Nick Craig and Fiona Clark win RS400 Nationals

by Rs media on 1 Sep 2008 Nick Craig and Fiona Clark won the Gul RS400 UK National Championships with a day to spare - something of a trend this year in the RS classes. Second were David Jones and Mark Hogan, with Paul Hilliar and Steve Jagger in third.

The championships kicked off at Exe Sailing Club with two races in a shifty force 2-3. With a big left shift 30 seconds before the start, the early leaders were Chris and Kathy Iles, who port tacked the entire fleet.

However they were overhauled by Josh Metcalfe/Elaine Marsh and Mike Hart/Sally Kilpatrick, who quickly built a lead over the chasing pack. With the wind continuing to shift, Metcalfe/Marsh sailed a great last lap to win from Hart/Kilpatrick, with Nick Craig/Fiona Clark snatching third in the dying seconds of the race.

For race two, Simon Pritchard Jones/Ellen Miller stormed in from the left to lead from Craig/Clark, who quickly overhauled them and did a horizon job on the fleet. Behind them there was constant place changing, with Jones/Hogan eventually taking second, in front of Paul Hilliar/Stu Jagger.

On day two, competitors were treated to two races in fantastic conditions. The F3-4 breeze was accompanied by a sizable rolling swell. For the first race, Jones Hogan led at the first mark from Hilliar/Jagger and overnight leaders Craig/Clark. On the first downwind, Hilliar/Jagger took the lead and built a little gap from Craig/Clark. The leading pair pulled away but Craig/Clark never found a way past and finished second, ahead of Jones/Hogan.

In the second race John Cooper/Becci Wigley showed the early form, second at the first mark behind Craig/Clark before taking the lead on the first downwind. However in the building waves they succumbed to Craig/Clark and Hilliar/Jagger. Metcalfe/Marsh pulled through to take third place.

The third day of the championship took place in a light and shifty wind. Squib legend Chris Hogan sailing with June Riley led from the start, with Jones/Hogan chasing. By the second lap, Jones/Hogan had pulled ahead but with Craig/Clark not far behind. On the final run the wind really dropped off and Craig/Clark pulled through and win, with Hilliar/ Jagger coming in third.

For the second race, Jones/Hogan again showed their light wind pace to win by a substantial margin, again chased by Hogan/Riley and Craig/Clark, with the latter earning second place.

Day four saw Craig/Clark and Jones/Hogan leading at the first mark from Hogan/Riley. Craig/Clark gradually pulled away to stretch a lead from the chasers, with Metcalfe/Marsh storming through to third on the final run.

For race two, Craig/Clark led at the first mark from Jones/Hogan. These leading two had a race-long scrap ahead of Hogan/Riley but eventually Craig/Clark pulled clear to win and take the championship with a day to spare. Hilliar/Jagger did just enough to take third.

Day five brought light winds and the fleet sailed out to attempt a race. Metcalfe/Marsh were winning comfortably until the wind switched off and the race had to be abandoned.

Many thanks to Exe SC for being such wonderful and friendly hosts and to Phil Morrison and his race team for running slick and fair racing.

RS400 Nationals 2008 - Final overall positions

Pos	SailNo	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Nett
1st	1237	Nick Craig	Fiona Clark	-3	1	-2	1	1	2	1	1	7
2nd	962	David Jones	Mark Hogan	-5	2	3	-5	2	1	2	2	12
3rd	1322	Paul Hilliar	Steve Jagger	-4	3	1	2	3	-6	4	3	16
4th	645	Josh Metcalfe	Elaine Marsh	1	5	6	3	7	-10	3	-11	25
5th	1082	Mike Hart	Sally Kilpatrick	2	10	-12	-15	6	4	6	8	36
6th	1210	James Downer	Jon Price	-10	4	5	9	10	-15	5	5	38
7th	1264	Chris Hogan	June Riley	11	-17	-13	10	4	3	7	4	39
8th	1059	Steve Venables	Richard Brown	6	-16	4	8	5	5	13	-15	41
9th	1251	Howard Farbrother	Nathan Pinch	9	9	9	4	-14	11	-12	6	48
10th	1325	John W Cooper	Becci Wigley	8	15	8	6	12	7	-18	-18	56
11th	1008	Phil Kennard	Matt Wright	15	-22	10	7	-21	17	11	7	67
12th	1328	Michael Sims	Elliot Banks	13	6	7	40	18	-19	9	16	69
13th	1117	James Sinclair	Tom Watson	18	13	11	12	9	9	-23	-19	72
14th	1129	Martin Browne	Dinah Holmes	7	8	17	-18	17	16	8	40	73
15th	1170	Sally Styles	Martyn Styles	12	11	19	-26	11	14	-21	9	76
16th	1275	Sam Parker	Anna Ludgate	16	14	14	11	13	-20	15	-20	83
17th	1121	Henry Maples	Jane Bailey	-19	19	-23	13	16	13	19	10	90
18th	1097	Adam Savage	Ash Johnston	21	20	20	-22	-22	8	14	14	97
19th	1215	Simon Pritchard Jones	Ellen Milner	26	12	21	20	8	-29	-29	12	99
20th	1249	Andrew Ritchie	Iain Ritchie	17	21	-22	16	19	-22	16	13	102
21st	1134	Nick Simmons	Russ Morgan	-24	18	16	14	15	18	-26	23	104
22nd	1172	Alex Fleming	Roger Gorman	-23	-28	15	17	23	21	10	21	107
23rd	1208	Leslie Arscott	Mike Fisher	-27	23	-25	21	20	12	17	17	110
24th	1055	Colin Prince	Tony Prince	14	7	18	19	40	40	40	40	138
25th	813	William Parrett	Chris Grosscurth	25	24	-27	27	-30	25	22	22	145
26th	1177	Nick Barrett	Sam Macnamara	-31	25	24	25	29	40	20	24	147
27th	1268	Alistair Rose	Yvette Rose	22	27	-30	-29	24	23	27	25	148
28th	744	Fiona Bolt	Ian Lewis	-32	26	29	23	25	-33	24	26	153
29th	951	Chris Iles	Kathy Iles	-38	29	-31	24	27	28	28	27	163
30th	1073	Adam Oliver	Clare Oliver	20	32	28	32	33	24	40	40	169
31st	976	Tim Garvin	Dakin Lancaster	28	-35	-35	28	26	30	30	28	170
32nd	1233	Nick Francis	Simon Edwards	29	30	-36	30	34	31	25	40	179
33rd	453	Simon Palmer	Charlotte Burrans	30	-34	33	33	31	27	-35	29	183
34th	511	Danielle Franklin	Tom Evans	-37	31	-32	31	32	26	32	32	184
35th	943	Don O'nions	Mike Dieth	34	-38	26	34	-37	34	33	30	191
36th	924	Simon Mathews	Penny Atkinson	35	-36	34	40	28	36	36	33	202
37th	683	James Bowman	Sarah Roberts	36	40	-38	35	36	35	31	34	207
38th	1092	Alan Cooke	Mark Lodse	33	-37	37	36	-38	37	34	31	208
39th	443	Hugh Fitzgerald	Joe, Harry & Alfred Fitzgerald	39	33	40	37	35	32	40	35	211