RS400 Northern Tour at Ullswater Yacht Club

Lord Birkett race at Ullswater 2017 © Paul Hargreaves / paulhargreavesphotography.zenfolio.com

Lord Birkett race at Ullswater 2017 © Paul Hargreaves / paulhargreavesphotography.zenfolio.com

Lord Birkett race at Ullswater 2017 © Paul Hargreaves / paulhargreavesphotography.zenfolio.com

With 29 RS400s entered into the Lord Birkett Memorial race at Ullswater over the weekend of 1/2nd July 2017, the 400s were the largest fleet participating. It was all set for another great event, as over the years the 400s have typically faired very well in the final results. The event comprises just one race on each day, 7 miles to the top of the lake and back, with 230 boats all competing for space on a start line across the full width of the lake.

Race 1 got underway at the first try (amazingly) in a twitchy WSW F3/4 gusting 5. Crews were on constant look out for collision course boats as the fleet ducked and weaved their way up the first part of the beat. Chris Pickles and Matt Sharman (Delph SC) just had their noses in front, with Dave Exley and Nige Hall (Leigh & Lowton) and Hamish Gledhill and Simon Dowse (West Riding SC) both ducking the Pix's transom.

As the fleet searched for clean air, Tony Woods and Josh (Glossop SC), who had just jumped back in the 400 after a couple of years absence were making their presence felt up the right hand side of the first half of the beat and were closing into the leaders rapidly. Stuart and Sarah Robertson (Royal Forth YC) were also in the hunt for the lead 400 and making excellent progress in their first ever Birkett experience.

Chris and Matt came together with a Fireball in a port starboard incident and honourably did their turns giving hope to the following pack, but as the fleet approached the narrow middle section big gains and losses were on the cards and Chris and Matt pulled back through to 2nd place biting at the heels of Dave and Nige who held a slender lead to the island turning mark as vicious F5+ gusts made their way spectacularly across the course from unpredictable directions.

Keeping the boat upright in these conditions proved challenging and Dave and Nige succumbed to a bad gusty gybe to the delight of Pickles and Sharman who screamed past on a blazing reach only to hear a big "bang!" as the windward shroud separated the deck from the hull and cut short their weekend's racing there and then. They limped home under jib, good seamanship the only thing keeping their boat from sinking!

Whilst all this was happening, others were trying their luck at locating shallow rocks as they rounded the island: Bill Kenyon and Mark Lunn (Budworth SC) and Hamish and Simon both snapped their runner downhaul as their beautiful foils hit the rocks at pace and mentally planned their gelcoat repairs for after the event. Richard Catchpole and Gary Coop came charging downwind until a big capsize put paid to their race and sent Richard home early, wondering if he had broken a rib!

So it was Stuart and Sarah, Dave and Nige and Hamish and Simon who battled it out on the run home. At the finish, Dave and Nige took the 400 honours from, Stuart and Sarah, followed by Hamish and Simon.

After a great night of dancing in the beer tent, led by an enthusiastic Ben and Jenny, it was unfortunately Ben who had to pull out of sailing on the Sunday with back issues! The price of enjoying yourself!

Sunday dawned with slight less wind and a more WNW direction meaning that the start line created more of a first leg fetch, a la Americas Cup style, only slightly more boats! 2 recalled starts and a black flag – no surprise there!

This time Dave and Nige took the lead up the first beat going up the left, hotly pursued by Stuart and Sarah. Nick Holt and Derek Hill (Blackpool & Fleetwood YC) slipped nicely into third place coming in from the right! Classic Birkett! Dave and Nige just kept their nose in front until the island when Stu and Sarah pulled off the manoeuvre of the weekend by lifting their rudder and centreboard as they cut inside Dave and Nige at the island and sling-shotted themselves into the lead. Stu and Sarah held this lead till the line, finishing a minute ahead of Dave and Nige, who in turn finished a minute ahead of Hamish and Simon in third.

Once back on shore a blackboard displayed Stu and Sarah's boat number as one of 10 unlucky boats who were OCS, handing the 400 title to Dave and Nige.

In the final reckoning, the 400's had 3 boats in the top 10 with Dave and Nige beaten to the overall top spot by a Musto Skiff sailed by Ian Turnbull from Sunderland SC.

Lord Birkett race at Ullswater 2017 - photo © Paul Hargreaves / paulhargreavesphotography.zenfolio.com

Photos are available at www.flickr.com/photos/141388522@N05/sets/72157682967188004 and paulhargreavesphotography.zenfolio.com/p207970679#h8f340222

Overall Results: