RS Aero Magic Marine UK National Championships at the WPNSA - Day 1
by Frances Peters 29 Aug 2015 21:21 BST
29-30 August 2015
RS Aero Nationals at the WPNSA day 1 © Frances Peters
Yesterday, 35 RS Aeros took to the water to make their final preparations for the first ever Magic Marine RS Aero National Championships. Several short sprint races with coaches on hand to offer words of advice set the bar high as sailors enjoyed 15 knots and bright sunshine in Portland Harbour. Once the final tweaks to the boats had been made, much of the fleet gathered to enjoy the wonderful sunset (and equally wonderful beers) at the local pub on the water's edge.
This morning brought more sunshine and spirits were high in the boat park. Many competitors could be found wondering the boat park, assessing their competition and discussing whether or not they too should be polishing their boat! Others occupied the balcony, soaking up the atmosphere – coffee and bacon bap in hand. There was only one thing missing... wind! With 4 races scheduled, it was set to be a challenging day.
A light breeze died to nothing as boats launched and a wait on the water ensued. The race committee persisted, and after a couple of attempts, race 1 got underway. The first race of the day saw all 74 boats on the same start line, competing in a handicap race using the PY system. The race made history as the biggest ever RS Aero start line to date, breaking the current record by 30 boats. In all the excitement and with the inevitable battle to claim a clear lane off the start line, several sailors began their series with a black flag. After his recent World Championship win in the RS500 class and dubbed one of the favourites for the week, Peter Barton in the 7 rig was forced to count a BFD for his first race. While some struggled to fight back from a bad start in such a large fleet, others thrived under the pressure. Henry Jameson was among those in his element. Accustomed to leading the way in large fleets with a background of RS Feva and RS Tera sailing, he took the gun for the RS Aero 5 fleet. Current I14 World Champion, Glen Truswell, led the charge in the 7 fleet, while Luke Deegan of Antigua Sailing Club was first across the line in the 9 fleet.
Now with a more established and stable 10 knot breeze, race 2 got underway. This time the 3 fleets were given their own starts, changing the strategy for some and offering a new opportunity at the front. Will Taylor of Brightlingsea Sailing Club took the win in the 5 fleet, while Matthew Caiger slotted in a 2nd place. In the 7 fleet, Peter Barton came back fighting with a 2nd place, snapping at the heels of Glen Truswell, who posted his second bullet of the day. David Rickard took the lead in the 9 rigs ahead of previous race winner, Luke Deegan.
The final race saw the wind drop again and so began a light and tactical race as sailors remained in the individual fleets. Henry Jameson reverted to form, posting another bullet to leave him topping the leader board overnight. Peter Barton went from strength to strength and won the final race of the day, leaving him 2nd and snapping at Truswell's heels overnight in the 7 fleet. David Ellis of Lymington Town Sailing Club posted a 2nd place in the final race for the 7 rigs, putting him 3rd overnight. Ben Rolfe of Burghfield Sailing Club took his turn to lead the way for the final race of the day in the 9 fleet, leaving him in 2nd place overnight behind Deegan.
Boats returned to shore to resume racing in the morning and there's more breeze forecast. It's all to play for with 5 races scheduled and plans to race in the bay.
