Magic Marine RS Aero UK Southern Circuit 2016

by RS Aero UK Class Association 14 Nov 2016 16:05 GMT 14 November 2016

RS Aero 7s on the reach - Magic Marine RS Aero UK Nationals © Jean Border / www.borderphotos2010.com

What a year!

132 entries took part in the UK Southern Circuit. Together with 82 sailors taking part in the Northern Circuit this gave 149 sailors in total taking part in the UK Circuit events. Many sailors competed in both series with the final two events situated in the Midlands included on both Circuits bringing the National fleet together at the end of the season. Additionally, other major UK RS Aero events outside these series, like the Winter Champs, Spring Champs, River Champs and Chew open, each had over 20 RS Aeros.

RS Aero 9

The series kicked off with a light wind Nationals which swelled the RS Aero 9 fleet to a record 26 boat entry creating a '9' fleet momentum bolstering numbers through the year by those looking to secure a series. This commitment to the big rig produced some good turnouts at Chelmarsh (16), Lymington (9) and Burghfield (9). Outside this series lightish breezes produced great '9' fleets at both the Avon SC UK River Champs (18) and Chew Open (15).

A broken foot prevented Matt Thursfield (Chelmarsh) from defending his 2nd overall going into the final event at Rutland. However, no matter - 30kn winds and freezing temperatures left the chasing pack of Chris Larr (Northampton), Anthony 'Chunky' York (Northampton), Gareth Griffiths (Island Barn) and Team Rolfe Jnr & Snr (Burghfield) downsizing to 7s for the benefit of a more enjoyable weekend's sailing in the more attainable and larger '7' fleet.

RS Aero 9 start at the Magic Marine RS Aero Inland Championships at Chelmarsh - photo © Ken Westwood

RS Aero 7

89 sailors took part in one of the 6 events in an RS Aero 7 and the series remained wide open to the very end.

David Ellis (Lymington Town) smashed out a win in the 34 boat UK '7' Nationals. Next up, top Laser Radial campaigner Chloe Martin banged out a decisive victory at the UK Southerns in Lymington, defeating Alex ' the race face' Hayman in the process. At this stage, the fairer sex was looking very prominent with Gurnard's Jane Peckham leading the series with her solid 6th and 3rd. Consistence and participation is vital over a long series and a hard fought 8th on a grey day at Burghfield was enough for Lymington's Karl Thorne to lead going into the final events. But you can never rest and whilst Karlos was focusing on his home racing Peter Craggs (York RI), Andy Hill (Hayling), Jack Hardie (Frensham) and David Cherrill (Broadwater) were steadily building their series ready for a final showdown.

RS Aero Southerns in Lymington - photo © www.sportography.tv

Going into the season closer, the RS Classes End of Seasons at Rutland, no less than 11 sailors were able to secure the annual '7' title and rip the golden egg away form Karl at the final hurdle. Billed as the 'Grande Finale', Rutland delivered in spades. In a fitting end to the UK Summer season 30kn gusts and bitter temperatures tested the metal of all competitors, they were going to have to really want to win this one in order to pull it off. Overnight, after 3 races, both Peter Craggs and Andy Hill were all but tied with absentee leader Karl Thorne for the coveted title - all that stood in their way was the small matter of a two hour Pursuit Race tour of Rutland in 30kn gusts, hail, sleet, freezing temperatures and about 70 often out of control zig-zagging asymmetries!!! The stage was set for a worthy winner - or had Karlos already done enough to sit in front of his fire with dry feet, slippers and hot chocolate?

Sunday dawned and it actually looked quite lovely. There had been a slight drop in wind and not a cloud in the sky. The RS Aero 7s set off after the RS Aero 5's who had a 4 minute head start in the 2 hour race. After an hour it all started to turn nasty with gusts to blow you backwards back down the beat! These gusts could certainly be described as 'solid' by virtue of the hail chunks within! This was all too much for the south coasters to bare and Andy Hill returned to the sanctuary of the clubhouse. Peter Craggs had to finish to make Karlos choke on his marshmallows - and that he did! In an emphatic case of last man standing Peter stuck the course to finish the epic Pursuit. Together with his counters from the Saturday and good results from Brightlingsea and Chelmarsh Peter Craggs took the RS Aero 7 UK Southern Circuit title - all the way back home to York! Andy pipped Karl to second on a tie break - you have to be in it to win it!

