Bollé RS700 Grand Prix at Weston Sailing Club

All quiet on the Weston Seafront

The RS700 travelling fleet moved to Weston Sailing Club in Southampton Water for the last of the Bollé Grand Prix series for 2013. Windguru was looking pretty pessimistic for the Sunday and, sure enough, we only got one day's racing.

It was good to see some newcomers among the 11 strong fleet although the light and gusty conditions weren't necessarily the best introduction. Don't the organisers of these regattas realise that the 700 needs exactly 13kts from one direction?

With the wind mostly coming from 210deg the PRO set a shortish, 880m, course to keep us clear of the shipping and, with only minor adjustments between the races it seemed pretty fair.

It was a bit of a Dencher fest with the brothers dominating all three races, Colin Dacey hard on their heels in his new, very fast, boat. In the first race, Tony appeared to have the starboard advantage as they reached the WM together but had to throw in a quick tack inside the zone allowing Mike to nip round the outside to set up some very close racing for the four laps, the two never being more than a few boat lengths apart. Matt Connor from QM was close behind with his club mate Chris Kirk attacking in the second half but neither could live with the leaders' pace. Tony sailed a very strong last lap, including 3 gybes to Mikes 1, for the win with Colin squeezing in between for second

The second race saw a tight bunch rounding the first mark, Tony in the lead again but this time pressed by Neville Watson and Graham Blake. Mike passed them both but Tony got the advantage of some huge headers on a couple of downwind legs, almost fetching the gate on the second lap and only his brother could get near, both of them finishing a leg ahead of the pack.

Mike at last got his win in the third and last of the weekend, leading Tony from start to finish although chased rather more closely by Colin Dacey, Graham and Matt all of whom will have been pleased with their day.

GPS tracks are up at www.hamishgriffiths.com – I'm afraid that Colin's unit failed so his tracks are missing. Fastest speed seen was 14.0kt in the first race by Mike Dencher; it's amazing how quickly you can go when you're looking at your brother's transom!

Many thanks to Weston Sailing Club and the race team for a great day's racing and, of course, to Bollé, our generous sponsor.

Overall Results: