Noble Marine RS800 National Championship at Castle Cove Sailing Club - Day 2

Day two of the Noble Marine RS800 Nationals saw three cracking races in champagne conditions.

The decision was made by the race team this morning to not send us into Weymouth Bay. This proved well informed considering the building wind as the day progressed, with a lovely 20-25 knot breeze for the final race. The wind had swung round to a steady south westerly overnight meaning we got three, three lap races across the full length of Portland Harbour. The RS800 fleet has been unusually well behaved so far with not a single general recall, or U flag penalty in sight! Today was no exception with three clean starts off three great start lines from the race team.

In Race One Tom Morris and Guy Filmore, and Rob Gullan and Tom Partington, as they had done in the two races yesterday, did their trick of sailing off into the horizon leaving the rest of the pack battling it out for third. Best of the rest was Phil Walker and John Mather who seemed to be in fine form today. James Penty and Eddie Grayson followed in fourth, managing to hold off Luke and Emma McEwen to round off the top five.

Noble Marine RS800 National Championships 2021 - photo © Richard Bowers

Race Two saw a much closer battle for positions early on as a big bunch rounded the first windward mark together onto the almighty (and occasionally pretty sketchy) drag race that is the two sail reach. I had to check the results to find out the placings in this race as a capsize at the final gate before the finish left me thinking more about my breaststroke form then who was sailing past us. I'm reliably informed that Tom and Guy claimed the bullet again. And the usual suspects found their way into the following places: Rob and Tom took second, Hugh Shone and Fiona Hampshire took third, and Paul and Peter Jenkins with a much better day today took fourth with a solid fifth from Maria Stanley and Tom Darling.

Safety crews had to deal with Chris Feibusch's new porthole which led to a lengthy postponement before we could get Race Three under way. Crews who had got a bit chilly in the long wait were quickly warmed up as we set to it in the biggest breeze of the day. It didn't seem to matter which side of the beat you hit as long as you were sailing flat and fast and Tom and Guy once again showed us why they're defending champions as they led from start to finish. Rob and Tom sailed another fantastic race to finish second but the pack, unlike the first race of the day, were hot on their tails. James and Eddie finished off the day with a third and Castle Cove sailors Sam Pascoe and Isaac Lines closed out a solid day with a fourth and Phil and John took fifth.

Noble Marine RS800 National Championships 2021 - photo © Richard Bowers

A fantastic day's sailing saw Tom and Guy posting three bullets, claiming the yellow bibs and leading overnight. Fingers crossed for more good breeze tomorrow!

Thanks to sponsorship from RS Sailing the sailors were welcomed ashore by a can of chilled pop or booze in return for handing in their tally.

Noble Marine RS800 National Championships 2021 - photo © Richard Bowers

Our daily prize-giving was sponsored by Noble Marine. Tom and Guy, and Rob and Tom collected insulated water bottles. Tom and Guy also collected caps, After Eight Mints and this season's smart RS Class Association UV neck sleeves for their race wins across day one and two. Thank you Noble Marine and very well Tom and Guy!

Results after Day 2: