RS200 Open at Bough Beech Sailing Club
by Dave Derby 19 Apr 2017 12:34 BST
15 April 2017
RS200s at Bough Beech © Martyn Smith
A shifty force 3 north westerly greeted the competitors at the Bough Beech open meeting on 15th April.
The fleet got away at the first attempt and it was Dave & Emma Derby who got to the windward mark in front. Despite strong challenges from Mike Green & Lynn Ratcliffe and Tom Wright & Chris Coulcher the Derby's held on to win.
The second race was led from start to finish by Dave Jessop & Sophie Mear. They got to the windward mark in front & the planed off into the distance in a gust lapping several tail-enders in the process. The Derby's and Wright/Coulcher scrapped it out for second & third a long way behind eventually finishing in that order.
After lunch sun came out, the wind picked up a little and the third race was a much more closely contested affair. Wright/Coulcher rounded first closely followed by Simon Cory & Denise Judd. The chasing pack was led by Jules Bradley & Helen Cafferata, Green/Ratcliffe, the Derby's and Jessop/Mear. Places changed many times but at the end it was the Derby's who took the honours followed by Jessop/Mear and Bradley/Cafferata.
With all to play for in the last race it was Bradley/Cafferata who took an early lead from Elliot Marks & Heather Denbigh and Wright/Coulcher. At this stage the Derby's were in the pack with Jessop/Mear even further back. At the end of the first round though it was Mike Warwicker & Kate Fitzsimmons who had got through to take the lead closely followed by the Derby's and with Jessop/Mear still chasing. On the third round however Jessop/Mear picked up a gust downwind to plane into a lead which they never relinquished to take the meeting on count back and open the defence of their SEAS title with a win.
A big thanks must go to race officer Barry Wolfenden who managed to run four good races in very shifty conditions with a minimum of fuss & no hanging around.
Overall Results:
Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
1st | 1347 | David Jessop | Sophie Mear | ‑6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
2nd | 1438 | Dave Derby | Emma Derby | 1 | ‑2 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
3rd | 1554 | Thomas Wright | Chris Coulcher | 2 | 3 | 4 | ‑5 | 9 |
4th | 1178 | Jules Bradley | Helen Cafferata | 3 | ‑4 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
5th | 1511 | Mike Green | Lynne Ratcliffe | 4 | 5 | 5 | ‑6 | 14 |
6th | 1459 | Mike Warwicker | Kate Fitzsimmons | (RET) | 7 | 6 | 3 | 16 |
7th | 1018 | Simon Cory | Denise Judd | 5 | 6 | ‑7 | 7 | 18 |
8th | 909 | Jack Vincent | Lizzie Fuller | 7 | 8 | 8 | ‑9 | 23 |
9th | 692 | Elliot Marks | Heather Denbigh | 8 | ‑9 | 9 | 8 | 25 |
10th | 1062 | Tim Humphries | Paula Bayntun | 10 | ‑12 | 10 | 10 | 30 |
11th | 1140 | Hannah Mumford | Tara Head | ‑11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 32 |
12th | 881 | Richard Southern | Esme Southern | 9 | 11 | (DNS) | DNC | 33 |