Noble Marie Allen RS600 Nationals at Stone Sailing Club - Day 1

Noble Marine Allen RS600 Nationals Day 1 © Alice Crick / Debbie Montague

Noble Marine Allen RS600 Nationals Day 1 © Alice Crick / Debbie Montague

Day one of the 2023 Noble Marine and Allen Brothers-sponsored nationals dawned with a light breeze and a strong tide, as forecast, leading to a postponement. The fleet, well fed at lunch, launched into an 8-knot westerly breeze with an incoming tide. This dictated much of the theme of the day - don't be early and generally go left.

Race one saw a relatively conservative start with a busy pin end. The left side of the course generally paid, and the top half of the fleet piled in from the port lay line. Tim Cutsforth rounded first, having benefited from the practice day on Thursday, chased by the Notts County boys, Jamie Mawson and Matt Potter, and local legend Ian Montague. As the race unfolded, Ian eventually overhauled Tim, and George Smith rounded out the top three.

Race two didn't get away as planned. Neil Fulcher, our race officer had spoken too soon, suggesting the fleet were well behaved. After one general recall the fleet split between those that had learnt to go left and those tempted to the right. The top mark was a tight round between Jake and Ian Montague. The pack chased hard with the paying move getting out of the tide on the downwind. George eventually overhauled Ian, with Jake chasing hard for 3rd and Matt consistent in 4th.

Race three saw three further general recalls, forcing the race officer to lengthen the line, reduce the pin end bias and move onto an I flag. The fleet got away, again splitting between the pressure on the right and the promise of the left paying.

The left again paid as the tide quickly turned from slack to heading out to sea. Anyone on the right was caught out and apart from the Notts County boys who rounded clear ahead, most struggled to make the windward mark in a dying breeze. The rich got richer and the race got longer for those still struggling upwind. Jamie and Matt were clear ahead and finished almost in a different time zone. The rear third of the fleet were sensibly finished early. Little did they know, the onshore beers were named the 'turning tide', which was supremely apt. The middle of the fleet battled on and rounded the leeward mark to a strengthening outgoing tide. The line proved further away than it appeared, and the last leg took as long as the rest of the race to complete.

Thanks to go to Mike Izzat of Silverhook who kindly provided welcome goodies for the fleet as well as presenting a daily prize to Ian Montague who is our overnight leader.

Tomorrow is looking a tricky day to be a race officer with many eyes on the forecast and an already high scoring event leaving all to play for.

Results after Day 1: