Volvo Noble Marine RS400 UK & Irish Nationals at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club - Days 1 & 2
by Matthew Sheahan 27 Aug 2019 02:51 PDT
25-29 August 2019
Volvo Noble Marine RS400 UK & Irish Nationals © Bradley Quinn
Two days into the RS400 UK & Irish National Championships at Royal North of Ireland in Belfast, light winds were shuffling the points race by race leaving some of the big guns struggling to break free to the top of the table. All, that is, apart from one pair who seemed to have found order in the tricky conditions.
Day 1
Only the plane spotters in the fleet would have noticed when Belfast airport switched runways, but the move was significant. Coupled with the collapse of the cumulus clouds around Belfast city and the surrounding land to the south, the indications were that the thermal breeze that had been providing a steady ENE breeze in the loch had switched off and the SE gradient breeze that had been forecast had now taken over - even though it wasn't yet on the water's surface.
The switch caused chaos throughout most of the fleet particularly for those that had bet their positions on heading out to sea once again for the third and final beat. This time they found themselves on the wrong side off the new breeze. The result was that the fleet turned inside out for all but the front runners.
Among those to slip through unscathed was Nick Craig and Toby Lewis, fresh back into the class. Indeed, so fresh that at 7am on the day of the first race they rocked up, hot foot from the Merlin nationals in Looe with a brand new 400 that had yet to be unwrapped and proceeded to build it between breakfast and midday.
"We had to assemble everything and only used the hammer once," said Nick. "The fact that we were so late broke all the rules of championship preparation but it was that or go back to work."
By the time they launched their boat was been covered in tuning notes and strands of tape to mark the various rig settings - never has the multiple former national champions been quite so public about their settings.
On the race course, despite a poor start, Craig and Lewis (1500) forged their way to the front to take the first win of the event. Peter Kennedy and Stephane Kane (1339) from the host club were second and Stephen and Sarah Cockerill (1489) from Stokes Bay in 3rd.
For the second race and with the light 5-7 knot breeze coming offshore from the south and the tide sweeping to the east, all the visitors were back to square one when it came to decoding the conditions. But after three laps it was clear that two teams had figured things out as the Cockerills (1489) took a win with Craig/Lewis (1500) taking third to leave the pair one equal points in pole position at the end of the day.
Proving that local knowledge was handy, Paul McLaughlin and Owen McKinley (1406) from Cushendall SC finished second in the second race.
Behind them some of the favorites in the field were already carrying some big scores, shuffling the pecking order in a way we haven't seen for some time.
"At this rate I think there's going to be quite a battle in the bronze fleet this week," joked Kevin Podger (1439).
Day 2
A slight increase in wind strength to 7-8 knots and a more stable wind direction from the West suggested that racing would be more straightforward on Day 2 - it wasn't.
A new direction and an earlier start meant that anything anyone had learned about the tide was now irrelevant. In addition the tight competition in the fleet meant that after each start the pack arrived at each of the marks en-masse making it hard to break free at any point.
Approaching the first windward mark in good shape in the leading pack was no guarantee for future success, especially if you arrived on port tack.
Discovering a wall of boats on starboard that were battling to lay the mark against the ebbing tide provided nowhere to go left plenty to end up gybing before the mark in an attempt to find a gap in the wall of sail.
But once again it was Craig and Lewis (1500) that took the upper hand winning race the first race and taking second in the second.
By now, the former multiple national champions extended their overall lead there were others who were making their presence felt too as they delivered top five positions. Among them; Mark Oakey (also a former RS400 National Champion) and Ben Robertson (1463), Robert Espey and Richard McCullough (1006) from Ballyhome YC and Mike Simms and Jack Holden (1488) from Carsington SC and Arun SC.
