Crewsaver RS100 Eurocup at Yacht Club de Carnac after Day 3

by Al Hall 1 Jun 2013 22:44 BST 30 May - 2 June 2013

Day 1

A blustery north westerly with sunshine, around 18-20 knots, greeted the 15 RS100 sailors from as far afield as North Wales, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Isle of Wight and of course not forgetting England!

Al Hall led the fleet away at the pin end and got the shifts right to lead at the windward mark closely followed by Chris Cunningham and newcomer to the 8.4 fleet Huw Powell! Has he slimmed down?

Downwind was all about staying upright and picking the gusts and by the leeward mark Powell led from Cunningham with Hall close behind. Once again Hall picked the shifts and led at the windward mark with Powell coming to terms with his new diminutive sail. Downwind Powell picked the right side of the course while Hall covered the middle ground and both boats arrived at the final leeward mark at identical times. Powell shot through to leeward to record the bullet, Hall second and Cunningham third.

Race two and the wind had increased to a steady 24 knots with occasional 28 knot gusts recorded. This was a tale of so nearly and if only for quite a few sailors. Alistair Dickson established a huge lead at the windward mark only to succumb to the gybe. Mark Harrison then had a significant lead but tried to sail by the lee to avoid the gybe and succumbed to a watery grave. Huw Powell then became master of his own destiny but he got the next downwind gybe horribly wrong leaving Chris Cunningham to pick up the pieces and take the bullet by quite a margin. Powell recovered to second with Hall finishing third.

Day 2

A shifty force 3 greeted the 17 100s on a day of snakes and ladders. Martin Boyd got the shifts right closely followed by Huw Powell (rig changer) at the first windward mark. Huw took control downwind with Alistair Dickson coming through to second. Mark Harrison and Greg Booth showed their usual downwind pace with Dickson dropping to fourth. Places were held until the final downwind when Huw extended his lead, Dickson took the shifts / gusts to scrape into 2nd and Harrison overtook on the final reach to the finish holding his kite while others dropped.

Race two and the breeze was edging left. Al Hall lead the fleet away from the pin end and held a commanding lead by the windward mark. Martin Boyd lead the rest of the fleet as the wind shifted further left. Those that held on to starboard gybe did best whilst those who gybed to port found the graveyard. Powell found some pace (with his old knackered 8.4 sail as he describes) and came through to second with Giles Peckham taking advantage of the graveyard to pull through to third. The rest of the race became a procession as the shifting wind shifted permanently with Hall holding a commanding lead, Powell second and Peckham third.

Race three and the fleet were slowly coming to terms with the shifting breeze and making tactical shift decisions became the order of the day. Powell lead from Dickson after getting the final shift correct in the last 300 metres to the windward mark. Downwind Dickson got inside Powell at the leeward mark with Harrison and Giles Chipperfield in close pursuit. Places were held until the final leeward mark when Harrison mistimed his gybe and fell foul of Powell, whilst Chipperfield took advantage of the mayhem to sneak through to first place with an opportunist rounding inside both boats. The fetch to the finish was processional with 16 seconds separating the first four boats. Chipperfield held his lead, Powell second closely followed by Harrison and Hall who squeezed inside four boats at the final mark rounding.

After one of the best dinghy championship evenings for many years with an outstanding buffet, free booze and a live band the fleet gathered for day three looking rather tired!

Day 3

A grand master shift day greeted the sailors today with wind varying from top of a force two to occasional force four from the North-ish. Compass headings varied from 295' to 345' on the same upwind legs so an extraordinary snakes and ladders day was in order. Race one and the fleet got away cleanly and split roughly 50-50 upwind. The left side of the beat seemed to pay but a couple of boats on right side of the course also did well. Huw Powell established a good lead with Mark Harrison in hot pursuit. The lead changed hands several times with Chris Cunningham, Harrison and Powell all out front at times. On the last downwind leg Powell went right in breeze whilst Harrison went left and dropped from 2nd to 7th. Hall was the main benefactor recovering to second with Alistair Dickson coming in third.

Race two and the fleet were getting ahead of themselves on the start line with Powell, Dickson and Harrison having to return for the individual recalls. Michel Rotach lead at the windward mark with a "I'm going left whatever happens approach." Once again the lead changed hands many times with 40 degree wind shifts recorded. The wind shifts caught some sailors out with capsizes in what was really non capsizing conditions! Giles Chipperfield overcame the odds to record a bullet with Cunningham and Greg Booth close behind.

Race three and once again the early starters paid dearly with Harrison and Martin Boyd recording OCS. Rounding the windward mark Harrison had established a significant lead and was able to hold his kite to the spreader mark whilst others floundered. Eventually after another multitude of lead changes Powell came through on the final downwind leg in his own private gust to record the bullet and win the event with a day to spare, Cunningham second and Michel Rotach recording his first podium of the event.

Congratulations to Huge Powell on a well-deserved victory (rumour has it he was seen rigging his 10.2 this evening in a bid to win the Euro RS100 double) and with second place separated by just by one point for three sailors the minor prizes are up for grabs tomorrow with Hall and Cunningham equal second and Chipperfield a point adrift.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Nat	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	Pts
1	389	POWELL HUW	GBR	1	2	1	2	2	1	7	1	8
2	298	HALL AL	GBR	2	3	12	1	4	2	10	9	21
3	421	CUNNINGHAM CHRIS	GBR	4	1	10	8	8	4	2	2	21
4	321	CHIPPERFIELD GILES	GBR	6	4	9	6	1	5	1	5	22
5	410	DICKSON ALISTAIR	GBR	DNF	5	2	4	5	3	9	8	27
6	428	BOOTH GREG	GBR	5	DNF	4	9	6	6	3	4	28
7	379	HARRISON MARK	GBR	3	8	3	7	3	8	6	OCS	30
8	362	BOYDE MARTIN	GBR	7	6	7	5	7	OCS	8	OCS	40
9	318	ROTACH MICHEL	SUI	11	9	6	10	9	10	4	3	41
10	359	PECKHAM GILES	GBR	8	10	5	3	11	9	12	7	42
11	ESP  327	CLAUDIUS TOBIAS	ESP	10	7	8	11	10	7	5	6	43
12	309	EVANS MOSTYN	GBR	9	11	11	13	12	12	13	11	66
13	364	ZAMO ALBERTO	ITA	DNF	DNF	13	12	13	11	11	10	70
‑‑‑	458	PARTRIDGE JON	GBR	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	96
‑‑‑	240	POWELL Huw	GBR	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	96