RS200 Southern Championship at Parkstone Yacht Club

RS Southern Champs at Parkstone © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.co.uk

Ian and Chloe Martin win the RS Southern Champs at Parkstone © Liz Harrison

RS Southern Champs at Parkstone © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.co.uk

Over the weekend of 20-21 June, our biggest fleet this year of 40 boats assembled at Parkstone Yacht Club for the Southern Championships. After sailing out of the Harbour, we set up course with the 400s and 300s along the coastline.

The first race got underway in a decent 10 knot breeze. Ian Martin and Chloe Martin stormed off with Nick Charles/Alice Eyre in close pursuit. The local knowledge in their boat wasn't quite enough to clasp the victory leaving Ian/Chloe with the win, Nick/Alice in 2nd and David Jessop/Clare Michelmore in 3rd.

The second race threw up a more open racetrack and after trucking downwind, Mark Heather/Lucy Preston seized the win with George Yeoman/Sophie Ormsby and Ian/Chloe chasing them down.

The breeze picked up for the third race, with some big black rain clouds blowing through. This time it was George and Sophie who took the win, with Ally Martin/Simon Potts and Matt Mee/Emma Norris behind.

We then faced a huge sail in and after seven hours on the water, we rested our weary bones in the clubhouse.

The forecast for the Sunday was light... but luckily for the race officer, and most members of the fleet, this was certainly not the case.

We arrived on the race course with more breeze and a keen fleet. Race 4 was underway and it was clear from the first upwind that there was a tight battle to be fought. In the end, Ian/Chloe pulled away and took the victory with Mark/Lucy, George/Sophie following behind. The breeze was building by the 5th race and there were some big gains to be made. Ian/Chloe went on to consolidate with another win. Locals Ed Whitehead and Kate Allam found 2nd with George/Sophie in 3rd.

Now if any of you have keen maths skills, or were paying attention to the results, at this point Ian and Chloe had the event with a necessary discard. George and Sophie had a consistent score line which meant victory could be theirs. So what do team racing pros like George and Sophie do? Hunt Ian and Chloe down of course!

The breeze was steadily building and as the rest of the fleet got racing, George/Sophie held Ian/Chloe behind the start line. In the front, Mark/Lucy stole first from Tim Saxton and Holly Scott on the first downwind leg. Unfortunately for them, they lost out to Ally/Simon who absolutely bossed the second upwind and sailed on for the win with Mark/Lucy in 2nd.

It's certainly not Ian/Chloe's first rodeo, and they managed to get out from George/Sophie's aggressive jib flapping and battled through to 3rd, having stuck George/Sophie behind the pack.

This meant that an impressive show from Ian/Chloe left them in the top spot with George/Sophie in 2nd and Mark/Lucy in 3rd.

Thanks to Parkstone for hosting such a fantastic event and it was great to catch up with the other fleets.

Events upcoming:
27/28 June – Filey SC
5 July – Weir Wood SC
11/12 July – Weymouth Regatta
17/18 July – HISC

Hope to see you all soon!

All the weekend's photos will be available to purchase at www.sailingscenes.com

Overall Results:

RS Southern Champs at Parkstone - photo © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.co.uk