Results after Day 1:
Pos | Nat | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
5 Rig |
1st | GBR | 1463 | Henry Jameson | Hayling Island SC | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
2nd | GBR | 11 | Will Taylor | Brightlingsea SC | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
3rd | GBR | 1562 | Matthew Caiger | Sevenoaks School | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
4th | GBR | 1543 | Debbie Degge | Bartley SC | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
5th | GBR | 1107 | Ben Poe | Sutton Bingham SC | 5 | 4 | 7 | 16 |
6th | GBR | 1173 | Archie Hainsworth | Alton Water SC | 6 | 9 | 5 | 20 |
7th | GBR | 1183 | George Catchpole | Waveney and Oulton Broad YC | 7 | 8 | 6 | 21 |
8th | GBR | 1109 | Louis Wright | Hayling Island SC | 9 | 6 | 8 | 23 |
9th | GBR | 1301 | Emily Davis | Great Moor SC | 8 | 10 | 10 | 28 |
10th | GBR | 1568 | Caitlin Atkin | Bewl Valley SC | 11 | 7 | 11 | 29 |
11th | GBR | 1178 | Cathy Bartram | Chew Valley LSC | 12 | 12 | 9 | 33 |
12th | GBR | 1108 | Charlie Pearce | Dabchicks SC | 10 | 11 | 12 | 33 |
13th | GBR | 1103 | Hugo Robathan | Oxford SC | BFD | 13 | 13 | 41 |
14th | GBR | 1296 | Maggie Dunn | Lyme Regis SC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 45 |
7 Rig |
1st | GBR | 1209 | David Ellis | Lymington Town SC | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
2nd | GBR | 1457 | Glen Truswell | Castle Cove SC | 1 | 1 | 9 | 11 |
3rd | GBR | 1534 | Fergus Barnham | Snettisham Beach SC | 2 | 6 | 3 | 11 |
4th | GBR | 88 | Jack Holden | Arun YC | 14 | 3 | 7 | 24 |
5th | EST | 10 | Ants Haavel | Tallinn Kalev YC | 6 | 14 | 4 | 24 |
6th | GBR | 1608 | Robbie Wilson | Wormit BC | 18 | 4 | 10 | 32 |
7th | GBR | 1079 | Paul Robson | Reading SC | 5 | 11 | 19 | 35 |
8th | GBR | 1216 | Mike Saul | Yorkshire Dales SC | 17 | 12 | 6 | 35 |
9th | GBR | 1222 | Luke Mapley | Felpham SC | 16 | 7 | 13 | 36 |
10th | GBR | 1 | Tim Peters | Hayling Island SC | 4 | 22 | 12 | 38 |
11th | GBR | 1175 | Peter Barton | Lymington Town SC | BFD | 2 | 1 | 41 |
12th | GBR | 1575 | Mark Carleton | Papercourt SC | 9 | 17 | 15 | 41 |
13th | GBR | 1015 | Chris Hobday | Gurnard SC | 24 | 9 | 11 | 44 |
14th | GBR | 1089 | Kent Martin | Ogston SC | 13 | 19 | 14 | 46 |
15th | GBR | 1171 | Ffinlo Wright | Isle of Man YC | 12 | 8 | 31 | 51 |
16th | GBR | 1305 | Ed Storey | Yorkshire Dales SC and Ripon SC | 15 | 21 | 17 | 53 |
17th | GBR | 1551 | Nigel Rolfe | Burghfield SC | 23 | 15 | 16 | 54 |
18th | GBR | 1653 | Peter Freeland | Downs SC | 11 | 20 | 24 | 55 |
19th | NED | 13 | Michiel Geerling | Braassemermeer | 19 | 13 | 25 | 57 |
20th | GBR | 1142 | Rob Beaton | Royal Plymouth Corinthian YC | 21 | 18 | 18 | 57 |
21st | GBR | 8 | Nev Herbert | Royal Lymington YC | 8 | 25 | 26 | 59 |
22nd | GBR | 1120 | Tom Partington | Hayling Island SC | 20 | 16 | 23 | 59 |