Results after Day 2:
Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | C'ship | Division | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
1st | 1500 | Nick Craig | Tobytastic Lewis | Frensham/Burghfield | Open | Standard | 1 | ‑3 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
2nd | 1489 | Stephen Cockerill | Sarah Cockerill | Stokes Bay SC | Open | Master | 3 | 1 | ‑10 | 7 | 11 |
3rd | 1463 | Mark Oakey | Ben Robertson | Itchenor SC | Open | Standard | 6 | ‑24 | 4 | 5 | 15 |
4th | 1006 | Robert Espey | Richard McCullough | Ballyholme YC | IRL | Standard | 5 | ‑16 | 2 | 13 | 20 |
5th | 1488 | Mike Sims | Jack Holden | Carsington SC/Arun YC | Open | Standard | ‑22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 22 |
6th | 1407 | Hamish Gledhill | Andy Dawson | West Riding SC | Open | Standard | ‑17 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 23 |
7th | 1460 | Dave Exley | Mark Lunn | Leigh & Lowton SC | Open | Master | 8 | 4 | ‑12 | 11 | 23 |
8th | 1436 | Chris Penney | Jessica Rutherford | Carrickfergus SC/Holywood YC | IRL | Standard | 7 | 10 | ‑25 | 6 | 23 |
9th | 1377 | Sean Cleary | Annalise Nixon | Oxford SC | Open | Standard | ‑14 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 26 |
10th | 1481 | Howard Farbrother | Louise Hosken | QMSC | Open | Master | ‑48 | 8 | 20 | 1 | 29 |
11th | 1264 | Barry McCartin | Andrew Penney | Royal St George YC/CSBC | IRL | Standard | 16 | 9 | 6 | (RET) | 31 |
12th | 874 | Jon Gay | Amanda Henderson | Lochaber SC | Open | Standard | ‑44 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 31 |
13th | 1406 | Paul McLaughlin | Owen Mc Kinley | Cushendall SC | IRL | Standard | ‑26 | 2 | 15 | 15 | 32 |
14th | 1189 | Steve Restall | Chris Stubbs | Downs SC | Open | Master | ‑40 | 22 | 7 | 3 | 32 |
15th | 1376 | Oliver Loughhead | Tiffany Brien | Royal North of Ireland YC | IRL | Standard | ‑23 | 5 | 13 | 23 | 41 |
16th | 1339 | Peter Kennedy | Stephen Kane | Royal North of Ireland YC | IRL | Master | 2 | ‑39 | 18 | 22 | 42 |
17th | 1004 | David Jessop | John McKelvie | QMSC/SLYC/Schnellwurst | Open | Standard | 12 | 14 | ‑34 | 19 | 45 |
18th | 1405 | Liam Donnelly | Rick Mc Caig | Royal North of Ireland YC | IRL | Grand Master | 15 | ‑18 | 14 | 17 | 46 |
19th | 1452 | Govan Berridge | David Coleman | Killaloe SC | IRL | Standard | 4 | 21 | 28 | ‑39 | 53 |
20th | 875 | Jacob Ainsworth | Kayleigh Roberts | South Shields SC | Open | Standard | 21 | 12 | ‑31 | 20 | 53 |
21st | 1188 | Stephen McLernon | Ryan Wilson | Cushendall/Carrickfergus SC | IRL | Standard | ‑33 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 56 |
22nd | 1363 | Ross Ryan | Oliver Ryan‑Moore | Notts County SC | Open | Master | 20 | 20 | ‑27 | 18 | 58 |
23rd | 815 | Trevor D'Arcy | Alan McClernon | Carrickfergus SC | IRL | Standard | 13 | 30 | ‑50 | 21 | 64 |
24th | 877 | Ryan Glynn | Katie Kane | Ballyholme YC | IRL | Standard | 24 | ‑42 | 11 | 31 | 66 |
25th | 1140 | Robert O'Sullivan | Philip McGlade | MBSC | IRL | Standard | 18 | ‑46 | 24 | 24 | 66 |
26th | 1383 | Joe Scurrah | Phil Robinson | Carsington SC | Open | Standard | 10 | 35 | 23 | ‑43 | 68 |
