RS Aero European Championship at Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy - Day 4
by RS Aero International Class Association 5 Aug 03:00 PDT
1-5 August 2022
Day 4, the penultimate day of the RS Aero European Championship, provided new racing challenges. Racing was out in Weymouth Bay with a 8-12kn north westerly off the shore making the race course thick with opportunities as regular shifts and gusts came down the race course. That made positioning and decision making a bigger focus now than boat speed. With the north westerly sailors enjoyed a nice fast reach in and out of the harbour to the race area.
Winning races in the RS Aero 5s was Andrew Frost (GBR), Tom Ahlheid (GBR) and Ed Day (GBR). Chloe George (GBR) retained her lead overall with a 2,14,4 and the chasing pack is made up of Roscoe Martin (GBR) Andrew Frost (GBR) and Tom Ahlheid (GBR).
In the RS Aero 6s Chris Hatton’s (GBR) did not have it all his own way this time with Ants Haavel (EST) and Graham Tribbeck (GBR) gaining race wins. Chris takes a good lead into the final day with Ants, Luca Mitchell (GBR) and Chris Rust (GBR) all challenging for podium places.
Ben Whaley (GBR) took two wins in the RS Aero 7s, revelling in the lighter sniggly race course. Craig Williamson (GBR) continued his good form from the day before with another win. Martis Pajarskas (LTU) holds his lead into the final day with a 4,9,2 with Vejas Strelciunas (LTU), Tim Hire (GBR)and Craig in the hunt for the podium places.
The RS Aero 9s enjoyed a slightly lighter breeze to rest their legs a little whilst still loving the extra power for exciting down winds through the baby waves. Peter Barton (GBR) sealed the title with a 1,1,1 clinching a couple of them in the final stages. Ben Charnley (GBR) made a comeback for the silver with a 2,2,3 and goes into the final day tied for 2nd with Chris Larr (GBR).
The day ended with a daily awards through the fleet and customary sharing of top tips by the day’s leaders. Gold medallist and newcomer to the RS Aero 5 fleet, Lijia Xu (CHN), then give a talk and fielded questions to a captivated audience on both her downwind technique and her general thoughts so far on how to best make an RS Aero sail fast.
It looks like a similar day out in Weymouth Bay for Day 5, enabling sailors to put the lessons learnt on Day 4 into practice!
Check out the photos of the day by Digital Sailing with 50% Discount code 'RSGAMES’ until 20th August, www.digitalsailing.co.uk
Thanks to all the supporters of the RS Games; RS Sailing, Rooster, Selden, Harken, Noble Marine, Kingfisher Yacht Ropes, LifeJacket Skin Protection, Spinlock, Fernhurst Books, Hyde Sails, MarkSetBot, Digital Sailing and Allen Sailing.
Full results available here.