Noble Marie Allen RS600 Nationals at Stone Sailing Club - Overall

Day two of the Noble Marine Allen Brothers 2023 RS600 Nationals started with a promising early breeze, however this quickly disappeared. A long wait ensued, with the start time of 11am soon a distant memory as the wind followed a cycle of filling in and dying.

By 2:30pm there was talk of abandoning for the day, but eventually, after the 'post-race' ice creams were dished out, the fleet launched into a building sea breeze at 3pm.

Incredibly, all three scheduled races were completed, with the final race in planing conditions. With some big shifts coming off the land, picking the right side was crucial with the fleet often splitting and lots of different faces making an appearance at the front.

Jamie Mawson took the first race, with George Smith second and Grand Master Ian Marshall in third. Jamie continued his winning streak in race two, chased by Tim Cutsforth and a rapidly-improving Mike Iszatt. Mike showed the fleet a clean pair of heels to take race three, followed by George and Tim.

Noble Marine Allen RS600 Nationals - photo © Alice Crick

The fleet arrived back just after 6pm, giving just enough time for a quick scrub up before the excellent championship dinner provided by the club, and entertainment from a local magician. Going into the final day, it was all to play for with George and Jamie tied on points and any of the top five theoretically able to snatch victory.

Day three dawned with a lighter than expected breeze and palpable tension in the boat park as the leading helms did their maths. Although it appeared to be a two-horse race between defending champion George Smith and inland champion Jamie Mawson, both sailors had (they hoped) used up their discards and with those behind carrying big scores ahead of the second discard, the event was still wide open.

After a few delays, several recalls and much patience from the race committee, while the wind settled down, race seven started in a nice trapezing breeze.

Jamie made his intentions clear by taking an early lead and the heavily favoured committee boat end, and with George down in the pack having missed the massive right shift. George made an excellent last minute choice to tack immediately after the final leeward mark and took advantage of a late windshift and tide to hit the pin end of the line, resulting in almost a photo finish with Jamie at the committee boat end. With the increasingly consistent Mike Iszatt in third, the championship was clearly going to go to the wire.

Noble Marine Allen RS600 Nationals - photo © Alice Crick

For the final race a very excited, Will Russell rounded first with Jamie just ahead of George, but with the wind still swinging and increasing, George quickly powered into the lead. The breeze continued to build through the race with a strengthening flood tide. Ian Montague took second, closely followed by Mike. Jamie worked his way back to fourth meaning it was not immediately clear who had won overall.

In the end, consistency paid with George taking the title by one point. The event will be remembered for being the most closely contested in years, with four different race winners and the champion only winning two races, a testament to the depth of talent in the fleet. With several new boats now in the fleet, a wide range of ages from youth to over 65, and plans for a trip to Garda in 2024, the future looks bright for the RS600.

Many thanks to Noble Marine and Allen Brothers for their support, and all the volunteers at Stone SC who made the event such a success.

Noble Marine Allen RS600 Nationals - photo © Alice Crick

Overall Results:

Michael Iszatt - Noble Marine Allen RS600 Nationals - photo © Alice Crick