Gul RS200 Grand Prix at Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club

by RS Class Association 18 May 2012 12:00 BST 12-13 May 2012

Sparkling Eastbourne

May 12/13 saw the RS200 class hold the third national Gul GP event of the year at Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club. With previous events at ESSC having been blessed with champagne conditions, a good turnout of boats arrived and, on the Sunday at least, weren't let down with clear blue skies, 15 knots + breeze and a gentle swell – champagne sailing (see the video below for proof!!).

Saturday was a gentler affair however, with race one starting in a shifty and puffy offshore breeze. With most of the fleet being pushed shy of the line by the tide, those who went left early benefitted and so it was Matt Mee/Emma Norris who won, followed home by Chris Catt/Jules Charles in 2nd and Ed Whitehead/Alice Kingsnorth 3rd. The wind then decided to play up and a long wait ensued as a light sea breeze sprung up, the wind turning 180degrees in direction. The fleet lightweights took advantage with Mee/Norris having a stellar day to record 2,1 and lead over night. Behind them, the Rusden brothers took the bullet in race 2 (before an unfortunate DSQ in race 3), just ahead of a charging Catt/Charles, whilst in race 3 it was Dave Steed/Katharine Lovering 2nd and class newbie Oliver Vidal/Noelle Vidal showing everyone how easy it was in 3rd.

ESSC laid on a great evening of food and music, which everyone enjoyed whilst watching the sunset over the waves. The club should also be applauded for stocking cheap Jagaer bombs as well, which was presumably part of a deal to aid the Eastbourne clubbing scene. It definitely worked.......

Sunday dawned bright and still, but the wind was soon building for a classic day. With the tide pushing everyone over the line, the world's quickest turnaround-of-races-ever PRO pulled the black flag out after the first general recall and the fleet began to behave themselves. In the breezy, wavy conditions the Rusden's showed everyone a clean pair of heals in races 4 & 5, romping away to win both comfortably. Behind, Caroline/Nick Martin showed the kids how to race, taking 2nd in race 4 just ahead of Steed/Lovering. In race 5, Whitehead/Kingsnorth & then Mee/Norris were closest to the Rusdens.

Going into the final race, only Mee/Norris or the Rusdens could win. Knowing this, Mee sailed the Rusden's out to the unfavoured left hand side of the course, letting Chris Martin/Eddie Glennie port tack the fleet and shoot into an assailable lead. The Rusdens ground their way back into 2nd but it wasn't enough, leaving Mee/Norris the overall winners by 1 point from the Rusdens, with a very consistent Steed/Lovering 3rd.

Top silver fleet boat was that of the Martins, ahead of Wembley's Simon & Nicky Skinner in 2nd and Maia Walsh/M Wood in 3rd. Claire Walsh/Darren MacMara topped the bronze fleet, beating Chris Bower/Ian Mair's into 2nd and Phil White/Tom Ripley 3rd.

A great event as always at ESSC, with many thanks to the club for organising it and our great sponsors Gul for the prizes. The next Gul RS200 event is the Sprint Championships at Rutland 26/27 May whilst this weekend, take your pick from Itchenor or Parkstone for the local SEAS or SW Ugly tour respectively.

Overall Results:

Pos	Fleet	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1st	Gold	1311	Matt Mee	Emma Norris	Red Wharf Bay SWC	1	2	1	4	3	-12	11
2nd	Gold	1481	James Rusden	Will Rusden	BOO/KPMG	7	1	(DNF)	1	1	2	12
3rd	Gold	1460	David Steed	Katharine Lovering	Burghfield SC	4	5	2	3	-9	4	18
4th	Gold	822	Ed Whitehead	Alice Kingsnorth	Parkstone YC	3	7	5	-8	2	3	20
5th	Gold	1031	Chris Catt	Juliet Charles	Netley SC	2	3	-6	6	6	5	22
6th	Gold	1428	Chris Martin	Eddie Glennie	Burghfield SC	6	-13	7	5	4	1	23
7th	Silver	1422	Caroline Martin	Nick Martin	Burghfield SC	-10	6	4	2	5	9	26
8th	New	1029	Olivier Vidal	Noel Vidal	RYA	8	9	3	11	7	-13	38
9th	Silver	594	Simon Skinner	Nicky Skinner	Wembley SC	9	4	11	-16	8	8	40
10th	Silver	792	Maia Walsh	M. Wood	IBSC	-14	8	12	10	10	10	50
11th	Bronze	993	Claire Walsh	Darren MacMara	BC YC	5	11	10	14	12	-16	52
12th	Gold	1165	Ian Pickard	Katy Nichol	RYA	12	14	-17	7	15	11	59
13th	Silver	1402	Rob Janering	Alice Hudson	Wembley SC	13	16	9	9	13	(DNF)	60
14th	Bronze	593	Chris Bower	Ian Mairs	Parkstone YC	11	-17	16	12	14	14	67
15th	Silver	1263	Julian Bradley	Chole Sideris	Wembley SC	18	-21	19	13	11	7	68
16th	Bronze	681	Philip White	Thomas Ripley	Papercourt	-17	10	8	17	17	17	69
17th	Bronze	541	Johnny Coate	Kate Phillips	WWSC	16	12	15	-18	18	15	76
18th	Silver	634	David Jessop	Ed Gibbins	Grafham Water	-19	18	18	19	16	6	77
19th	Bronze	1228	Joe Adams	Emma Lucas	Burghfield SC	15	19	13	(DSQ)	19	18	84
20th	Bronze	860	John McKelvie	Sarah Watson	Wembley SC	-21	15	14	15	21	19	84
21st	Bronze	1131	Roger Wilson	Chung Chang	Wenbley SC	-22	20	21	21	20	20	102
22nd	Silver	1074	Rory Caird	Andy Page	Haying Island SC	20	22	20	20	22	(DNS)	104