RS Aero End of Season Championship at Rutland - photo © www.sportography.tv

RS Aero 5

A two way battle played out through the season for the 5 rig title with entries reduced at several events due to light breezes - it could all have been different if the wind had blown and 7 rig sailors would have been grateful for the option as was at the case at Rutland with fifteen 5 rigs entered.

Archie Hainsworth (Alton Water) grafted out a lead with Cathy Bartram (Chew) making a comeback when a slip in Archie's concentration left him stuck on the committee boat in the tide at Brightlingsea. Archie held this nerve and despite some early navigational issues at Chelmarsh had great speed to take the 2016 RS Aero 5 title. One to watch out for when he moves up to a RS Aero 7 next season!

Many thanks to Magic Marine for sponsoring the series with some great prizes and to RS Sailing for their excellent support.

Des Seal of www.dessealtv.com produced this brilliant drone movie capturing the pleasant day at Round 5, the Chelmarsh Inlands, nicely with a bird's eye view of the racing in Chelmarsh's lovely surrounds:

Next up in the UK is the start of the Winter Training on 19/20th November at Oxford and 3/4th December at Hayling - charter RS Aeros are available. The RS Aero Winter Series kicks of on 27th December at Yorkshire Dales SC's Brass Monkey. Full details of UK events can be found on the UK Events Page; www.rsaerosailing.org/index.asp?p=events&rg=UK

