RS600 National Championships at Pwllheli Sailing Club after Day 3
by Nicola Holden 11 Sep 2012 10:41 BST
8-11 September 2012
Day 1
A warm welcome greeted a select group of 13 600 sailors with bright sunshine, blue water and snowdonia in the background Pwhelli is a great location. Unfortunatly the forecast 8-10 knots didn't fully materailise and we were left with 6 knots and a flat sea.
Race 1
The first race got away keenly, slightly two keenly for two Paignton pirates who were over the line, only Alan Goule went back enough and Chris Blackburn recorded the first ocs on the results sheet.
The wind hovered around 6 knots with some big shifts and pressure changes the upwind legs were a real snakes and ladders.
Jamie Mawson showed the early form by leading round the first mark closely followed by Pete Nelson.
At the leeward mark Jamie carried on right, Pete tacked off left.
Large shifts and windless patches gave lots of place changes. The main gainers were Paul Proctor and Pete Williams who managed to find some more pressure from somewhere.
Final places were Jamie, Paul Proctor, Peter Williams.
The next race got underway but half way up the first beat with everyone poised to round the mark in the lead the race was abandoned due to lack of wind. A short wait for the wind to fill in then racing abandoned for the day.
Day 2
The second day dawned with cloud and a bit more breeze which continued to build to 15-20 knots and with vertical faced waves providing snorkelling experiences to all it was a tough challenge on the race course.
Race 2
Anthony York (Chunky) was first to windward mark clearly revelling in the conditions and closely followed by Pete Nelson.
Newcomer Matt Holdon took the lead on the second lap however his race was cut short when he suffered a broken shroud at the gybe mark. The leading bunch sailed to the wrong mark lap 2 allowing the following group to catch up.
Chunky, Pete and Jamie neck and neck rounded the last leeward mark but Chunky and Pete managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory allowing Jamie his second race win.
Race 3
With most of fleet gone ashore due in no small part to windguru psyching out the fleet the night before only 6 boats started.
Chunky led for most of the race until a special capsize on the final run, the final leeward mark was almost an action replay of the first with Jamie, Pete Nelson and Paul rounding together, Jamie managed to sneak in front again followed by Pete and Paul.
Race 4
Matt managed to get ashore and rerigged his mast with the new set of shrouds he had in the car and intended to switch over before the event and make it back to the start for the last race. Jamie started on port and led for almost the whole race apart from a late challenge from Pete Nelson who unfortunately capsized on the final tack for the finish. Final order was Jamie, Chunky, Matt.
After three races in challenging conditions the race office thankfully called it a day and sent the fleet in.
Day 3
Race 5
Once again the competitors were greeted by a sight that would have made the southern ocean sailors quake in the their boots...the seas were up and the wind was building. Some of the sailors (the big girls blouses) decided to venture out with the smaller rig, an excellent benefit of the RS600... that allowed the sailing to be enjoyed by all rather than just endured.
Race one started bang on time with Matt Holden using his bulk to good advantage leading from Chunky up the left hand side of the course. The leading boats tacked on the lay line and to the amusement and surprise of the following fleet Jamie demonstrated he can swim along with the rest of us! At the top mark there was a convergence of the front runners with Matt hitting the first screaming reach and flying to the second mark with the others close behind. Next came the gybe... this group of 5 then became 4 as Procter bailed out on the run. Another challenging beat through the breaking seas saw Matt make the windward mark mark first again and then he lead all the way to the finish followed by Chunky and Pete Nelson.
Of the reefed fleet Peter Williams came in first followed by Richard Broughton, Chris Blackburn, Alan Goule and Wayne Hancox.
Race 6
Energy bars and water consumed, the second race got away with a split fleet, port tack starters heading in shore. The sea state was building with the breaking waves sometimes swamping the bows and providing the threat of a trapeze wipe out...Jamie hit the windward mark first closely followed by Pete Nelson and then Chunky. The port tackers of the fleet over standing and having some airborne moments as they fetched into the mark. The fleet settling into the conditions had another high speed reach but all stayed upright, however...the run was slightly more challenging with a few capsizes, mostly from Procter! Back with the leading pack Jamie was being hounded by Chunky with Matt tacking to get clear of these leading two, unfortunately he sat on his tiller extension and it snapped, resulting in a lengthy delay while he replaced it with a spare, this gave the opportunity for Richard Broughton sailing with the small rig to masterfully move into fourth place leaving two full rigged boats in his wake.
Jamie held on to take the win from chunky closely followed by Pete Nelson, this giving Jamie a near unassailable lead into day four.
Once the race officer recorded a steady 28 knots he wisely sent the fleet back to shore.
Results after Day 3:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | Wing | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 962 | Jamie Mawson | Nottingham County SC | Wide | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -4 | 1 | 5 |
| 2nd | 985 | Anthony York | Northampton SC | Narrow | -7 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| 3rd | 920 | Peter Nelson | Northampton SC | Wide | -5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 16 |
| 4th | 870 | Paul Procter | Paignton SC | Narrow | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | -8 | 18 |
| 5th | 963 | Matthew Holden | Locks SC | Narrow | 4 | (DNF) | DNS | 3 | 1 | 5 | 27 |
| 6th | 830 | Peter Williams | Bough Beech SC | Narrow | 3 | 7 | (DNS) | DNS | 6 | 6 | 36 |
| 7th | 867 | Richard Broughton | Grafham Water SC | Narrow | 6 | 5 | (DNF) | DNS | 7 | 4 | 36 |
| 8th | 662 | Wayne Hancox | Bartley SC | Narrow | 8 | 6 | 5 | (DNS) | 10 | 7 | 36 |
| 9th | 901 | Alan Goule | Paignton SC | Wide | 9 | (DNF) | DNS | DNS | 9 | 9 | 55 |
| 10th | 910 | Chris Blackburn | Paignton SC | Narrow | (OCS) | DNF | DNS | DNS | 8 | 10 | 60 |
| 11th | 946 | Nick Antonczky | Thornbury SC | Narrow | 11 | 8 | (DNS) | DNS | DNS | DNS | 61 |
| 12th | 887 | Jason McDonnell | Bartley Green SC | Narrow | 10 | (DNS) | DNS | DNS | DNC | DNC | 66 |
| 13th | 836 | Christiann Frickel | | Wide | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 70 |