Gul RS300 Grand Prix at Sheffield Viking Sailing Club
by Matt Jenkins 24 Apr 2012 13:09 PDT
21-22 April 2012
8 visitors joined 3 home boats for the first RS300 Gul Grand Prix over the weekend of the 21st – 22nd April at Sheffield Viking Sailing Club. They were greeted with the welcome smell of frying bacon and a fresh 3-4 westerly blowing straight down the lake. Perfect.
Local knowledge helped Jenkins shoot to an early lead on the 1st lap of race 1, only for a gear failure force an early retirement. This left Bolland locked in a close battle for 1st, eventually emerging victorious from Sharman and Bishop.
A challenging course was set for race 2 with a rising blustery breeze. There were many casualties with most swimming at some stage apart from the evergreen Barry Steel, demonstrating great boat handling to record a 6th place. Bishop blasted into a commanding lead, but was eventually overhauled by Sharman with Ellis in 3rd. Following gear failure, Bolland struggled to cope with conditions in a borrowed boat and retired gracefully back to Bristol.
A steadier, but still fresh breeze saw some fantastic sailing conditions in race 3. It was a Viking 1-2 with Jenkins taking the race win from Bishop and Sharman in 3rd. Bruised and battered, the fleet were still smiling after a vintage days racing in bright sunshine. A months worth of fuel had been used on the rescue boats to keep the fleet safe with an unbelievable amount of gybing practice fitted into 3 hrs of sailing.
Sunday was held in a much steadier 2-3, with extremely close racing throughout the fleet. Jenkins just managed to hold off Pyett, who found another gear in race 4 to take 2nd from Sharman in 3rd. Steel had a flying start in race 5 with Jenkins eventually taking the win from Sharman and Keen (joining the Sundays racing) in 3rd. It all came down to the last race, with Bishop sneaking away in the fickle breeze to take his first bullet of the weekend. Jenkins held on to 2nd from Sharman which was enough to give him the overall regatta. Only 3 points separated the top 3, with Sharman in 2nd and Bishop in 3rd.
Thanks to Sheffield Viking SC for hosting the event at late notice and putting on a great show with warm northern hospitality.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm |
|---|
| 1 | 323 | Matt Jenkins |
| 2 | 366 | Matt Sharman |
| 3 | 370 | Phil Bishop |
| 4 | 457 | Paul Thompson |
| 5 | 500 | Pete Ellis |
| 6 | 354 | Mark Newton |
| 7 | 525 | Barry Steel |
| 8 | 328 | Tim Keen |
| 9 | 391 | David Jenkins |
| 10 | 411 | Steve Bolland |
| 11 | 516 | Andy Pyett |