Magic Marine RS Aero Inland Championships at Chelmarsh Sailing Club
by Clive Wright 17 Oct 2016 11:54 BST
15 October 2016
Chelmarsh Sailing Club set in the south of Shropshire is one of the most rural regions in the UK, with beautiful countryside and not too many features to disturb the wind. It has a modern club house and a strong RS Aero fleet. This year's RS Aero Inland Champs were held here following last year's very successful event.
With an impressive 41 entries and a forecast of ten, gusting twenty, knots the 2016 Inland Championships promised to be a fantastic event. Competitors travelled from as far North as York, Lymington in the South and Ipswich in the East. It is clear that the RS Aero class continues to grow and has become a strong and competitive fleet with a number of younger sailors now coming in to push the more experienced. RS were also on hand, delivering new boats and making charter boats available.
The event started in lighter winds than forecast with even the Aero 9s struggling to get on the plane. This made for some close racing and determined pushing of the line at the start. The PRO, Gareth Wilkinson, quickly established his authority with a few individual recalls, a general recall and even giving the black flag an airing. Looking for pressure and playing the shifts soon began to pay off.
Peter Barton was consistent in the Aero 9's and established a hat-trick of bullets. Chris Larr and Anthony York, both from Northampton SC took a close 2nd and 3rd place respectively with Chris winning race 4.
In the Aero 7's, there was everything to play for after two races at the break for lunch. John Harvey of Thornbury SC won the first and Mark Carleton of Papercourt SC took the second race. However, Caroline Whitehouse from Bartley SC had posted two good results alongside two youth sailors, Drew Wright from Chelmarsh a former optimist sailor and Chris Hatton from Severn SC, a top Comet sailor. Drew Wright took bullets in each of the last two races to win overall, closely followed by Caroline Whitehouse and Mark Carleton.
Archie Hainsworth of Alton Water and Cathy Bartram from Chew Valley battled it out in the Aero 5's. It was impressive to see them keeping pace with the Aero 7's and some of the 9's at times, despite the light winds. Eventually, Archie Hainsworth won the tie break, showing just how tight the racing had been.
In all, the RS Aero Inland Champs at Chelmarsh proved to be an outstanding event enjoyed by all. It was exciting for sailors and a great spectacle for those watching, helped by a gorgeous sunny autumn day, spectacular countryside, close tactical racing and great food from the galley.
Many thanks to Chelmarsh Sailing Club for hosting such a successful event, RS Sailing for supporting and making charter boats available, Magic Marine for sponsoring the generous prizes and competitors for travelling.
Next up for the RS Aeros in the UK is the Chew Valley open on Saturday 22nd October and then the Southern and Northern Circuit grand finale 'End of Seasons' at Rutland on 5/6th November, together with the rest of the RS Classes.
