Volvo Noble Marine RS300 Nationals at Exe Sailing Club - Overall

Volvo Noble Marine RS300 Nationals at Exe day 1 © Mike Rice / www.fotoboat.com

Volvo Noble Marine RS300 Nationals at Exe day 1 © Mike Rice / www.fotoboat.com

Day 2

The forecast for more wind on day 2 of the Nationals was spot on and Race Officer Phil Morrison called off racing before the fleet headed out into the bay. Nevertheless, as we were all kitted up and ready to go over half of the fleet headed out into the estuary for some impromptu racing amongst the moorings. Low-key it may have been but there was still no quarter asked or given and Dan Treloar spent the afternoon fixing his boat as a result and won the wooden spoon for his efforts!

Day 3

So to Saturday and the prospect of four races to start to catch up on the schedule of races. The forecast was to build as the day progressed and this proved to be spot on. Race 3 was run in sub 10 knot conditions with the occasional shift. An added dimension was the sizeable swell which was running contrary to the wind direction which allowed some upwind surfing as the wind increased. Steve Sallis (Hykeham) took this race, using his upwind speed to pip Steve Bolland (Bristol Corinthian) who had briefly poked his nose in front on the first run. Third place went to Iain Horlock from the host club, going particularly well in a borrowed boat.

The wind was up and down like an elevator for race 4 and there were some rather big shifts thrown in for good measure – fantastic if you judged them right (or got lucky), not so amusing otherwise. Alistair 'Storky' McLaughlin (Prestwick) did a horizon job in this race, making the rest of us look like the amateurs we are. Stuart Woodger (Plymouth) also impressed in second and Sallis, Harry McVicar (Draycote Water) and Martin Harrison (Royal Victoria) were also going well but the chief beneficiary of the quirky wind was Bolland who went from seventh to third on the last beat by dint of an incredible piece of tactical wizardry (or luck as the rest of the fleet saw it).

Races 5 and 6 were both won by Bolland as the wind increased to fully-powered up conditions and the wind steadied in direction meaning the racing no longer required as much brain power. Sallis continued his tilt at the title with two more good results, matched by Paul Watson (Bowmoor) and Harrison.

Day 4

So, going into the final day and the prospect of a further four races, Bolland led Sallis by eight points who led McVicar by another eight. However, as the fleet launched there was barely a breath of wind and light-air flyers Sallis and McVicar must has been positively salivating at the thought.

However, after a short postponement drifting around the committee boat a band of wind could be seen approaching from seaward. In the space of less than 10 minutes we had 15 knots, increasing as the day wore on, and massive waves. Now it was Bolland who was salivating, or was that the remnants of last night's kebab? Whatever, Bolland had his pecker up and won all four races, piling on the coals downwind to maximum effect. Unfortunately for Sallis, his frame is more tuned to less robust conditions and as the wind increased his results score went in the same direction. They were all good scores though and he held on the second overall ahead of Harrison who was going especially quickly upwind and who had a storming last day.

Steve Bolland is presented with the RS300 Nationals trophy - photo © Exe SC

Also throwing in some top results were Iain Horlock, especially impressive in his first week of RS300 sailing (probably his last too) who managed to stay upright and record two second places, and Tim Keen also having a better day after his shocker the day before.

As expected, Exe SC lived up to its reputation for friendliness and efficiency – many thanks to the enormous effort put in by the large number of volunteers. Also, major thanks to main sponsors Volvo and Noble Marine, plus the Boatyard at Beer and Geeta's Foods.

Prize categories:

• Master – Pete Ellis (Stewarby Water)
• Fidelis – Richard Le Mare (Bartley)
• Apprentice – Iain Horlock (Exe)
• Lightweight – Steve Sallis (Hykeham)
• Youngster – Harry McVicar (Draycote Water)
• Silver Division – Stuart Woodger (Pymouth)
• Best improver – Richard Le Mare

Overall Results: