RS400 Gul Grand Prix 2011 at Arun YC

by Howard Farbrother on 16 Jul 2011 RS400 Gul Grand Prix 2011 was hosted by Arun Yacht Club, Littlehampton over the weekend of 9th and 10th July.

On Saturday sixteen RS400s pitched up ready to take on the unrelenting good humour and always generous welcome of the host club Arun YC. Unfortunately a 25kt breeze proved a tad too much to guarantee the safe return of all boats, so despite a mass outbreak of pouting, Saturday’s racing was canned with the promise of an earlier start and five back to back races outlined for the following day. A wise decision as it turned out, the Shoreham Bay data showed the breeze held steady between 'better phone Noble' and 'aaaaargh' all day long, only dropping off in the evening, ready for the next day’s fun.

Sunday, and a much more competitive SW’ly F3-4 was on show, with outbreaks of sunshine and intermittent whooping. Race one kicked off with much anticipation, with Howard Farbrother/Dan Martin of Queen Mary (1251) leading the pack around the first buoy, with much jostling for position and place-changing from the closely following pack. The leeward gate proved useful for some, with Tim Garvin and Louise Hosken (976) of Queen Mary pulling a rabbit out of a big hat on lap two by being alone to take the starboard gate mark, and jumping five places in the process to second, which they held until the finish. John Cooper and Becci Wigley (1325) of Lymington Town climbed remorselessly through the pack to take third from Dick Holden and Olly Miller (428) of the home club.

Race two followed the first very quickly, and again Farbrother/Martin managed to sneak around the top mark in the lead, closely followed by Cooper/Wigley. Steve Jones and Anne Dwyer (1190) of Chew Valley fought it out with Paul Browning and Chris Martin (680) of Thames SC/Queen Mary for third and fourth as the lead two opened a gap on the fleet, with Cooper/Wigley beating Farbrother/Martin to the gybe on the last run, resulting in a much deserved line honours for the Lymington team.

Race three kicked off in a F3 with Browning/Martin beating the fleet to the first windward mark, and leading until an overwhelming urge to sail to France on the following windward leg let 1251 slip through into first. Positions that were held until the finish, with Paul and Mark Oakey of Portchester (1384) taking third, and Garvin/Hosken, with a renewed supply of rabbits, fourth.

The Race Officer took pity on the fleet and gave a 15min break while the wind filled in again to a decent F4 and swung by 10degs. This caused some congestion on the start line and led to the only general recall of the day, and in the following race the usual suspects surfaced and completed the race with Farbrother/Martin first, Cooper/Wigley second, Jones/Dwyer third, and Paul and Mark Oakey fourth.

For the final race of the day gusts up to nearly 19kts were spotted and whooping resumed. Farbrother/Martin sped off, closely followed by the steadily improving Simon Palmer and Oliver Taylor of Locks SC in the shiny new 1387 who took a deserved second place, followed by the ever consistent Lymington Lurkers Cooper/Wigley (third), and James George/Izzy Mitchell (1139) of Queen Mary taking fourth.

This left Farbrother/Martin with an unarguable first place overall, with Cooper/Wigley in second, Jones/Dwyer of the distant Chew Valley in third, and Paul and Mark Oakey of Portchester in fourth place overall.

Thanks are due to Arun and her able team of volunteers, for first class race management and undiminished hospitality, while the Gul Grand Prix moves onto Aldeburgh on the 22nd and 23rd July – the last Grand Prix before the RS Games on 18th August.

Results:
1st - Howard Farbrother and Dan Martin
2nd - John Cooper and Becci Wigley
3rd - Steve Jones and Anne Dwyer
4th - Paul and Mark Oakey
5th - James George and Izzi Martin
6th - Paul Browning and Chris Martin
7th - Simon Palmer and Oliver Taylor
8th - Dick Holden and Olly Miller
9th - Tim Garvin and Louise Hosken
10th - Nick and Nick Zammit
11th - David Robinson and Nicola Hortrin
12th - Dan and Cassie Hawkins
13th - James Cutler and Jane Bromley
14th - Jack Holden and Bruno Van UK RS Association website