Rooster 8.1 Nationals at Weir Wood Sailing Club - Overall

Day two of the Rooster 8.1 nationals at Weir Wood © Lönja Selter

Day two of the Rooster 8.1 nationals at Weir Wood © Lönja Selter

Boats and sailors buzzing after a great second day

With winds and heavy rain forecast for Sunday, there were some who decided not to return to Weir Wood for the second day of Rooster 8.1 racing. However, optimism was bubbling on the shore as the sailors rigged for a 10am start especially as there were ripples on the water!

In just 5 knots of wind the sailors were almost hiking when going to windward so there was no danger of not racing today. The RO was not limited by his sailing instructions and it became apparent that he was keen to get as many races in as possible when he flew the S flag for shortening the first race after just 30 mins of racing.

Short though the race appeared, there had been just enough time for Steve Cockerill to pass David Binding on the second beat, defend the lead on the last offwind and take the gun with Simon Barrington finishing closely in third.

Race 3 quickly followed race 2 - and this time Simon Barrington won the favoured pin, quickly tacking to the right. The left had worked well for the first race as there appeared to be more wind on that side, although there were hints of a bend in the wind favouring a starboard tack approach at the windward mark, giving options to take favourable shifts to the right hand side with a possibility to take back some ground at the top mark. Steve Cockerill rounded first having taken the mid line start option and capitalised on the right shift at the starboard lay line closely followed by Simon Barrington and Greg Fowler. This was the score at the end of the race. Unfortunately for David Binding, he had taken some transoms to get to the left only to find the wind was heading him all the way into the windward mark on his port tack approach and he ended up scoring his worst of the series with an 8th.

Race 4

The wind increased to about 8 knots - apparently it also rained, which was probably unnoticed as the racing was getting more exciting by the minute. The starts continued to be important - but with many routes to the first mark, the boats were again spread out down the line. On this occasion the first mark was very busy, with Neil Peters capsizing to windward leaving Steve and Simon free to take the first two places. Neil felt infringed and would have shouted protest at Steve, he said later, but for the fact that he could not speak due to the shock of the situation. This left them wondering the validity of the protest. So what would you do when someone says a lap later - Protest? Start doing turns?

Race 5

Simon Barrington again went for the pin, but on this occasion found himself in nowhere land above one sailor, going too fast to stop - and nowhere to go to so he took a turn round the pin. When the wind also went right favouring those who started at the committee boat, his fight back was made just too hard. David Binding this time took second from Steve Cockerill with Gregory Fowler taking third.

Time for a quick refuel at the galley and back for the last 2 races.

Race 6

The wind had started to build to perhaps 9 knots - and the Rooster 8.1 was happily planing downwind in the gusts. Upwind they were manageable with a good deal of Cunningham to hold the flow forward, but very little vang tension and a surprising amount of outhaul eased upwind. Chris Fyans rounded the top mark in second and also managed to work the left down the run to hold third at the leeward mark passing Neil Peters who took another look at his boats bottom - capsizing to windward as the new gust hit. On the last trapezoid, Sarah made huge gains downwind passing Chris Fyans on the last reach to round in touch with Steve and Simon to take her first third place.

Race 7

It felt like a repeat of race 6. Now the boats were buzzing downwind. Was this really just 10 knots?

Once again Steve led from Simon who had a great comeback on the second beat - to make it a battle down the last run, but with the tactical advantage of starboard gybe - Steve was able to take the inside rounding at the gybe mark to take the gun for the 6th time. Sarah once again zipped downwind and managed to hold off the charge from Neil Peters on the short beat to the finish to take 3rd.

What a difference from Saturday; as the sailors came ashore they were buzzing with excitement. What was also interesting was how balanced the competitors were across the wind range. Both 95kg and 67Kg sailors battling it out in winds less than 12 knots. The larger helms were quicker upwind and the smaller ones quicker downwind. a full on fun days sailing in relatively light winds.

Steve Cockerill took the title which as he says - he does not want to win - but does not want to give it away. Neil Peters is now the Rooster 8.1 sailing secretary and has some great new ideas. He managed to negotiate a new sail from Rooster Sailing for the 2013 Rooster 8.1 series.

Overall Results: