Rooster RS Elite UK National Championship at the Royal Thames Yacht Club 250th Anniversary Regatta
by Magnus Wheatley & Debbie Jarvis 15 Jun 07:17 PDT
11-15 June 2025
Russell Peters, Zeb Elliott & Greg Wells win
A brisk south-westerly breeze, with gusts above 20 knots at times, made for challenging top-end conditions for all the fleets on a very busy Solent for the Royal Thames Yacht Club 250th Anniversary Regatta. Principal Race Officer, Tim Hancock, briefed competitors at the dedicated Race Village in the Cowes Yacht Haven ahead of racing & forewarned of crowded racetracks, despite their being five dedicated course areas, with many classes converging and over-lapping.
The spectacle, however, was extraordinary, & when the Classic and Cruiser yachts got racing under way in the lee of Osborne House off the Peel Bank, they created a sight worthy of a picture postcard, thundering up towards Cowes lee-bowed on the flood tide & taking advantage of the wind bends around the Norris headland and beyond. The Cruiser Class are competing for one of the oldest and most coveted trophies in sailing with the famous '1776 Cumberland Trophy' on the line.
Down on the Hillhead plateau to the east of the Brambles Bank, the one-design classes were enjoying choppy conditions & persistent breeze that created the closest racing of the week, with the well-drilled teams benefitting in the conditions & seeing the cream rise to the top of the standings in the various championships under way.
Russell Peters, sailing alongside Greg Wells and Zeb Elliott on 'Riff Raff' successfully defended their RS Elite National Championship title after a thrilling conclusion to what has been a remarkably close championship, full of high drama right to the very end. After the UFD disqualification of Joe Llewellyn's 'Team Musto' it was a three-way shoot-out for the title between the 'Riff Raff' team, Barry & Sue Parkin with David Nicholls sailing 'Sapphire', & Ossie Stewart sailing 'More T Vicar.' Drama unfolded when the first 5 boats rounded the incorrect windward mark & launched themselves downwind. Two boats retired whilst Riff Raff & Team Musto turned round & continued to battle at the back of the fleet.
Race 9 was going to be the clincher as Ossie knew he was the only boat in the top group without a high discard result. Team race tactics in 20 knots is not easy but the top boats were all on high alert. Russell got his act together & won race 9 but Ossie found another gear in the final race to take the lead. With the whole fleet flying downwind & the sea state getting more confused & lumpy, the trick was to keep the boat driving through the waves. A number of boats were broaching & Ossie succumbed, he lost five boats whilst Russell secured a 2nd which was enough to take the title. Ossie & Tom Stewart sailing with Geoff Carvath finished as runner-up whilst Barry Parkin claimed the third spot on the podium. Joe Llewellyn posted two third places today to cement fourth overall and will be ruing the two UFD's, one to count, that blemished his overall scorecard. Great, tight racing as ever in this ultra-demanding fleet.
The majority of the fleet consists of boats from Hayling Island SC where RS Elite class racing is vibrant, it was a real bonus this week to race with the some Burnham boats; Olympians Barry & Sue Parkin came over from the US to race with us, plus new owner Joe Llewellyn requisitioned James Grant & Chris Draper to his team. We enjoyed welcoming a young team from the RTYC Academy. Tommy Darling, James Hammett & Dom Lewis are the helms of RTYC White, they won at UKTRA & Royal St George this year but stepped out of a Firefly into a borrowed a boat from Andrew Partington, sails from Russell Peters & a kite from James Yearsley. They improved with every race finishing with a 4, 6, 4 scoreline. Pretty impressive considering they cobbled everything together at the last minute. The depth of talent in the fleet is astonishing, the racing close, & compared to many classes the RS Elite in incredibly good value to buy & campaign.
