Gul RS800 Inland Championships at Queen Mary Sailing Club

Sunshine was a pleasant surprise on the first day of the Gul RS800 Inland Championships at Queen Mary Sailing Club, after a dire forecast. Less surprising were the light and shifty winds, but the race team managed to get three races in successfully after sensibly abandoning the first race of the preceding RS500 fleet to re-lay the course.

With 40 degree shifts and big holes in the wind, the racing was a tactically challenging game of snakes and ladders – and for most of us there seemed to be considerably more snakes. Even getting off the short start line was tricky, with Ralph and Sophie Singleton showing the way by port tacking the fleet on two starts.

Louise Steed had swapped her helm and new husband Dave for 49er professional John Pink; they won the first race in a three-boat photo finish. Newcomers Phil Walker & John Mather, reigning 29er winter champions, took race 2 in style and Tim Saxton, sailing with Sam Littlejohn, won the third as the wind died away to nothing. At the end of the first day nobody had three top 5 results but the usual 2013 suspects were up there with good consistency: Roger Phillips and Will Crocker, Nick Charles and Christian Humphrey and Tom Halhead and Stu Jagger.

Sunday was lively twin wiring weather, albeit in driving rain, and the race team stretched our legs with a nice long course. A number of the fleet tested the water temperature as the shifty, gusty conditions proved challenging. Big gains (or losses) were to be had downwind depending on gust spotting skills.

Nick and Christian were sadly taken out of the running when their bowsprit broke in race 4. Roger and Will sailed fast and conservatively, working their way up the fleet in each race to take 1, 1, 2 and the championship by a large margin. Meanwhile it was tight for 2nd overall: John Pink and Louise would have had it, as they won the last race on the water but were OCS so had to settle for 6th. Tom and Stu sailed solidly in the final race to knock Luke and Emma McEwen into 3rd overall and stay ahead of race winners Phil and John, who were 4th.

For those who want to re-live every tricky moment, all the boats were fitted with GPS trackers and the racing uploaded to the QMSC website. All in all it was a very professional yet friendly event run by the Queen Mary team.

Overall Results: