Gul RS200 Grand Prix at Highcliffe Sailing Club

Highcliffe Sailing Club hosted 26 RS200s for round two of the Gul RS200 Circuit on the 21st/22nd April. Bright skies and a light offshore breeze beckoned the fleet on Saturday morning, but pretty quickly it was apparent that the clouds motoring overhead from the North West were going to make racing somewhat tricky.

Race 1 started with the right hand side of the first beat paying followed by some punchy gusts coming through downwind as the clouds began to play their part. James Peters and Alan Roberts took the race, followed by the brothers Rusden in second.

Race 2 was more of the same, with the clouds bringing big shifts and big gusts into the race, this time Mark Heather and Ed Cowell made the most of the conditions to take the race win with Ed Whitehead and Alice Kingsnorth chasing them in second.

Race 3 and the clouds decided to play properly, the top reach was marred by a big increase in breeze leaving a number of swimmers. By the top of the second beat the breeze had increased to a good force six with hailstones, and the race officer, (clearly a 200 sailor in disguise) decided we'd much prefer to be in the bar than swimming, the race was abandoned.

After wounds were licked and boats repaired, Highcliffe SC treated the fleet to some excellent food and ale while we all worked out what fleet we had been seeded in for the event. The 200 fleet is trialling a system whereby the Gold/Silver Bronze fleets are calculated from national ranking and seeded on an event by event basis against who has turned up – this certainly adds to the entertainment and gives everyone something to race for.

Day 2 and the conditions were suspiciously like day 1, sun shining, clouds lurking in the background. Race four maintained a deceptively light wind and sunny start to the day, with Mark Heather once again finding himself at the front of the fleet followed by the Rusdens. However races 5 & 6 resulted in a building breeze and two much more exciting races. James Peters and Alan Roberts won both the remaining races (despite a capsize on their last gybe) as the wind and waves built to fresh to frightening. Those who survived the last race were rewarded with a superb last reach into the finish – 200 racing at its best.

So the event was won overall by James Peter and Alan Roberts showing consistency to discard a third place. Mark Heather and Ed Cowell took second place with the Rusden brothers in third place. First in the silver fleet and fourth place went to Ed Whitehead and Alice Kingsnorth in 4th while the Bronze fleet was won by Dave Steed and Katharine Lovering in 7th overall.

Many thanks to Highcliffe Sailing Club for providing such well organised racing and great hospitality.

Overall Results: