Rooster 2ndhanddinghies.com RS400 Southern Tour at Warsash SC

A light and sunny weekend was what the RS400 fleet driving down to Warsash was expecting for the next part of the Rooster Sailing 2ndhanddinghies.com RS400 Southern event (Saturday only), and the open on Sunday. However as we all began to overheat in the boat park, we all knew it was a matter of time before the sea breeze kicked in. After a slow sail out to the race area, the breeze built up to a very nice force 3-4 and built further from there.

Day 1 turned into a 2 horse race at the front with the Oakeys and Jon/Nikki fighting it out for first place. They were closely followed by Steve/Chris and Sean/Annalise who were battling it out for 3rd place. That being said, the fleet were very close throughout the weekend with the all boats finishing within 4-5 minutes of each other. As the day progressed, each race turned into a race to the favoured right side of the course (some magic current lee bowing I was told!). The Oakeys finished the first day with 3 bullets followed closely by Jon/Nikki.

Day 2 started off a little more overcast, but the clouds began to burn off and the breeze began to build once more. For the first race many sailors were caught out by a current that made them overshoot the mark. The day saw the team of Neil/Sarah climbing the ranks to finish all 3 races in the top 5 and climb to 5th overall! Steve/Chris and Sean/Annalise continued their battle for 3rd with Steve/Chris's consistency edging them ahead despite Sean/Annalise's close second in the final race. The final race also saw a new helm take over with Nikki (who looked very excited) taking the reins from Jon (who looked a little scared) and doing an excellent job!

The Oakeys won the weekend overall counting 5 wins from 6 races and discarding a 2nd! The Warsash team both on and off the water ran a really excellent weekend and the fleet looks forward to their next trip back!

Next up for the RS400's is the Eurocup in Travermunde followed the Nationals in August! A quick reminder that the entry fee for the Nationals goes up by £35 on the 21st July.

See photos at www.iainmcluckie.co.uk

Results:

1. 1441 Paul Oakey
2. 1454 Jon Heissig
3. 1189 Steve Restall
4. 1017 Sean Cleary/Annalise Nixon
5. 1429 Neil Bevington/Sarah Kuristov
6. 1109 Rob Jones/Liz Jones
7. 1181 Bruce Mills/Andrea Jarman
8. 1007 Nick Daniels/Mark Aitken
9. 934 David Swift/Rob Burgess
10. 1437 Philip Bull/Stuart
11. 1220 John Cooper/Andy Maw
12. 1203 Richard Gnat
13. 1435 Matt Sheahan/Marcus Collings
14. 1192 Jack Munnelly/Liam Vass
15. 684 Matt Fowler
16. 527 Andy Powell/Kieran Holt
17. 836 Adam Humphrey/Jo Humphrey
18. 622 Chris Pallot
19. 485 John Exley/Ingrid Exley