Joining the RTYC 250th Anniversary Regatta has provided the RS Elite fleet with so many benefits. We had exceptional racing in a range a conditions. The socials have been amazing, the class organised welcome drinks at the Royal Yacht Squadron, a BBQ at RORC; we had two free nights to enjoy the local restaurants in Cowes & the Race Village with bar, food stalls, music & a great place to meet friends from other fleets. To finish off we held a prize-giving dinner at the Royal London YC followed by watching the celebration fireworks. Some hardy souls set off to the Crew Party with late-night entertainment provided by Olympic Gold medallist 'DJ Mark Covell'.
A fabulous regatta sailed in a wide range of conditions to provide worthy winners. Well done team Riff Raff, thank you PRO Tim Hancock, RO James Ripley & the Royal Southern YC & HISC teams on the water. Our thanks also to Rooster for supporting the event with prizes for the RS Elite class.
For more information about the regatta and results see the Anniversary Site, racing.royalthames.com
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Helm | Owner | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Riff Raff | 20 | Russell Peters | Russell Peters | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 9 | ‑17 | 1 | 2 | 31 |
| 2 | More T Vicar | 67 | Ossie Stewart | Ossie Stewart | ‑6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 35 |
| 3 | SAPPHIRE | 69 | Barry Parkin & David Nicholls | David Nicholls | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | (RET) | 7 | 8 | 39 |
| 4 | Team Musto | 7 | Joseph Llewellyn | Joe Llewellyn | 2 | (UFD) | 1 | 1 | 1 | UFD | 3 | DGA | 3 | 3 | 41.2 |
| 5 | Disco Inferno 3.2 | 61 | Matt Abbiss | Matt Abbiss | 4 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 13 | ‑14 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 54 |
| 6 | Soak Therapy | 100 | Tom Hewitson | Tom Hewitson | 7 | 2 | 4 | ‑13 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 56 |
| 7 | Foudafafa | 76 | Adrian Williams | Adrian Williams | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 4 | ‑12 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 63 |
| 8 | Lazy Daisy | 66 | Tommy Darling | | ‑14 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 67 |
| 9 | All the Gear | 107 | Neil Fulcher | Neil Fulcher | 11 | 13 | ‑15 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 81 |
| 10 | Eclipse | 44 | Elliot Caldwell | Elliot Caldwell | ‑15 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 84 |
| 11 | Vagrant | 65 | Toby Strauss and Aidan Mitchell | Toby Strauss and aidan Mitchell | 16 | 6 | 17 | 12 | 12 | 5 | (UFD) | 5 | 8 | 7 | 88 |
| 12 | Urafiki | 92 | James Yearsley | James Yearsley | 8 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 4 | ‑18 | 13 | 9 | 92 |
| 13 | Craic Addict | 15 | Nick Peters | Nick Peters | 10 | 10 | 6 | 9 | 13 | ‑14 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 97 |
| 14 | Blind Squirrel | 83 | Bill Blank | Bill Blank | ‑18 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 17 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 104 |
| 15 | Lite Bloo | 6 | Ady Ward | Ady Ward | 12 | 15 | 13 | ‑18 | 14 | 8 | 15 | 8 | 16 | 11 | 112 |
| 16 | The Doctor | 46 | Pete Copsey | Pete Copsey | 3 | 7 | 12 | 14 | 15 | (UFD) | 18 | DNC | DNC | DNC | 132 |
| 17 | Merlin | 93 | Simon Radford | Simon Radford | 19 | 16 | 14 | (DNC) | DNC | 11 | 8 | 12 | 17 | 17 | 135 |
| 18 | Aurora | 84 | Nick Roberts & Fraser Elms | Fraser Elms | ‑20 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 140 |
| 19 | Ellanore | 13 | Graham Dale‑Jones | Graham Dale‑Jones | 13 | (DNF) | DNC | 19 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 18 | DNC | 159 |
| 20 | Wombat | 55 | Mark Holliday | Mark Holliday | 17 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 18 | 19 | 16 | 19 | (DNC) | 161 |
