South Cerney Sailing Club Asymmetric Open

Magic Marine RS Vareo Grand Prix at the South Cerney Asymmetric Open © Dave Whittle

Magic Marine RS Vareo Grand Prix at the South Cerney Asymmetric Open © Dave Whittle

Saturday June 6th was the Asymmetric Open Meeting at South Cerney Sailing Club with first place going to Alex and Lewis Frost in their RS200. It was a beautiful sunny day, but it was rather windy, with a background wind speed of around 17 knots, with gusts up to 32 knots. Despite this we had 12 competitors – 8 RS Vareos, 3 RS200s and one RS100. Paul Kimmens, race officer for the day, set a trapezoidal course with plenty of opportunity for making use of the kite for those who were brave enough to launch it!

The first race started with a force 5 wind from the SW gusting force 6. After one general recall, Mark Williams in his RS100 made an excellent start and was first round the windward mark, closely followed by Alex and Lewis Frost in their RS200, with Al Sim and Liz MacDonald also in a 200 in hot pursuit. Tom Harris and Cheryl Wood in their RS Vareos were not far behind. After a short reach the long downwind leg saw some excellent kite work, with those boats who managed stay upright flying down the course. The gusts soon increased to force 7 and several boats retired. The safety boats were certainly kept busy! Alex and Lewis Frost took first place with Mark Williams in second, and Tom Harris in third place.

The second race saw 10 boats start with the wind unabated, this time with Alex and Lewis Frost making an excellent start, and with some excellent use of the kite on the reaching and downwind legs they finished the first lap well clear of the rest of the fleet. Mark Williams was not too far behind and was certainly making his RS100 fly. They maintained their positions throughout the race finishing first and second respectively, with Tom Harris third.

Over lunch the wind strengthened further, and several helms could be seen on the shore debating whether to venture out again for the third race. In the end only 5 boats made it to the start. Again Alex and Lewis Frost were first to the windward mark and stayed ahead despite some rather spectacular gybes and one capsize. Mark Williams also stopped to wash his sails on the downwind leg, but managed to keep hold of second place. Al Sim and Liz MacDonald demonstrated some spectacular sailing and finished third. Cheryl Wood and Tom Harris both in RS Vareos also impressed the less hardy sailors watching from the shore but after some severe capsizes in the increasing gusts they both retired.

Only one boat stayed on the water for the fourth race. Well done to Al Sim and Liz MacDonald for their stamina, and after one spectacular lap they finished to gain a first place.

At the end of the day, the overall positions were as follows:
Alex and Lewis Frost (SCSC) took first place in their RS200
Mark Williams (Llandegfedd SC) came second in his RS100
Al Sim and Liz MacDonald (SCSC) came third in an RS200

We also had separate prizes for the RS Vareo fleet:
Tom Harris (SCSC) came first
Kevin Weatherhead (SCSC) came second
Cheryl Wood (Pennine SC) came third

Congratulations to them all.

A big thank you to all who helped make the day a success – Paul Kimmens and Blair Jamieson as race officers for some fantastic courses, the safety boat crews who certainly had their work cut out, Joanne Appleton and Alex Dyson in the Galley for providing excellent food, and Dave Whittle for taking some great photos of the day.

Dave Whittle's photos can be viewed at goo.gl/photos/34eAs9FvwNGny2pd6

Overall Results: