RS500 Rooster National Tour at Gurnard Sailing Club
by Bob Preston 8 Jul 05:05 PDT
5-6 July 2025
RS500 Rooster National Tour - Gurnard Championships © Jenny Preston
Saturday morning at Gurnard Sailing Club on the Isle of Wight started with a familiar sense of déjà vu from last year: The wind just topping the feasible strength to start the RS500 Open and Club Championships, and the opposing tide compressing the friendly playing field and creating unfriendly steep waves offshore.
After an hour's postponement filled with Tea and Bacon rolls, veteran Race Officer, Steve Cole, wisely conceded that we would leave the water to the wingfoilers, kite surfers and windsurfers. In an act of misplaced generosity an extra race starting an hour earlier on Sunday was added to the schedule.
Saturday night saw the return of another fantastic Gurnard Hawaiian Party BBQ, following which Sunday arrived with a friendly 15-18kts, wind against tide. Race 1 started with 7x RS500s in full aggression on the start line with Tim and Heather Wilkins having to return to behind the line. The fleet took the opportunity to catch the tidal conveyor belt for shorter up winds, and long blasts down the waves downwind. Bob and Isla Preston managed to keep the lead from the enclosing Hugh and Luke Watson, with Luke and Will Bradley securing third place in front of Tim and Heather.
The wind relaxed a little in Race 2, with crews shifting to non-trapezing dynamics for downwind VMG with many position changes. Tim and Heather cleared their heads from the Pimms the night before (Well organised Isla!) and found their turbo to take the win, with Hugh and Luke repeating their second place. Emma and Luke McEwen scored their best result in the less stressful conditions.
The wind returned with an extra push for Race 3, which was a long trip on the tide beating up the Island shore then an extended downwind blast with such close fleet proximity there was no throttling back: full send and fast gybes kept the adrenaline pumping to numb the aching muscles. Thomas Leather and Maeve Hall re-familiarising themselves after extensive other-boat-experiences just lost out on third on the final drag race to the finish.
16yr old Samuel Leather with new crew Orla Gradwell, retired to shore after an inspiring effort in the first three races. For the rest of the fleet Race 4 shook up the course format with a wild 3 sail reach across the Solent to the mainland and back, in giant waves and consistently strong breeze. At the end of the day it was still the same two boats exuding superior boat speed and faultless handling. Congratulations Tim and Heather, and well for the valiant effort to shake them from the podium, Hugh and Luke, who ended up in second, with Bob and Isla Preston taking third.
Many thanks to all the volunteers that delivered the racing, safety cover and food for all the classes from Teras through ILCAs, Aeros, RS500s to catamarans. Also, thanks to Rooster and North Sails for the generous prizes.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 920 | Tim Wilkins | Heather Wilkins | Gurnard SC | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 2nd | 1746 | Hugh Watson | Luke Watson | Emsworth SC | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 3rd | 857 | Bob Preston | Isla Preston | Gurnard SC | 1 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 4th | 842 | Luke Bradley | Will Bradley | Gurnard SC | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 14 |
| 5th | 922 | Thomas Leather | Maeve Hall | Gurnard SC | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 20 |
| 6th | 978 | Emma McEwen | Luke McEwen | Royal Lymington YC | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 23 |
| 7th | 652 | Samuel Leather | Orla Gradwell | Gurnard SC | DNF | 7 | DNF | DNC | 31 |