RS400 Gul Grand Prix - 400s receive a warm welcome at Felixstowe

by Tiffany Willcox on 20 Jul 2010 RS400 Gul Grand Prix’s sixth event saw the 400’s visit Felixstowe Ferry Sailing Club on the 17th & 18th July.

The forecast was for a breezy event, which seemed to deter some of the boats heading off to Garda the following week. 12 boats did however compete in this fantastic event.

The 400’s were made to feel very welcome at Felixstowe. After some negotiation out of the river mouth on a flooding tide, through the channel, dodging sandbanks, the race started without any hesitation in a breezy and choppy sea.

Out the blocks early was 1351 (Ian Robson and Sandy Johnson), 1051 (Andy Narn and Alex Park) and 615 (Willcox and Willcox) all making a bee line for the left of the course to get into the stronger tide. This was the order round the first mark.

The front boats pulled away, but an unfortunate capsize on the last run put Andy and Alex back into fifth giving Graeme and Tiff second and Fulford and Fulford third. The next two races were sailed in a building breeze, with gust approaching 30 knots at times and large wind shifts off the shore allowing gains to be made or lost on the windward/ leeward course.

Although the large shifts gave the mark layers headaches at times, the races were run smartly and credit to the race officer and his team for this.

The sailors enjoyed a lovely dinner and many stayed around the table discussing the days sailing as well as many other interesting topics, such as gardening. Roger Lewis hosted a pub quiz to round off the evening’s entertainment.

Sunday dawned and the wind had died down and the sun was out. A hearty breakfast was supplied by the FFSC catering staff and enjoyed by the fleet in preparation for the hard days sailing which lay ahead.

During the course of the morning the wind had increased and with a flooding tide, the majority of the racing was held in slightly less choppy conditions than the previous day. Although with a more onshore wind, there was a little more ground swell to contend with.

The first race got under way and beating into the tide meant staying out of the deeper water. Ian and Sandy again show the way with Graeme/Tiff and Andy/Alex chasing hard followed by 779 James Bottoms and Anne Hulbert.

A poor drop by Graeme and Tiff left the door open for Andy and Alex and this is how the race finished. With the tide slaking off the sea started to get choppier. This gave the fleet the opportunity for some great downwind surfing and some unfortunate swims on the gybes.

The second race of the day Ian and Sandy were getting into their stride and lead from the beginning, with the rest of the fleet chasing hard, with Fiona and Ian Lewis getting into the groove and getting themselves a third followed by Bob and Maria Peak.

The final race of the day was held with seven of the fleet still left out on the course. The final race was won by Graeme and Tiff followed by Andy/Alex and Simon Scammel and Matt Read finishing off with a third.

A big thank you to Felixstowe Ferry Sailing club for the hard work put into the event, a professionally run regatta coupled with great weather meant this was a great event.

Results

Rank	SailNo	HelmName	CrewName	Total	Nett
1st	1351	Ian Robson	Sandy Johnson	19.0	6.0
2nd	615	Graeme Willcox	Tiffany Willcox	12.0	9.0
3rd	1051	Andy Narn	Alex Park	20.0	15.0
4th	744	Fiona Lewis	Iain Lewis	30.0	24.0
5th	1111	Fulford	Fulford	41.0	28.0
6th	739	Simon Scammel	Matt Read	43.0	30.0
7th	628	Bob Peak	Maria Peak	55.0	42.0
8th	779	James Bottoms	Anne Hulbert	56.0	43.0
9th	697	Roger Lewis	Steph Cook	56.0	43.0
10th	1352	Alex Cooper	Dan Hilling	73.0	60.0
11th	896	David Donnelly	Carolyn Tobin	78.0	65.0
11th	1365	Jon Hughes	Andy Moss	78.0	65.0

 

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