RS300 National Championships at Pwllheli Sailing Club - Day 3
by Sam Sutton-Reid 10 Sep 2012 17:19 BST
8-11 September 2012
Day 3 started with a bit of a draft and a few ripples... Scratch that, it was proper windy and there were huge waves... Another 'interesting day' ahead!
Race 1 saw Matt Jenkins (Sheffield Viking) dominate the pin end and therefore the start. Jenkins went left and showed excellent pace (for a little lad) all the way up the beat.
At the 1st mark Jenkins had 1st with Steve Bolland (Bristol Corinthian) in 2nd and Adrian Acres (Emsworth) in 3rd
On the reach Acres went low and showed excellent pace starting to reel the top two in. Even with this excellent pace positions remained the same.
On to the run, Acres gybed early for the more direct but higher risk route with Jenkins and Bolland playing it a little safer. Acres gamble paid off and by the bottom of the run he had moved in to 2nd taking Bolland.
The second reach saw Acres try to go over Jenkins, they side by side, they both went round together - it was beautiful racing. Bolland stayed in 3rd and out of nowhere Harry McVicar ((supported by Harry's Dad) Aldenham) had appeared in 4th
The second beat split the leaders, Acres and Jenkins went right with Bolland left. At the windward mark it was apparent that left paid with Bolland taking Acres back. Fortunately for Jenkins he held on to 1st.
On to the final downwind leg (of this race at least); Bolland took first down the reach and held on down the run (almost certainly his best run of the weekend). Acres fell in on the run but managed to right quickly to minimise the damage.
It seemed that Bolland could just run away and take the race win; unfortunately it wasn't to be. Bolland didn't know where the final mark was, missing it, then realising, then trying to turn back and ending up in the water. This left Jenkins to take the win with Acres in 2nd and McVicar in 3rd.
The wind built for the start of Race 2 (and would continue to build for the whole race). Silver Fleet favourite Richard Le Mare (Draycote) won the Starboard end with Bishop and Jenkins on the pin.
The first beat seemed to favour the right and with that Bolland took the first mark, Jenkins 2nd and Bishop just in 3rd (having squeezed inside Le Mare)
On the reach places remained static. The run was 'a little trickier', Le Mare stacked it and many others almost did. Bolland managed his 2nd successful run of the day. At the leeward mark Bolland was in 1st, Bishop 2nd and Jenkins in 3rd.
On the second beat Bolland and Bishop went right with Jenkins going left. Even with the split places remained the same as the leaders rounded the windward mark.
So, downwind for the final time that day, now we were so practised this was going to be easy surely? Not so, the waves were bigger, the wind had built to around 26-28 knots – in short the whole fleet found it challenging.
The unbelievably fit Bolland was the first to go, and indeed he set the tone for the rest of the run. Other Capsizes included; Jenkins, Bishop, Acres, Sutton-Reid, pretty much everyone.
29 year old Bishop managed to get it up quicker than everyone else and therefore taking the bullet and his second race win of the week. Jenkins came through in 2nd taking the Day Trophy with Acres in 3rd.
So three days down, one to go. Let's take stock of where we are.
The club trophy is being lead by Sheffield Viking by 6 points, with one of their boats now out with a broken mast it's all going to be quite tight on the final day, Prestwick are in hot pursuit.
A rig wise Mark Henman is ahead by 3 points from Mark 'Sparky' Newton – Another trophy that is going to go down to the wire.
Overall Acres is in first with a 2 points lead over Bishop who in turn has a 2 points ahead of Jenkins - with only 7 points separating the top five it really is going to be a close for the final day tomorrow.
Results after Day 3:
| Pos | Rig | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | B | 480 | David Acres | Emsworth/Thorny SC | 3 | -6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| 2nd | B | 370 | Phil Bishop | Sheffield Viking SC | -7 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 15 |
| 3rd | B | 323 | Matt Jenkins | Sheffield Viking SC | 5 | 4 | -9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 17 |
| 4th | B | 514 | Sam Sutton-Reid | Royal Harwich Yacht Club | -8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 18 |
| 5th | B | 411 | Steve Bolland | Bristol Corinthain YC | 2 | 5 | 5 | 1 | -7 | 7 | 20 |
| 6th | B | 416 | Neil Beveridge | Prestwick SC | -9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 25 |
| 7th | B | 523 | Harry McVicar | Aldenham SC | 1 | 10 | 10 | (DNS) | 3 | 5 | 29 |
| 8th | B | 366 | Matthew Sharman | Delph SC | 4 | 7 | 8 | 8 | -12 | 4 | 31 |
| 9th | B | 426 | Richard Le Mare | Draycote Water SC | -20 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 39 |
| 10th | B | 403 | David McCardel | Prestwick SC | 6 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 9 | (DNF) | 43 |
| 11th | B | 360 | Andy Flitcroft | Bolton SC | 10 | 8 | 12 | (DNS) | 11 | 12 | 53 |
| 12th | A | 450 | Mark Henman | Sunderland YC | -16 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 65 |
| 13th | A | 354 | Mark Newton | Thorney Island SC | 17 | (DNF) | DNF | 10 | 10 | 10 | 68 |
| 14th | B | 336 | Mark Taylor | Prestwick SC | 14 | 9 | (DNF) | 11 | DNF | DNS | 76 |
| 15th | B | 500 | Pete Ellis | Aldenham SC | 15 | (DNF) | DNF | DNS | 13 | 11 | 81 |
| 16th | B | 476 | Terry Brooks | Oxford SC | 12 | 13 | (DNF) | DNS | DNC | DNC | 88 |
| 17th | B | 431 | Graham Cooper | Castle Cove SC | 18 | (DNF) | DNS | DNS | 15 | 13 | 88 |
| 18th | B | 516 | Andrew Pyett | Combs SC | 11 | (DNF) | DNS | DNS | DNF | DNS | 95 |
| 19th | B | 391 | David Jenkins | Sheffield Viking SC | 13 | (DNS) | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | 97 |
| 20th | B | 508 | Alan Sinclair | Prestwick SC | 19 | (DNS) | DNS | DNS | DNF | DNS | 103 |