Volvo RS500 National Championships at Parkstone Yacht Club

RS500 nationals at Parkstone © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.com

RS500 nationals at Parkstone © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.com

RS500 nationals at Parkstone © David Harding / www.sailingscenes.com

The Volvo UK RS500 Nationals at Parkstone YC saw a wide range of conditions. Everyone hit the ground running, as the first day saw challenging 20 knot winds with plenty of gusts and shifts. Tim Wilkins and Chris Tuckett took the first win, with Edd Whitehead and Alice Kingsnorth cleaning up in the second and third races to finish the first day in the lead. Close on their tail throughout the day were Phil and Tamsin Highfield, Dutch Team Marleen Blomsma and Jody de Jager, and reigning champions Mike Saul and Meg Fletcher.

With slightly calmer, but still very strong winds, everyone took full advantage of the second day to sail extraordinarily fast, with positions shifting constantly throughout each race. Tim and Chris, Edd and Alice, and Mike and Meg all shared a win, but it was the consistent placing 1,2,2 of Tim and Chris that put them out in front after the day's racing.

On the final day, the fleet awoke to radically different conditions from the previous two days. The wind was a pleasant 8 knots, as we sailed out into the bay and held for the first race in which Mike and Tim battled hard for the lead, eventually won by Tim. As the sun started to shine behind the clouds, the wind really started to drop, and some new faces began to creep up the fleet. At the start of the 8th race, Peter and Karen Mathews spotted a shifting wind and pulled off an incredible port flyer, crossing the entire fleet and losing the race only to Mike and Meg in the end, who were catching up to Tim and Chris. Also pushing up the fleet were Hannah and Graeme Bristow, and Ben Hazeldine and Luke Burywood, who were using the light winds to their advantage.

The final race was a convincing win for Mike and Meg, who overtook the struggling boats of Tim and Edd in increasingly millpond conditions to take the lead and maintain their championship title - congratulations! As always, a big thank you to the race committee for their hard work with a very busy race schedule, to Parkstone YC for hosting us during Poole Week, and to Volvo for the amazing sponsorship. Well done to all the competitors who I hope to see at the Inlands at Queen Mary SC for the Inlands!

More great photos available soon at www.sailingscenes.co.uk

Overall Results: