Rooster West Country Boat Repairs RS400 Southern Tour at Chichester Yacht Club

by Nick Colbourne 9 Mar 2022 23:01 AEDT 5 March 2022

A cold grey day greeted 23 visiting boats from all over the country for the first event of the season for the Rooster West Country Boat Repairs RS400 Southern Tour 2022.

The spirited Northerly breeze ensured some spectacular reaches providing excellent spectator sport as the powerful gusts swept through the fleet around the windward/leeward course.

In the first race Ben and Roz McGrane, from Netley SC, opened up a commanding lead with Jack Holden and Jono Price from Arun YC holding second place securely throughout. Sam Knight and Chris Bownes from Bartley SC near Birmingham climbed through the fleet to finish third, while there were some spectacular capsizes among the rest of the fleet.

In race 2, the McGranes swiftly established a lead and were never headed while there was considerable place changing behind them. Steve and Sarah Cockerill worked their way up from 5th to 2nd with Jon Heissig and Nicky Griffin, from Llangorse SC in the Brecon Beacons, sailing well to make up from 7th to 3rd.

In a series with no discarded results, the McGranes needed to sail the final race and had to work a little harder having followed Jack and Jono until part way through the second lap. After that Jon and Nicky sailed fast to recover from 5th to finish 2nd ahead of Jack and Jono.

The final results show 1309 Ben and Roz McGrane in first place with the perfect score line total of 3 points, followed by 1505 Jack Holden and Jono Price second with 10 points just ahead of 1502 Jon Heissig and Nicky Griffin in third with 11 points and 1502 Sam Knight and Chris Bownes with 12 points.

A brilliant day of exciting and skilful sailing!

More photos can be found here...

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	1309	Ben McGrane	Roz McGrane	Netley SC	1	1	1	3
2nd	1505	Jack Holden	Jono Price	Arun YC	2	5	3	10
3rd	1502	Jon Heissig	Nicky Griffin	Llangorse SC	6	3	2	11
4th	1376	Sam Knight	Chris Bownes	Bartley SC	3	4	5	12
5th	1515	Stephen Cockerill	Sarah Cockerill	Stokes Bay SC	10	2	4	16
6th	1235	Sam Pickering	Emily Heath	Itchenor SC	5	7	6	18
7th	1312	Ian Walker	Chris Fox	Warsash SC/Itchenor SC	7	6	7	20
8th	1509	Jack Munnelly	Trisha Clancy	Bartley SC	11	10	8	29
9th	1377	Neil Bevington	Alan Skeens	Lee on the Solent SC	8	11	10	29
10th	971	Simon Kitchen	Abbi Hooper	Grafham Water SC	12	9	9	30
11th	1472	Douglas Clow	Ian Peace	Island Barn SC	14	15	11	40
12th	1479	Mick Whitmore	Sarah Whitmore	Eastbourne Sovereign SC	4	12	DNF	41
13th	1489	David Swift	Rob Burgess	Warsash SC	15	13	13	41
14th	1175	Fred Lord	Louise Gale	Carsington SC	9	8	DNF	42
15th	1384	Trevor Newley	Martin Wilson	Emsworth SC	13	14	15	42
16th	1519	Steve Broomfield	Jenni Lewis	Lymington Town SC	16	17	12	45
17th	1521	Andy Powell	Paul Caiger‑Watson	Warsash SC	17	19	14	50
18th	1031	Sean Curtis	Simon Goldfarb	Eastbourne Sovereign SC	18	16	16	50
19th	1064	Richard Watney	Grant Shoebridge	Hayling Island SC	19	DNF	17	61
20th	1330	James Oppe	Nick Oppe	Chichester SC	DSQ	18	18	61
21st	1321	Mark Cockrill	Jules Hines	Netley SC	20	20	DNC	65
22nd	1060	Peter Pickford		Thorney Island SC	DNC	DNC	DNC	75
22nd	1382	Andrew Hunt	Matthew Hunt	Eastbourne Sovereign SC	DNF	DNC	DNC	75
22nd	679	Henry Morgan	David Morgan	Thornbury SC	DNC	DNC	DNF	75