*Note - At Brightlingsea and Rutland the RS Aeros raced together on PY. As per the Notice of Series, Class results are taken out from each race to produce overall class results to apply to the Southern Circuit results. This facilitated one start and one fleet at events when appropriate, whilst still achieving a class race within that.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail	Helm	Club	Category	Torquay UK Nationals	Lymington Southerns	Burghfield	Brightlingsea Easterns	Chelmarsh UK Inlands	Rutland End of Seasons	Pts
RS Aero 5
1	1173	Archie Hainsworth	Alton Water SC	Y	1	2	1	2	1	100	3
2	1178	Cathy Bartram	Chew Valley LSC	L	100	100	2	1	2	100	5
3	1312	Andrew Frost	Sutton Bingham SC	Y	100	100	100	100	100	1	201
4	1562	Matthew Caiger	Sevenoaks School	Y	100	1	100	100	100	100	201
5	1566	Tim Hire	Royal Lymington YC	Y	100	100	100	100	100	2	202
6	125	Kate Sargent	NETHERLANDS	L	2	100	100	100	100	100	202
7	1927	Jack Hardie	Frensham Pond SC		100	100	100	100	100	3	203
8	2059	Felix Scheidt	Bexhill SC	Y	100	100	3	100	100	100	203
9	1889	Julia Bailey	Royal Yacht Squadron	L	100	3	100	100	100	100	203
10	8	George Tardrew	Hayling Island SC	Y	3	100	100	100	100	100	203
11	1258	Nick Craven	Ripon SC		100	100	100	100	100	4	204
12	1206	Claire Gribbin	Paignton SC	L	4	100	100	100	100	100	204
13	1555	Andrew Wilde	Burghfield SC		100	100	100	100	100	5	205
14	146	Luke Gribbin	Paignton SC	Y	5	100	100	100	100	100	205
15	1582	Mark Rolfe	Upton Warren SC		100	100	100	100	100	6	206
16	1849	Anne‑Marie Ratnage	Bough Beech SC	L J	6	100	100	100	100	100	206
17	2074	Matt Evans	Great Moor SC	Y	100	100	100	100	100	7	207
18	1012	Marion Lowe	Bradford on Avon SC	L M	7	100	100	100	100	100	207
19	1854	Emily Watson	Bowmoor SC	L	100	100	100	100	100	8	208
20	206	Henry Gillett	Royal Harwich YC	Y	8	100	100	100	100	100	208
21	1214	Harry Binns	Bassenthwaite SC	Y	100	100	100	100	100	9	209
22	1044	Lucy Tardrew	Hayling Island SC	L	9	100	100	100	100	100	209
23	1594	Julie Archer	Ullswater YC	L	100	100	100	100	100	10	210
24	9	Lauren Paton	Royal Torbay YC	L J	10	100	100	100	100	100	210
25	2100	Julie Willis	Lymington Town SC	L M	100	100	100	100	100	11	211
26	23	Fin Amstrong	Royal Torbay YC	Y	11	100	100	100	100	100	211
27	1694	Nick Neve	Rutland SC	M	100	100	100	100	100	12	212
28	2061	Claire Maclean	Rickmansworth SC	L	100	100	100	100	100	16	216
29	2134	Alice Lucy	Rutland SC	L Y	100	100	100	100	100	16	216
30	1141	Jonathan Rickels	Grafham Water SC	M	100	100	100	100	100	16	216
RS Aero 7
1	1509	Peter Craggs	York RI SC		25	100	100	3	10	10	23
2	1792	Andy Hill	Hayling Island SC		18	100	5	100	7	14	26
3	1302	Karl Thorne	LymTownSC/RoyalLymYC		13	5	8	100	13	100	26
4	1589	Chris Harrup	Burghfield SC		15	100	2	100	100	25	42
5	1258	Nick Craven	Ripon SC		26	100	100	8	16	100	50
6	1002	David Cherrill	Broadwater SC		100	100	1	100	5	100	106
7	1715	Jane Peckham	Gurnard SC	L	6	3	100	100	100	100	109
8	1927	Jack Hardie	Frensham Pond SC		100	100	3	100	8	100	111
9	1568	Caitlin Atkin	Whitstable YC	L Y	10	7	100	100	100	100	117
10	1533	Finlay Barnham	Snettisham Beach SC		14	100	100	100	100	4	118
11	1598	John Harvey	Thornbury SC		12	100	100	100	9	100	121
12	1618	David Harris	Severn SC	M	100	100	9	100	14	100	123
13	1020	Malcolm Mellor	Hickling Broad SC		100	100	100	4	100	25	129
14	1402	Jane Homewood	Lymington Town SC	L	19	12	100	100	100	100	131
15	1594	Julie Archer	Ullswater YC	L	20	100	100	100	19	100	139
16	1586	Nicholas Freeston	LymTownSC/RoyalLymYC	M	31	10	100	100	100	100	141
17	1211	Nicholas Eales	LymTownSC/RoyalLymYC	M	22	100	100	100	21	100	143