Full details on the UK Event Page: www.rsaerosailing.org/index.asp?p=events&rg=UK
RS Aero 5 Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | Category | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 1173 | Archie Hainsworth | Alton Water / RHS | Youth | ‑2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2nd | 1178 | Cathy Bartram | Chew Valley SC | Lady | 1 | 1 | ‑2 | 2 | 4 |
RS Aero 7 Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | Category | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 1700 | Drew Wright | Chelmarsh SC | Youth | ‑9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2nd | 2135 | Caroline Whitehouse | Bartley SC | Lady | 3 | 3 | 2 | ‑24 | 8 |
| 3rd | 1575 | Mark Carleton | Papercourt SC | | ‑11 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 |
| 4th | 1744 | Adam Rowlatt | Chelmarsh SC | Youth | 7 | ‑20 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
| 5th | 1002 | David Cherrill | Broadwater SC | | 5 | 4 | ‑8 | 3 | 12 |
| 6th | 2001 | Chris Hatton | Severn SC | Youth | 2 | ‑8 | 7 | 7 | 16 |
| 7th | 1792 | Andy Hill | Hayling Island SC | | 4 | 9 | ‑14 | 8 | 21 |
| 8th | 1927 | Jack Hardie | Frensham Pond SC | | 8 | 7 | ‑9 | 6 | 21 |
| 9th | 1598 | John Harvey | Thornbury SC | | 1 | ‑12 | 10 | 12 | 23 |
| 10th | 1509 | Peter Craggs | York RI SC | | 13 | 5 | 5 | ‑16 | 23 |
| 11th | 1508 | Robert England | Chelmarsh SC | Master | 6 | ‑15 | 15 | 5 | 26 |
| 12th | 1573 | Adrian Stell | Papercourt SC | | ‑14 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 27 |
| 13th | 1302 | Karl Thorne | Lymington Town SC | | 10 | 11 | ‑12 | 9 | 30 |
| 14th | 1618 | Dave Harris | Severn SC | Master | 16 | 6 | 13 | ‑17 | 35 |
| 15th | 1413 | Adrian Speke | Chelmarsh SC | | ‑17 | 14 | 16 | 10 | 40 |
| 16th | 1258 | Nick Craven | Yorkshire Dales SC | | ‑18 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 42 |
| 17th | 1264 | Jackie Craven | Yorkshire Dales SC | Lady | 12 | 17 | ‑18 | 15 | 44 |
| 18th | 1214 | Harry Binns | Bassenthwaite SC | Youth | ‑19 | 13 | 19 | 14 | 46 |
| 19th | 1594 | Julie Archer | Ullswater YC | Lady | 15 | 16 | 17 | ‑21 | 48 |
| 20th | 2133 | John Tanner | Chelmarsh SC | Master | ‑20 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 59 |
| 21st | 1211 | Nick Eales | Lymington Town SC | | 21 | ‑23 | 21 | 18 | 60 |
| 22nd | 1655 | Quentin Leiper | Chelmarsh SC | Master | ‑22 | 21 | 22 | 19 | 62 |
| 23rd | 1412 | Peter Wilson | Chelmarsh SC | | 23 | 22 | 23 | ‑24 | 68 |
RS Aero 9 Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | Category | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 2093 | Peter Barton | Lymington Town SC | | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑4 | 3 |
| 2nd | 1888 | Chris Larr | Northampton SC | | 2 | ‑3 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 3rd | 1676 | Anthony York | Northampton SC | | ‑8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 4th | 1581 | Ben Rolfe | Burghfield SC | | 5 | 2 | ‑9 | 3 | 10 |
| 5th | 1551 | Nigel Rolfe | Burghfield SC | | 3 | ‑8 | 5 | 6 | 14 |
| 6th | 1071 | Peter Chaplin | Burghfield SC | Master | 9 | 5 | 4 | ‑17 | 18 |
| 7th | 1744 | Matt Thursfield | Chelmarsh SC | | 7 | 6 | 7 | ‑17 | 20 |
| 8th | 1298 | Richard Watsham | Starcross YC / RNSA | | 4 | 13 | 6 | ‑17 | 23 |
| 9th | 1135 | Phil White | Frampton on Severn | | ‑13 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 24 |
| 10th | 1404 | Jeremy Higson | Bartley SC | | 10 | 7 | (DNC) | 9 | 26 |
| 11th | 1007 | Antony Lynall | Avon SC | | 6 | ‑12 | 12 | 10 | 28 |
| 12th | 1207 | Mark Tissiman | Chelmarsh SC | Master | ‑11 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 29 |
| 13th | 1062 | Martin Barrett | Ripon SC | Master | ‑14 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 30 |
| 14th | 1095 | Tony Jukes | Chelmarsh SC | Master | 12 | 10 | 13 | ‑17 | 35 |
| 15th | 1092 | Richard Woods | Chelmarsh SC | | ‑16 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 41 |
| 16th | 1656 | David Partridge | Chelmarsh SC | Master | ‑15 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 42 |