23rd | GBR | 1302 | Karl Thorne | Royal LymingtonYC/KeyhavenYC | 22 | 30 | 8 | 60 |
24th | GBR | 1490 | Martin Clarke | Hykeham SC | 10 | 31 | 20 | 61 |
25th | GBR | 1206 | John Hobson | Notts County SC | 7 | 29 | 27 | 63 |
26th | GBR | 1367 | Harry Jones | Draycote Water SC | BFD | 24 | 5 | 67 |
27th | GBR | 1533 | Finlay Barnham | Snettisham Beach SC | BFD | 10 | 21 | 69 |
28th | GBR | 1694 | Nick Neve | Rutland SC | 29 | 23 | 22 | 74 |
29th | GBR | 1618 | Dave Harris | Severn SC | 28 | 27 | 29 | 84 |
30th | GBR | 1601 | Paul Harwood | Wimbleball SC | 30 | 26 | 30 | 86 |
31st | GBR | 1509 | Peter Craggs | York RI SC | 26 | 28 | 33 | 87 |
32nd | GBR | 1211 | Nicholas Eales | Lymington Town SC | 25 | 33 | 32 | 90 |
33rd | GBR | 1029 | Judith French | Gurnard SC | 27 | 35 | 28 | 90 |
34th | GBR | 1500 | Christopher Cope | Isle of Man YC | 31 | 32 | 34 | 97 |
35th | GBR | 1705 | Neil Wharmby | Royal Lymington YC | 32 | 34 | DNF | 104 |
36th | GBR | 1570 | Robert Holdway | Poole YC | 33 | 36 | DNC | 107 |
37th | GBR | 1428 | Peter Townend | Chelmarsh SC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 114 |
9 Rig |
1st | GBR | 1485 | Luke Deegan | Antigua SC | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
2nd | GBR | 1581 | Ben Rolfe | Burghfield SC | 3 | 9 | 1 | 13 |
3rd | GBR | 1018 | David Rickard | Gurnard SC | 5 | 1 | 7 | 13 |
4th | GBR | 1205 | Simon Hiscocks | Weymouth and Portland NSA | 6 | 5 | 3 | 14 |
5th | GBR | 1208 | Matt Thursfield | Chelmarsh Sailing Club | 4 | 6 | 4 | 14 |
6th | GBR | 1298 | Richard Watsham | Starcross YC | 9 | 8 | 5 | 22 |
7th | GBR | 1036 | Ian Swann | Hayling Island SC | 2 | 3 | 18 | 23 |
8th | GBR | 1689 | Andrew Snell | Army SA | 12 | 10 | 6 | 28 |
9th | GBR | 1669 | Giovanni Belgrano | Gurnard SC | 11 | 4 | 15 | 30 |
10th | GBR | 1489 | Toby Freeland | Downs SC | 7 | 11 | 13 | 31 |
11th | GBR | 1172 | David Batchelor | Isle of Man YC | 15 | 7 | 12 | 34 |
12th | GBR | 1023 | Gareth Griffiths | Island Barn Reservoir SC | 8 | 18 | 9 | 35 |
13th | GBR | 1184 | Robert Freeland | Downs SC | 10 | 15 | 11 | 36 |
14th | GBR | 1404 | Ade White | Notts County SC | BFD | 12 | 8 | 43 |
15th | GBR | 1135 | Phil White | Frampton on Severn SC | 20 | 13 | 10 | 43 |
16th | GBR | 1637 | Adrian Neal | Sutton Bingham SC | 17 | 16 | 16 | 49 |
17th | GBR | 1207 | Mark Tissiman | Chelmarsh/Saundersfoot SC | 18 | 20 | 14 | 52 |
18th | GBR | 1157 | Chris Smith | Poole YC | 14 | 19 | 19 | 52 |
19th | GBR | 999 | Ben Wallis | Spinnaker SC | 13 | 21 | 20 | 54 |
20th | GBR | 1132 | Chris James | Exe SC | 16 | 17 | 21 | 54 |
21st | GBR | 1370 | Jim Hood | Lymington Town SC | 19 | 14 | RET | 56 |
22nd | GBR | 1097 | Chris Jones | Chelmarsh SC | 21 | 22 | 17 | 60 |
For more info on the RS Aero Class visit the website, www.rsaerosailing.org or the facebook group, www.facebook.com/groups/rsaeroclass.