18	1264	Jackie Craven	Ripon SC	L	28	100	100	100	17	100	145
19	1888	Chris Larr	Northampton SC		100	100	100	100	100	1	201
20	1700	Drew Wright	Chelmarsh SC	Y	100	100	100	100	1	100	201
21	2079	Richard Smith	Waveney&OultonBroadYC		100	100	100	1	100	100	201
22	1175	Chloe Martin	Lymington Town SC	L	100	1	100	100	100	100	201
23	1209	David Ellis	Lymington Town SC		1	100	100	100	100	100	201
24	1676	Anthony York	Northampton SC		100	100	100	100	100	2	202
25	2135	CarolineWhitehouse	Bartley SC	L	100	100	100	100	2	100	202
26	1964	Sean Craig	RoyalStGeorgeYC IRELAND		100	100	100	2	100	100	202
27	1209	Alex Hayman	Lymington Town SC		100	2	100	100	100	100	202
28	1534	Fergus Barnham	Snettisham Beach SC		2	100	100	100	100	100	202
29	1534	Jasper Barnham	Snettisham Beach SC		100	100	100	100	100	3	203
30	1575	Mark Carleton	Papercourt SC		100	100	100	100	3	100	203
31	1089	Harvey Martin	Ogston SC	Y	3	100	100	100	100	100	203
32	1744	Adam Rowlatt	Chelmarsh SC	Y	100	100	100	100	4	100	204
33	1747	Andrew Cooney	Broadwater SC		100	100	4	100	100	100	204
34	1171	Ffinlo Wright	Isle of Man YC	Y	100	4	100	100	100	100	204
35	2	Barend Hiltermann	HOLLAND		4	100	100	100	100	100	204
36	2093	Liam Willis	Lymington Town SC	Y	100	100	100	100	100	5	205
37	1108	Charlie Pierce	Dabchicks SC	Y	100	100	100	5	100	100	205
38	5	Will Taylor	Brightlingsea SC		5	100	100	100	100	100	205
39	1298	Richard Watsham	Starcross YC		100	100	100	100	100	6	206
40	2001	Chris Hatton	Severn SC	Y	100	100	100	100	6	100	206
41	1173	Archie Hainsworth	Alton WaterSC/RHS	Y	100	100	100	6	100	100	206
42	2060	Jamie Webb	Rickmansworth SC	Y	100	100	6	100	100	100	206
43	7	Ben George	Lymington Town SC		100	6	100	100	100	100	206
44	2148	Gareth Griffiths	Island Barn Res SC	M	100	100	100	100	100	7	207
45	1225	Nigel Edmunds	Brightlingsea SC	M	100	100	100	7	100	100	207
46	2070	Ben Webb	Rickmansworth SC	Y	100	100	7	100	100	100	207
47	1232	Steve Norbury	Warsash SC		7	100	100	100	100	100	207
48	1817	Chris Jones	Sutton Bingham SC	M	100	100	100	100	100	8	208
49	1502	Jon Harvey	Keyhaven YC	M	100	8	100	100	100	100	208
50	1543	Debbie Degge	Bartley SC	L M	8	100	100	100	100	100	208
51	2152	Ben Rolfe	RS Sailing/Burghfield SC		100	100	100	100	100	9	209
52	1396	Nick Ingram	Lymington Town SC	M	100	9	100	100	100	100	209
53	8637	Chris Jones	Sutton Bingham SC	M	9	100	100	100	100	100	209
54	2126	Graham Iles	Burghfield SC		100	100	10	100	100	100	210
54	2001	Keith Willis	Lymington Town SC		100	100	100	100	100	11	211
56	1508	Robert England	Chelmarsh SC	M	100	100	100	100	11	100	211
57	1211	Nick Eales	Lymington Town SC		100	100	11	100	100	100	211
58	1844	Robin Caiger	Bough Beech SC		100	11	100	100	100	100	211
59	1	Greg Bartlett	Starcross YC		11	100	100	100	100	100	211
60	1551	Nigel Rolfe	Burghfield SC		100	100	100	100	100	12	212
61	1573	Adrian Stell	Papercourt SC		100	100	100	100	12	100	212
62	1071	Peter Chaplin	Burghfield SC	M	100	100	100	100	100	13	213
63	1370	Nev Herbert	Royal Lymington YC		100	13	100	100	100	100	213
64	10	Matthew Podger	Royal Lymington YC		100	14	100	100	100	100	214
65	1076	Martin Hewitt	Nottingham SC	M	100	100	100	100	100	15	215
66	1413	Adrian Speke	Chelmarsh SC		100	100	100	100	15	100	215
67	1889	Julia Bailey	Royal Yacht Squadron	L	100	15	100	100	100	100	215
68	1045	Richard Willows	Roadford Lake SC	M	16	100	100	100	100	100	216
69	1485	Edward Norbury	Warsash SC	Y	17	100	100	100	100	100	217
70	1214	Harry Binns	Bassenthwaite SC	Y	100	100	100	100	18	100	218
71	2133	John Tanner	Chelmarsh SC	M	100	100	100	100	20	100	220
