RS Elite Nationals at Royal Lymington Yacht Club - Day 2
by Martin Wadhams 24 Jul 2010 10:03 BST
22-25 July 2010
RS Elite nationals at Lymington day 2 © Mark Lloyd /
www.lloydimages.com
Pressure cooker sailing at the RS Elite UK Nationals
PRO Roger Wilson made the perfect call when the day began with a light northerly gradient breeze that his forecast showed would shut down by late morning before sea breeze conditions became established at around 14.00. A three hour postponement saw the fleet head off to Christchurch Bay in ready for the wind to swing left and racing then started almost immediately.
Keelboat racing cannot get much closer than this. A tightly bunched fleet, place changing to the last and total tension were the order of the day throughout all three races. Like yesterday, Paul Jenkins’ Activ 3G crew were the fastest out of the blocks and perhaps scored the most comfortable win of the day, leading around every mark with just enough margin to keep their noses clean. Martin Wadhams’ RSsailing.com team climbed through the race to clinch a nail biting second from Kandoo 3, so close that they were not sure who had it and overnight leaders the Browns in Aeolus were overlapping both of them in third.
RSsailing.com shut out Kandoo and Matterhorn Jack, sailed by Mark Jardine, at the top mark in race 4 to lead around the first lap, but a touch of the slows on the second beat dropped them to third and then a bottom gate error made it fourth at the finish. Kandoo motored up the second beat to secure their second race win with Peter Lister in Pipefish getting into his stride for a truly great day in second.
The windward mark in race 6 will not be forgotten by many crews. As the tide turned against the fleet on the beat there were some mighty big snakes for those who pushed their luck – especially as a right hand shift put many starboard tack approachers above those coming in on port who’d thought they had a lane. Mark Brien’s highly popular Irish team in Full Marks (they’re all called Mark) called it perfectly to round ahead of Kandoo who now really looked into their stride. With place changing just behind them and no space to breathe the race turned into a total nail biter. On the final beat to the finish the overall leaders Kandoo covered RSsailing.com their closest rivals with a dual that forced the pair left giving Pipefish the opportunity to choose the other bottom gate mark and come in from the right to nick it brilliantly on the line from Full Marks.
So Kandoo 3 achieved a hugely impressive 1,2,3 for their day’s work moving them into the overall lead 3 points clear of RSsailing.com in second. Some of the other teams in contention picked up the odd high score but if the full series is sailed a second discard will, assuming they keep it clean from here on, allow them back into the frame. It is all to play for, but you have to say Kandoo is looking strong.
Results after Day 2:
Pos | Boat Name | Sail No | Club | Skipper | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
1st | Kandoo 3 | 70 | RLymYC | Crauford McKeon | -4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
2nd | RS Sailing.com | 55 | RLymYC | Martin Wadams | 2 | -7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
3rd | Active 3g | 62 | Weir Wood Sailing Club | Paul Jenkins | 1 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 3 | -17 | 21 |
4th | Aeolus | 33 | RBYC | Jonathan Brown | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | -11 | 22 |
5th | Matterhorn Jack | 23 | RLymYC | John Boddy | 6 | 2 | 7 | 6 | -10 | 5 | 26 |
6th | Elixiri | 11 | RFYC | Shaun Maclean | 8 | 6 | -16 | 5 | 13 | 6 | 38 |
7th | Oink Squeal | 48 | RBYC | David Wood | 3 | 3 | 9 | 9 | -17 | 16 | 40 |
8th | Full Marks | 57 | RNIYC | Mark Brien | 23 | -24 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 46 |
9th | Pipefish | 66 | RLymYC | Peter Lister | 21 | -27 | 20 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 51 |
10th | Upfront | 56 | RNIYC | Jeff Ralston | 12 | 8 | 8 | -13 | 12 | 13 | 53 |
11th | Ciao Bella | 1 | HISC | Mike Tong | 10 | -22.5 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 54 |
12th | E'Tu | 63 | RLymYC | Steve Powell | 9 | 10 | 10 | -22 | 22 | 7 | 58 |
13th | Swallow | 49 | RNIYC | Brian Shaw | 7 | 15 | 5 | 18 | -24 | 14 | 59 |
14th | TNT | 8 | HISC | Toby Strauss | -20 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 59 |
15th | Duel | 6 | HISC | Mike Dawe | -16 | 11 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 61 |
16th | Escapade | 12 | HISC | Graham Hughes | 14 | 12 | 15 | 17 | 5 | -22 | 63 |
17th | Sea Breezes | 50 | RNIYC | John Mcdowell | 19 | 16 | 12 | 11 | -21 | 8 | 66 |
18th | White Water | 64 | RLymYC | C Nicholson | 22 | 13 | 18 | -28 | 8 | 15 | 76 |
19th | More T Vicar | 67 | RFYC | Carl Allen | 13 | 18 | 17 | 23 | 11 | -29 | 82 |
20th | Flo | 34 | RBYC | Angus Bates | 15 | 20 | -21 | 12 | 19 | 18 | 84 |
21st | No Angel | 2515 | RUYC | Fiona Hicks | -28 | 9 | 19 | 14 | 20 | 28 | 90 |
22nd | Limelite | 4 | Mylor Yacht Club | Charles Wharton | 11 | 19 | 24 | 24 | 16 | -26 | 94 |
23rd | Behave | 52 | RNIYC | Mark Hunter | 18 | -25 | 25 | 20 | 23 | 19 | 105 |
24th | JP Watersports | 38 | Elite Watersports Boating Club | James Pearson | 27 | 17 | 23 | 19 | -30 | 24 | 110 |
25th | Galadrial | 29 | HISC | Jim Bennett | 17 | 21 | 22 | 27 | -28 | 23 | 110 |
26th | Timeless | 44 | RLymYC | David Wansborough | -30 | 29 | DNS | 25 | 18 | 20 | 122 |
27th | Jitterbug | 39 | | David Baird | 24 | 22.5 | 27 | 26 | 25 | -31 | 124.5 |
28th | Ellanore | 2 | SeaView | Sam Christie | 26 | -31 | 28 | 21 | 31 | 21 | 127 |
29th | Excalibur | 22 | RBYC | Michael Lovell | 25 | -30 | DNF | 29 | 29 | 25 | 138 |
30th | Swansong | 26 | Hayling Island | Charles Barron | -31 | 28 | 29 | 31 | 26 | 27 | 141 |
31st | Eloise | 5 | HISC | Roger Vickers | 29 | 26 | 26 | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 149 |
32nd | Storm | 37 | HISC | Michael Knowles | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | 30 | 27 | 30 | 155 |
33rd | Foudafafa | 76 | | Damien Jouvent | (DNC) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 170 |