Volvo Noble Marine RS100 Nationals at Exe Sailing Club - Overall

(l-r) Greg Booth (3rd), Al Dickson (Champion), Andy Jones (2nd) in the 2016 Volvo Noble Marine RS100 Nationals at Exe © David Smart

Rob Richardson wins the Silver Fleet in the Volvo Noble Marine RS100 Nationals at Exe © David Smart

Super Sunday dawned with a sunny Force 3 to 4 forecast, but a millpond in front of the club. Nevertheless, the boats were released from the slipway and glided over to Dawlish Warren for a walk to the start; an unusual sight of helms strolling along the shore with boats in hand to avoid the tide. Zephyrs teased everyone into thinking the wind was on the way, only to die away into the glassy sea.

Finally at about 1130hrs the breeze appeared over the horizon from the South and the scene was set for some epic battles. Could Andy Jones catch Al Dickson? Could Greg Booth keep ahead of Clive Eplett and Steven Lee who were both snapping at his heels?

Race 7

A port biased line saw those at the pin end favoured and those that held their nerve to the port lay line were rewarded handsomely. All 3 Chew SC boats were in the mix with Andy Jones, Chris Goldhawk and David Smart all to the fore, with Al Dickson also in the mix. Chris Goldhawk led round the windward mark, followed by Andy Jones, with Al Dickson third keeping a close eye on Andy Jones. He needn't have worried though as clearly Chris Goldhawk was on Al's payroll. In true club spirit, Andy suggested to Chris that they had reached the layline and it was time to gybe. When Chris gybed, Andy followed suit, only to find that Chris had fluffed the gybe and was careering out of control on a broach and aiming straight for Andy. Andy's avoiding manoeuvre led to a swim and a discard. Chris Goldhawk went on to take the win with Alistair Dickson second and Clive Eplett third. Huw was also happy in the breeze taking fourth with Mark Harrison fifth.

Race 8

While Andy Jones licked his wounds and refused to talk to his former friend from Chew Al Dickson had consolidated his lead, but at this point Clive was looking good for third overall.

The line continued with its port bias, and the fleet remained well behaved, getting away cleanly but on this occasion it was the European champion and class Chairman who read the breeze best, leading round the windward mark and never looking back for a stunning win. Behind him, Al Dickson and Greg Booth fought out for second and third with Giles Peckham giving up his search for a watch and actually sailing rather well to fourth with Steven Lee fifth. With Andy Jones still struggling to regain focus through the red mist of race 7, Greg Booth had by now moved to within a 2 point striking distance of second overall, although whether his maths skills were up to working this out on the water is debatable.

Race 9

By now, Andy Jones has regained his focus and shot off the start line, channelling his anger into his hiking and leading the fleet to take the race win and reassert his grip on second place. He was also desperately trying to keep ahead of Chris Goldhawk who chased him into second place with cries of 'I'm really sorry!' to be heard across the race course. The ever consistent Al Dickson took third and guaranteed his position as National Champion with Huw Powell fourth and Greg Booth fifth. Meanwhile Clive Eplett had a race to forget and was so far down the pan he didn't even finish.

Race 10

Greg Booth needed to beat Andy Jones by 6 places to snatch second place overall or Steve Lee needed to beat Greg by 5 places to snatch third overall. Alternatively if Clive Eplett could be ahead of Steve beat Greg by four places he could finish third overall. So the squabbling over the minor places would be epic.

While Al could have gone home for an early shower, the conditions were so good that he still took part in the final race and demonstrated just why he was National Champion, leading the fleet from gun to gun, finishing off his campaign in style. Behind him, David Smart had finally woken up (something to do with a 0400 am alarm call courtesy of Greg, Huw, Al and Giles. Such childish behaviour, and Oh did they laugh!) and was showing some of his rusty skills had not completely deserted him. However there were gains to be had and losses to be made across the three short laps. Steve Lee took advantage of others mistakes to take second and be in with a shout of stealing third overall. Chris Goldhawk came in third leaving everyone to wonder what he had taken overnight to see his fortunes change so much on the final day. If only he had performed so strongly earlier in the regatta. Greg Booth took fourth to snuff out Steve Lee's hopes of a podium finish with Mark Harrison fifth, David Smart sixth and Clive Eplett seventh. Andy Jones finished eighth, only four places behind Greg Booth so ensuring he retained second overall.

Volvo Noble Marine RS100 Nationals at Exe day 1 - photo © Mike Rice / www.fotoboat.com

Overall

It had been a breathtaking final day, if not just plain knackering. The weather Gods had smiled on the fleet and Exe SC had succeeded in hosting a memorable championship. The Race Officer, Phil Morrison, and his support team did a very professional job of setting up 10 great races, turning them all round very quickly and setting the scene for close combat on the water. Across the 10 races the fleet had seen 7 different race winners to show that it had been a close fought battle and that there is good depth in the class.

The club had been welcoming and friendly with free choc ices at the end of racing when tallying off and loads of homemade cakes, all worthy of the Bake Off final, for those needing to carbo-load at the end of the day (If you ever get the chance, go for the chocolate brownie – it was divine!). The off water festivities had also been carefully thought through with a memorable quiz evening and a great band night. The fleet gave their heartfelt thanks to the club. Thanks also to our event sponsors Volvo, Noble Marine, RS Sailing and Geeta foods.

Prize Giving

The Volvo Noble Marine RS100 National Championship Prizes were awarded as follows:

• Fidelis Trophy: Mostyn Evans (First helm who has competed in 3 Nationals but finished outside the prizes)
• Endeavour Trophy: Emmett O'Sullivan (Lowest finisher who finished all races, ie the person who worked hardest for longest)
• The new Buddy Prize: Chris Goldhawk and Rob Richardson (Had Chris even met Rob? Chris really needs to work on becoming a buddy with Andy again!)
• Silver Fleet Champion: Rob Richardson (Maybe he was giving lessons to Chris, which would explain why Chris had such a good final day.)
• Master: Andy Jones (over 50 years old)
• RS100 National Champion: Alistair Dickson (...and a 17 point winning margin. Congratulations!)

The Odds

So let's look at the top 10 against the original betting:

Unfortunately Lord Giles Peckham's butler (5/1) was too busy ironing the creases into Giles's wetsuit and learning to dive to recover lost watches of the good Lord, so was unable to figure in the results. He may well be searching for a new job, so do contact Giles for a reference.

The next event for the RS100s is the open meeting at Gurnard on the Isle of Wight over the weekend of 15-16 October. It will be a great event (according to the butler).

Overall Results: