RS400 Rope4Boats Northern Tour at Notts County Sailing Club

Windward mark rounding during the Notts County RS400 Open © David Eberlin

Leeward mark rounding during the Notts County RS400 Open © David Eberlin

Flood warnings, cold weather, and on Saturday morning fog and light winds - nothing seemed to put off the 30 boats that arrived at Notts County Sailing Club on 9th / 10th November for the RS400 Open, part of the RS400 Northern Championship. Competitors travelled from Shoreham on the south coast, Bassenthwaite, Lochaber, and many other areas in between.

The fog soon cleared, though the wind was calm. At around noon the wind was light but enough for the windward leeward racing. Three races were held back to back and racing was close and competitive, with Sean Cleary and Annalise Nixon (Oxford SC) taking the first race, and Michael Sims and Mark Lunn taking the next two races to lead after the first day. At least the threatened rain held off, though the water level was much higher than normal as the adjacent brook flowed into the lake.

Then it was a roast and sweet courtesy of Pauline, along with the odd pint or glass of wine and more as the evening social got underway.

Sunday saw a little more wind and that rare commodity blue sky and sunshine, lifting the spirits in spite of the cold. A race was started at 10am to allow all to come ashore, or hove to to observe two minutes silence in remembrance of the fallen. Soon after 11.02, the course was moved due to a shift and racing was off again with two back to back races.

Michael Sims and Mark Lunn took a first and a third to establish a clear lead after the discard, with Sean Cleary and Annalise Nixon scoring thirds and second to finish runner up, a point ahead of Richard Catchpole and Gary Coop from Leigh and Loughton SC. Fourth were Dave Exley and Izzy Reynolds from Leith and Loughton.

Overall Results: