Fox's Great Eastern RS200 event at Aldeburgh Yacht Club
by Alastair McHardy 27 Jul 2016 17:49 BST
23 July 2016
Six boats took to the River Alde for the RS200 open on Saturday 23 July with visitors from Grafham, Waldringfield SC, Deben YC, and Alton Water. Four windward – leeward races were held with two back-to-back morning and afternoon.
Glorious weather and a pleasant easterly, force 2-3 meant the only real issue for newbies was the low tide in the morning.
Exciting starts against the tide and close to the bank lead to a few incidents. Getting that clean start was all important as was tacking along the bank. The fleet soon separated in both races the pack of three battling hard and getting away. At the interval Jessop (1347) and Parsons (1477) shared the top spot. All was to play for in the afternoon.
The PRO took the fleet further up river and with the high tide in the afternoon the focus was on sailing rather than mud banks. Again the starts were fiercely contested. Race 3 against the tide saw the fleet tacking on the southern bank. Ben Alexander tacked early for the mark, it looked as if it had paid dividends. The result shows differently.
Congratulations to David Jessop on his win after a great day of sailing. Thanks goes to Aldeburgh YC for hosting and running a great event. Next stop for the Eastern series is at Alton Water 3rd and 4th September.
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Club | Helm | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 1347 | Grafham | David Jessop | 1 | ‑2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2nd | 1477 | Waldringfield | Robin Parsons | ‑2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 3rd | 1142 | Deben YC | Ben Alexander | ‑3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 4th | 1070 | Alton Water | Alastair McHardy | ‑5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
| 5th | 1149 | Waldringfield | Mark Hodge | 4 | 4 | ‑5 | 5 | 13 |
| 6th | 575 | AYC | Alfie Agar | (DNC) | DNC | 6 | 6 | 19 |