72	1745	John Hobson	Notts County SC		21	100	100	100	100	100	221
73	1655	Quentin Leiper	Chelmarsh SC	M	100	100	100	100	22	100	222
74	1412	Peter Wilson	Chelmarsh SC		100	100	100	100	23	100	223
75	1921	Charles Clapham	Royal Torbay YC		23	100	100	100	100	100	223
76	1219	Arnaud Bouchez	Wimereux FRANCE		24	100	100	100	100	100	224
77	2060	David Bradbury	Rickmansworth SC	M	100	100	100	100	100	25	225
78	2113	Christopher Smith	Island Barn Res SC	M	100	100	100	100	100	25	225
79	1062	Martin Barrett	Ripon SC	M	100	100	100	100	100	25	225
80	2135	Neil Hardie	Frensham Pond SC		100	100	100	100	100	25	225
81	1583	Anthony Evill	Rutland SC		100	100	100	100	100	25	225
82	2060	David Bradbury	Rickmansworth SC	M	100	100	100	100	100	25	225
83	1207	Mark Tissiman	Chelmarsh/Saundersfoot	M	100	100	100	100	100	25	225
84	3	CharlieInigo‑Jones	Hayling Island SC	M	27	100	100	100	100	100	227
85	1091	Penelope Gillett	Royal Harwich YC	L	29	100	100	100	100	100	229
86	1141	Jonathan Rickels	Grafham Water SC	M	30	100	100	100	100	100	230
87	1098	Richard Perriss	Royal Torbay YC		32	100	100	100	100	100	232
88	1339	Cliff Webb	Cawsand Bay SC	M	33	100	100	100	100	100	233
89	1894	Samantha Foster	Loch Tummel SC	L	34	100	100	100	100	100	234
RS Aero 9
1	2093	Peter Barton	Lymington Town SC		1	100	1	1	1	100	3
2	1208	Matt Thursfield	Chelmarsh SC		100	3	2	2	7	100	7
3	1551	Nigel Rolfe	Burghfield SC		11	2	5	3	5	100	10
4	1071	Peter Chaplin	Burghfield SC	M	16	4	7	5	6	100	15
5	1581	Ben Rolfe	Burghfield SC		9	100	4	100	4	100	17
6	1298	Richard Watsham	Starcross YC		12	1	100	100	8	100	21
7	1207	Mark Tissiman	Chelmarsh/Saundersfoot	M	20	5	100	100	12	100	37
8	1676	Anthony York	Northampton SC		2	100	100	100	3	100	105
9	1888	Chris Larr	Northampton SC		4	100	100	100	2	100	106
10	1023	Gareth Griffiths	Island Barn Reservoir SC	M	5	100	3	100	100	100	108
11	1164	Mike Taylor	Brightlingsea SC		13	100	100	4	100	100	117
12	1135	Phil White	Frampton on Severn SC		15	100	100	100	9	100	124
13	1555	Andrew Wilde	Burghfield SC		17	100	9	100	100	100	126
14	1793	Jim Hood	LymingtonTownSC		24	7	100	100	100	100	131
15	1095	Tony Jukes	Chelmarsh SC	M	100	21	100	100	14	100	135
16	1930	Paul Bartlett	Starcross YC	M	3	100	100	100	100	100	203
17	2001	Mike Lyons	Burghfield SC	M	100	100	6	100	100	100	206
18	1176	Andrew Williams	Lymington Town SC		100	6	100	100	100	100	206
19	2100	Liam Willis	Lymington Town SC	Y	6	100	100	100	100	100	206
20	1689	Andrew Snell	Datchet Water SC		7	100	100	100	100	100	207
21	8	Neil Hardie	FrenshamPond SC		100	100	8	100	100	100	208
22	1335	David Osborne	Lymington Town SC		100	8	100	100	100	100	208
23	1806	Nev Herbert	Royal Lymington YC		8	100	100	100	100	100	208
24	1212	Simon White	Lymington Town SC		100	9	100	100	100	100	209
25	1404	Jeremy Higson	Bartley SC		100	100	100	100	10	100	210
26	1669	Giovanni Belgrano	Gurnard SC	M	10	100	100	100	100	100	210
27	1007	Antony Lynall	Avon SC		100	100	100	100	11	100	211
28	1062	Martin Barrett	Ripon SC	M	100	100	100	100	13	100	213
29	1489	Robert Freeland	Downs SC		14	100	100	100	100	100	214
30	1092	Richard Woods	Chelmarsh SC		100	100	100	100	15	100	215
31	1656	David Partridge	Chelmarsh SC	M	100	100	100	100	16	100	216
32	1618	David Harris	Severn SC	M	18	100	100	100	100	100	218
33	999	Ben Flower	Babbacombe CSC	Y	19	100	100	100	100	100	219
34	1654	Mark Lambdin	Bradford On Avon SC		22	100	100	100	100	100	222
35	1097	Chris Jones	Chelmarsh SC	M	23	100	100	100	100	100	223
36	1745	John Hobson	Notts County SC		25	100	100	100	100	100	225
37	2001	Alex Newton‑Southon	Lymington Town SC		26	100	100	100	100	100	226