Rockshore Bosun Bobs RS400 Winter Series at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club - Day 3

Day 3 of the Rockshore / Bosun Bobs RS400 Winter Series at Royal North of Ireland YC © Zac Dalzell

Day 3 of the Rockshore / Bosun Bobs RS400 Winter Series at Royal North of Ireland YC © Zac Dalzell

After last week's crash and burn single race, this week the sailors were met by a more manageable 14-20 kts from the south west, but about 10 degrees colder. Bob "The Bosun" Hastings had done a good job on the RS400 whatsapp group rounding up and encouraging a good turn out, so 19 boats arrived on the start line.

Our feminine side was boosted by the arrival of Sharon Corkhill in her first outing since motherhood, Jocelyn Hill in her newly-acquired RS400, and Jane Kearney, recent runner up in the Champions Cup.

The first race start line was busy with a short line set and most of the fleet trying to pick the berth beside the start boat on the slight starboard bias. Robert Hastings got away cleanly to lead at the first mark with Peter Kennedy and Liam Donnelly recovering from poor starts by getting a nice right hand shift after bailing out to the right.

Hastings lost his mojo on the downwind allowing Kennedy to take the whistle at the finish. Barry McCartin had overcompensated for arriving late for last week's race by arriving early for this week's race climbing his way back to fourth after his restart.

There was a short delay whilst the rescue team attended to a couple of fallers, including Jane Kearney who headbutted her boat and came off second best. Dan Sherriff's mast was making ominous noises, so they called it quits too.

The second start was cleaner with Kennedy, McCartin (recently fourth in the Champions Cup) and Donnelly taking advantage of a left hand shift off from the middle of the start line; this was the order at the top of the second beat, but Kennedy dropped his mainsheet and rolled in to windward. Which amused the two chasers greatly, McCartin keeping the lead to the finish.

The third race was a humdinger with 6 boats vying for the lead all the way round, Tom Purdon with the lead at the first mark; Donnelly's masterstoke was an early gybe to take advantage of a nice shift and gust to plane into the lead and ultimate victory; Andrew Vaughan also took a lot of places on both downwinds, but in second place with only the last mark to round his spinnaker halyard knotted and he slid down the snake to his worst place of the day.

12 boats finished the third race, which was much less attrition than the previous week, but windchill was playing its part and race officer Gerry Reid decided it would be prudent to get the fleet ashore safely before any major mishaps and called off the planned fourth race.

Congratulations to the evergreen Liam Donnelly for winning the day with scores 2,2,1.

Day 3 of the Rockshore / Bosun Bobs RS400 Winter Series at Royal North of Ireland YC - photo © Zac Dalzell

Day 3 Results:

Series so far overall: