Saul and Hartley first RS500 National Champions

by RS media on 1 Sep 2007 Victory went to Mike Saul and Sophie Hartley at the inaugural RS500 Gul National Championships, hosted by the Royal Lymington Yacht Club over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

The thirty competitors were faced with the challenge of light winds and strong tides. But, with a wide range of crew / helm combinations, ability, and experience across the thirty boat fleet, this was never going to be a case of the lightest sailors prevailing.

Saturday saw battle commence for the 1st Master Trophy, with Richard Russell and Mike Saul winning the first and second race respectively. A strengthening breeze and changing tide saw new faces at the front at the start of the third race, with David Giles/Colin Hatton and Jeni & Kate Tod leading away from the start.

The heavier crews took advantage of the strongest breeze of the weekend, with Richard Russell/Jasmine Howard and Chris Gill/Adam Broughton pulling through to second and third place.

Mike Saul/Sophie Hartley and husband and wife team, Wayne and Deb Fletcher capitalised on Sunday’s light and shifty north-easterly, winning a race each, while Gill/Broughton were rewarded for their concentration on Monday, spotting the shortened course flag that husband and wife team, Chris and Natasha Pilling, had missed.

Giles/Hatton led the final race in classic lee-bowing conditions, until Saul/Hartley caught a good shift and pulled through to win the race and the National Championship.

It was great to see such a wide range of sailors at the event – including husband/wife, father/daughter, youths, and masters. Mike Saul won 1st Master, while Jeni Todd scooped 1st Lady Helm, and Hugo and Rupert Jones-Warner won 1st Youths.

Our thanks go to Gul for sponsoring the event, the Race Team for setting great courses in tricky conditions, and the RLYC for their warm welcome.

RS500 - Final results

1 536 Mike Saul / Sophie Hartley 8 1 10 1 2 4 11 1 17 pts
2 610 Wayne Fletcher / Deb Fletcher 3 12 5 3 1 11 2 5 19 pts
3 547 David Giles / Colin Hatton 13 9 1 31 4 7 1 2 24 pts
4 661 Chris Gill / Adam Broughton 5 3 3 14 8 1 9 4 24 pts
5 574 Richard Russell / Jasmine Husband 1 6 2 4 6 19 19 8 27 pts
6 534 Alex Taylor / Bryan Mobbs 7 15 9 2 3 15 10 7 38 pts
7 523 Chris Pilling / Natasha Pilling 9 2 6 7 7 10 17 11 41 pts
8 553 Martin Smith / Barbara Smith 14 7 14 9 5 14 3 3 41 pts
9 566 Jeni Tod / Kate Tod 10 8 8 22 11 2 21 6 45 pts
10 6 Hugo Jones-Warner / Rupert Jones-Warner 6 10 4 16 9 21 7 16 52 pts
11 510 Pete Vincent / Emma Clarke 11 5 17 8 12 3 14 22 53 pts
12 538 Neil Crossouard / Ian Crossouard 4 13 7 12 14 12 31 10 58 pts
13 552 Doug Horner / Caroline Alexander 18 4 11 24 17 8 16 12 68 pts
14 533 Bonny Moody / George Havers 2 14 15 11 16 24 12 17 70 pts
15 535 Peter Robson / Bethany Robson 17 11 12 6 18 6 22 18 70 pts
16 550 Harry Allerston / Stella Cross 23 17 13 10 20 5 18 13 76 pts
17 505 Bill Tucker / Jazzy Tucker 21 31 21 5 13 9 8 21 77 pts
18 521 Nigel Harniman / Simon Gillow 16 16 23 23 10 16 6 15 79 pts
19 525 James Tanner / Lucinda Blain 25 24 18 15 23 20 4 9 89 pts
20 575 Jamie Stewart / Luke Barkway 12 27 24 13 22 26 13 20 104 pts
21 551 Jon Holmes / Hamish Ellis 19 21 31 18 27 18 5 24 105 pts
22 624 Jon Partridge / Lois Partridge 22 25 22 26 26 13 15 14 111 pts
23 517 Richard Morley / Sue Morley 15 18 27 17 21 22 25 19 112 pts
24 537 Holly Watson / Freya Watson 31 19 20 20 28 17 20 23 119 pts
25 584 Demo Dave / Joey Raven 26 20 16 19 15 31 31 31 127 pts
26 539 Howard Osbourne / Emma Pethybridge 20 23 19 21 19 25 31 31 127 pts
27 519 Peter Mallaband / Stephen Merchant 24 26 25 25 24 23 31 31 147 pts
28 620 Mark Hollings / Aled Lewis 28 28 28 28 31 27 23 26 160 pts
29 522 Dave Young / Jennie Horton 27 22 26 31 25 31 31 31 162 pts
30 565 Paul Davis / Oliver Davis 29 29 29 27 29 28 24 25 162 pts