in a championship winning third place, Andy White fourth and Andy Holland fifth.

Pete Purkiss was struggling a little with the conditions and put in a ninth place leaving the advantage firmly with Andy White to take the runner up’s spot in the championship.

The final race saw Jon Heissig win the start from the port end of the line from where he charged out to the left hand side of the course and was able to tack early and cross the fleet. He then benefited from a slight wind bend and the effect of the tide to be lifted up to the windward mark into a lead, which was never bettered. Just behind, local hero Alex Koukourakis and Andy Irons were enjoying a titanic struggle throughout the race, which Alex finally won, only to find he was OCS.

However it was a fast charging Pete Purkiss recovering through the fleet who passed this duo to take second spot. Unfortunately for Pete, Andy White was not far enough behind, finishing fourth and taking the second place overall.

A very tired but happy fleet retired to the shore to pack up and reflect on a great championship before enjoying a traditional sandwich and cake, tea before the Prizegiving by the Mayor of Eastbourne. The club were presented with a print from Day 1 of the championship signed by all of the competitors as a token of our thanks for running such a fantastic event,

• In the Silver fleet a very popular winner was Stuart Riches who had found another gear for the championship and just took the title from a hard charging Alex Southon.
• First Lady was Nicky Griffin, although we were all really impressed with how well Bonnie Moody had handled the boat her first event in the class.
• First Junior - Ned McNulty
• First Master - Pete Purkiss
• The Merit Prize went to Mark Nicholson
• Furthest traveller went to Achim Kreuzer from Hamburg

The draw in support of the classes adopted charity Sail 4 Cancer was won by Griff Tanner who will receive a brand new spinnaker courtesy of Hyde. The class was able to raise over £800 which will be going directly to support this worthwhile cause. Our thanks go to Hyde, LDC, Fat Face and Dinghy Sailing Magazine for supporting us by donating prizes.

So what is the formula for a great event?

• A committed, friendly and well organised club in a great sailing location.
• Professional and efficient race management and the best shore team in the business
• Some real quality coaching from Paul Bayliss and our RYA judge Peter Fitt.
• A record-breaking entry of 51 sailors determined to have a great time on and off the water sailing one of the most exciting and challenging boats around.
• Fantastic support from the event sponsors, Gul, Hyde, Harken, RMW, LDC and Dinghy Sailing Magazine to whom we extend our thanks
• On site technical support from LDC.
• A well organised and full social program
• Great weather and a variety of challenging conditions.

I think everyone agreed that all the boxes were ticked and that this was one of the best championships ever. Definitely one for the scrapbook!

Final overall positons:
Rank - Fleet - SailNo - Helm - Club - Nett pts
1st Gold 875 Paul Bayliss Portchester SC 23pts
2nd Gold 900 Andy White Draycot Water SC 34
3rd Gold 761 Pete Purkiss (M) Brightlingsea SC & Grafham 36
4th Gold 923 Anthony Yorke Northampton SC 51
5th Gold 951 Stephen Butcher HISC 52
6th Gold 913 Alex Koukourakis Eastbourne Sovereign SC 62
7th Gold 823 Andy Irons TBA 62
8th Gold 926 Neil Robinson (M) M.R.S.C. 64
9th Gold 9031 Tim Dickinson HISC 65
10th Gold 933 Matthew Humphrey Weston SC 67
11th Gold 92 Andy Peake Eastbourne Sovereign SC 67
12th Gold 882 Jonathan Heissig Lymington Town SC 71
13th Gold 939 Leigh Albrecht QMSC 73
14th Gold 922 Dave Smithwhite (M) HISC 102
15th Gold 944 David Cummins QMSC 105
16th Gold 959 Chritian Brandt BSC Hamburg 110
17th Gold 806 Nicky Griffin (L) HISC 142
18th Gold 834 Tom Offer Chew Valley Lake SC 149
19th Gold 941 Rob Chaplin QMSC 153
20th Gold 906 Andy Holland Hunstanton SC 157
21st Gold 907 Duncan Ellis Hunstanton SC 158
22nd Silver 767 Stuart Riches Hunstanton SC 166
23rd Silver 927 Alex Souton QMSC 169
24th Gold 890 Ian Swann HISC 177
25th Gold 962 Steve Marshall (M) Corus SC 177
26th Silver 741 Ned McNulty Hill Head SC 181
27th Gold 776 Griff Tanner QMSC 186
28th Silver 831 Mark Nicholson HISC 201
29th Gold 861 Eddie Gatehouse Chichester YC 210
30th Gold 841 Richard Smith Stone SC 218
31st Gold 963 Mark Pollington Burghfield SC 227
32nd Silver 840 Dan Azzopardi QMSC 229
33rd Gold 902 David Gorringe Lymington Town SC 230
34th Silver 792 Achim Kreuzer BSC Hamburg 234
35th Gold 961 David Geal (M) Eastbourne Sovereign SC 255
36th Silver 960 Ian Nolan Hunstanton SC 257
37th Silver 934 Matthew Stark HISC 264
38th Silver 743 Nick Lowe Port Dinorwic SC 267
39th Silver 798 Nick Rawlings (M) HISC 267
40th Silver 945 Jonathon Cameron QMSC 284
41st Silver 873 Adam Golding HISC 287
42nd Silver 880 Howard Edwards QMSC 290
43rd Silver 811 Mark Tanner Eastbourne Sovereign SC 292
44th Silver 950 Tim Garvin QMSC 309
45th Silver 868 Matthew Conner QMSC 309
46th Silver 940 Howard Smith Chew Valley Lake SC 314
47th Silver 726 Tim Royall Mounts Bay SC 344
48th Silver 778 Andy Scott Chew Valley Lake SC 368
49th Silver 740 Jason May Mounts Bay SC 378
50th Silver 891 Bonnie Moody (L) Lymington Town SC 392
51st Silver 969 Martin Millar 416

The action now moves onto Lymington at the beginning of July for the next round of the Fat Face Circuit which is the last chance to practise before the 'full on' challenge that is the European Championship in Garda.