RS200 SEAS Open at Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club

by Mike Jones 16 Mar 2014 21:39 GMT 15 March 2014

Wall-to-wall blue sky, a warm, gentle Force 2 at the start, building to a steady Force 3 throughout the day, shifting enough to make choice of side of course important. These were the benign March conditions that could not have contrasted more with those of last year's event that was held in a snow storm.

In Race 1 David Jessop and Clare Michelmore won by a huge margin and even had time to start a fourth lap and return in a 3 lap race. 'We usually just follow the others and don't worry about the number of laps' they confessed happily at the finish. In Race 2 Mark Heather (ex World Topper champion) and sister Lucy also won by a large margin.

At lunch three boats led on 8 points apiece: SEAS supremo for 2014, Julian Bradley with Helen Cafferatia his predecessor Andrew Peters with Geraldine Peters and Dan Goodmann with Jo Lloyd from Littleton.

In Race 3 Bradley and Cafferata opened up a clear points lead with a second after a titanic struggle with James and Will Rusden from Royal Lymington who took first and in so doing put themselves into contention for the event.

This position was short-lived for the Rusden brothers who unnecessarily returned in an Individual Recall for two other boats, Island Barn's Clare James and Burghfield's Andrew Barraclough. The Rusdens did well to recover to 9th in a very competitive fleet where there were four separate race winners.

With a discard subtracted and one race to go the points were Jessop / Michelmore 6, Peters / Peters 8, Bradley / Cafferata 10, Rusden / Rusden 12, Goodman Lloyd 13. Jessop and Michelmore had now gained the taste of leading a regatta, finished after the correct number of laps, took a first and the regatta in a close finish from their nearest rivals Peters and Peters.

Bradley and Cafferata faded in the last race to ninth, but consoled themselves with the Masters trophy. The Risden brothers took third on equal points with Goodman and Lloyd. The prize for first Island Barn boat went to Andrew Barnett and Debbie Robertshaw.

Jessop and Michelmore had better brush up on their navigation, as on this form they will be leading many more events this season.

More photos can be found here.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Pts
1st	1347	David Jessop	Clare Michelmore	Papercourt SC	1	‑9	3	2	1	7
2nd	1559	Andrew Peters	Jeraldine Peters	Queen Mary SC	3	‑5	4	1	2	10
3rd	1481	James Rusden	Will Rusden	RLYC	8	3	1	6	(DNC)	18
4th	950	Dan Goodman	Jo Lloyd	Littleton SC	‑6	2	6	5	5	18
5th	1546	John McKelvie	Sarah Watson	Wembley SC	2	6	‑10	8	3	19
6th	1263	Julian Bradley	Helen Cafferata	Wembley SC	4	4	2	‑11	9	19
7th	1228	Joe Adams	Evan Bradshaw	Burghfield SC?	7	‑16	5	3	4	19
8th	1488	Mark Heather	Lucy Heather	RYA	‑9	1	8	4	7	20
9th	1325	Charlotte Savage	Mike Wood	Lancing SC	5	8	‑13	7	6	26
10th	681	Philip White	Chris Jarold	Papercourt SC	12	7	7	9	(DNC)	35
11th	LL)	Tim Goling	Josie Bell	?	10	15	9	‑21	8	42
12th	655	Andrew Barnett	Debbie Robertshaw	Island Barn Reservoir SC	‑11	11	11	10	10	42
13th	1182	Andrew Barraclough	Mike Herman	Burghfield SC	15	10	19	‑20	11	55
14th	LL)	Harry Phelps	Lucy Ridler	Island Barn Reservoir SC	16	12	‑21	15	12	55
15th	1236	CJ Cavallari	Uta Griesenbach	Island Barn Reservoir SC	13	‑20	20	13	15	61
16th	839	Joe Cic ?	Adam Cic	Wembley SC	17	(DNF)	15	14	16	62
17th	1278	Roz Stell	Adrian Stell	‑	21	13	14	16	(DNC)	64
18th	1409	Clare James	Lucy Gibson	Island Barn Reservoir SC	‑22	17	12	18	18	65
19th	651	Andy Groves	Tessa Groves	Island Barn Reservoir SC	18	‑19	16	19	13	66
20th	584	Tim Freeman	Hannah Sands	Warsash SC	14	21	17	‑22	14	66
21st	227	Ian Cleaver	Clare Overstall	Island Barn Reservoir SC	‑19	14	18	17	17	66
22nd	1098	Julia Judd	Mark Highbody	Downs SC	20	18	‑22	12	19	69