RS400 Scottish National Championships

by Nick Craig on 14 Aug 2000 The RS400 Scotish Nationals took place at Hellensburgh with only 1 day's
racing in difficult conditions which were dominated by Chris Jennings/Ed
Nicklin. This was a fine performance as most of the top RS400 sailors were
present.

20 boats got away in the opening race to light & fickle winds and a tricky
chop. Chris Jennings/Ed Nicklin won from Tom Hewitson/Rob Sherrington with
Steve Venables/Richard Brown 3rd. Ian Ellis/Claire Buchan and former
Enterprise World Champion Stewart & Sarah Robertson led the chasing pack.
Race 2 was exteremely tight with the wind now increased to force 4 but still
wildly shifty. There were no less than 8 different race leaders! Venables/Brown
thought they had the race in the bag but a big shift to the unfavoured left side
of the course gave Jennings/Nicklin another win with the chasing pack of 6
boats finishing within 20 seconds! The Robertsons were 3rd and Craig
Burlton/Andrew Bonsey pipped Nick Craig/Keith Bedbourough, who had just
jetted in from the OK Worlds in Poland, on the line.

The wind died for race 3 giving the fleet a light wind test. Jennings/Nicklin led
from start to finish to complete an excellent day, followed by
Hewitson/Sherrington. Craig/Bedborough pulled through from a poor 1st run to
3rd, followed by the Robertsons and Gavin Fleming/David Milroy.

With the local pub opening very late, there were some sore heads on Sunday,
which was windless. A trickle of wind appeared resulting in everyone
launching but it died again so racing was abandoned.

The Nationals are at Phwelli in 2 weeks time where Jennings/Nicklin will hope
to maintain their blistering form.

Overall Results:
1st "What do I do with this?" Chris Jennings/Ed Nicklin Burghfield - 2 points
2nd "Skoda" Tom Hewitson/Rob Sherrington Royal Northern - 4
3rd "Custard cream pig" Steve Venables/Richard Brown Shustoke - 5
4th "Get off my land!" Stewart & Sarah Robertson Dalgety Bay - 7
5th "Sailsail.com" Nick Craig & Keith Bedborough Frensham Pond - 8
6th "Ronstan" Craig Burlton & Andrew Bonsey Northampton - 10