27th | 1467 | Paul Ridgway | Bronwyn Ridgway | Leigh & Lowton SC | Open | Grand Master | ‑41 | 33 | 32 | 9 | 74 |
28th | 1484 | Mark Somerville | Joe Roberts | Bassenthwaite SC | Open | Standard | ‑36 | 36 | 22 | 16 | 74 |
29th | 888 | Hammy Baker | Barry Swanson | QYC/SLYC | IRL | Standard | 29 | 31 | 16 | ‑32 | 76 |
30th | 1439 | Kevin Podger | Heather Chipperfield | Lymington Town SC | Open | Grand Master | 31 | 34 | ‑35 | 12 | 77 |
31st | 1438 | Ross Vaughan | Andrew Vaughan | Royal North of Ireland YC | IRL | Standard | 28 | 28 | 21 | ‑34 | 77 |
32nd | 1465 | Ben Williamson | Jon Willars | Welton SC | Open | Standard | ‑27 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 77 |
33rd | 1292 | Christopher Eames | Niall Eames | SLYC | IRL | Standard | 9 | ‑38 | 37 | 33 | 79 |
34th | 1001 | Woo Kearney | Nick Thallon | Royal North of Ireland YC | IRL | Standard | 25 | 17 | ‑43 | 37 | 79 |
35th | 741 | Mikey Ferguson | Philip Adams | Ballyholme YC | IRL | Standard | 32 | 23 | ‑36 | 27 | 82 |
36th | 1353 | Robert Hastings | Rory Higgins | Royal North of Ireland YC | IRL | Standard | 38 | (DSQ) | 19 | 29 | 86 |
37th | 1429 | Neil Bevington | Alan Skeens | Lee on Solent SC | Open | Master | ‑45 | 27 | 29 | 30 | 86 |
38th | 1124 | Robert Yeamans | Nadia Yeamans | Aberdeen & Stonehaven | Open | Standard | 47 | 19 | ‑48 | 25 | 91 |
39th | 1435 | Matt Sheahan | Ellie Sheahan | Netley SC | Open | Master | 11 | ‑45 | 44 | 42 | 97 |
40th | 1345 | John Hobson | Rebecca Ogden | Notts County SC | Open | Master | 37 | 26 | ‑41 | 36 | 99 |
41st | 1501 | Ken Twemlow | Goizeder Aspe Juaristi | Notts County SC | Open | Grand Master | 19 | 44 | 39 | ‑45 | 102 |
42nd | 1152 | Mike Jacot | Rebecca Allen | Mount Batten Sailing Centre | Open | Standard | ‑53 | 40 | 30 | 38 | 108 |
43rd | 1029 | John Cunningham | Nicola Cokayne | Carsington SC | Open | Grand Master | 30 | 29 | (OCS) | 51 | 110 |
44th | 1178 | Brian Holmes | Wendy Smyth | Coleraine YC | IRL | Standard | 46 | 32 | 33 | ‑47 | 111 |
45th | 1440 | Simon Hutchinson | Ben Williams | Royal North of Ireland YC | IRL | Standard | 42 | ‑43 | 42 | 35 | 119 |
46th | 1432 | James Alsop | Simon Edwards | QMSC | Open | Standard | 50 | 37 | 38 | ‑52 | 125 |
47th | 1379 | Neil Strain | John Ferguson | Royal North of Ireland YC | IRL | Master | 35 | ‑51 | 46 | 48 | 129 |
48th | 840 | Neil Calvin | Roger Perrot | Carrickfergus SC | IRL | Standard | 34 | 47 | ‑51 | 49 | 130 |
49th | 1430 | Simon Mathews | Penny Mathews | Lancing SC | Open | Grand Master | 39 | ‑48 | 47 | 44 | 130 |
50th | 1319 | Vicki Thurston | Jenny Douglas | Dalgety Bay SC | Open | Standard | ‑54 | 41 | 52 | 41 | 134 |
51st | 1359 | Mike Upton | Trisha Clancy | Starcross YC | Open | Standard | 43 | ‑53 | 45 | 46 | 134 |
52nd | 1487 | Andy Bray | Angela Carter | Lee on Solent SC | Open | Master | 49 | ‑50 | 49 | 40 | 138 |
53rd | 1445 | Phil Britton | Mike Atkinson | Dalgety Bay SC | Open | Master | 52 | 52 | 40 | ‑53 | 144 |
54th | 824 | Jack Davies | Peter Davies | Lee on Solent SC | Open | Standard | 51 | 49 | ‑53 | 50 | 150 |