Rathbones 707 UK National Championship at Edinburgh - Overall

by Patrick Carnie 22 Jun 2014 07:32 BST 18-21 June 2014

Edinburgh man beats hot competition to win national sailing event

Hot weather and hot racing dominated the Rathbones 707 Nationals this week on the Forth. It all came down to the last race, before Stewart Robertson (on Cacciatore) was awarded the overall prize.

Stewart and his (mostly) family crew sail from Royal Forth Yacht Club in Edinburgh. They didn't have the series all their own way. James Urquhart's Code Z was only a point behind after the 12 race series, having taken second place to Cacciatore in Race 11. Local knowledge may have helped, as Code Z usually races just up river at Port Edgar Yacht Club (South Queensferry) - but it didn't stop both boats being over the start line too early in the last race.

This serious level of competition extended to the rest of the fleet. Tich Summers (Seaword, Royal Forth), Neil McLure (Blue Funk, Dalgety Bay SC) followed close behind. Last year's champion Jon Powell, who was visiting from Royal Southern Yacht Club on a borrowed boat (Synchro) took 5th place overall. These three boats were within 6 points of each other. Many of the boats were only separated by one point at the end of the regatta.

Commenting on behalf of visitors from the south, east and north coasts, Alastair Mackie (Touchdown, Banff Sailing Club), said "What an extremely well run and highly competitive event. We enjoyed both the friendship in the club house and the competition on the water. Thanks to Royal Forth and the great race management."

Charlie Younger of Rathbones' Edinburgh office, commented: "Our support as main sponsor of the 707 National Championships on the Forth is part of our ongoing commitment to helping sport in Scotland, having recently announced our extended partnership with Lacrosse Scotland until 2017. Rathbones is also investing in the next generation, as demonstrated by our Financial Awareness programme for schools, and other youth development initiatives. These involve sponsorship of the Education Business Awards and other educational events, including Bang goes the Borders and the Chalke Valley History Festival for Schools."

Royal Forth Yacht Club, host for the event, is increasingly hosting national championships. Close to Edinburgh city centre, it has ideal sheltered waters for keelboat sailing within a couple of miles of the harbour. Club Commodore, Mark Primrose, said "We are grateful to Rathbones and our other sponsors for their help, as well as our volunteer race management team. We are delighted that so many keelboat sailors enjoyed this event. We welcome all new sailors, and of course keelboat fleets, to enjoy good winds and sheltered waters so close to Edinburgh city centre."

More photos can be found at actionshot.photoshelter.com

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	Points
1	GBR7115N	Cacciatore	Stewart Robertson	RFYC	5	1	2	2	1	22	2	1	6	6	1	7	27
2	GBR7031N	Code Z	James Urquhart	PEYC	4	4	4	4	3	1	1	4	1	4	2	4	28
3	GBR7060N	Seaword	Tich Summers	RFYC	1	5	1	8	11	4	8	9	4	1	8	2	42
4	GBR7037N	Blue Funk	Neil McLure	DBSC	6	6	5	1	2	3	3	7	10	5	10	15	48
5	GBR7070N	Synchro	Jon Powell	PEYC	2	3	10	3	6	5	16	2	5	8	4	10	48
6	GBR7052N	More T Vicar	Carl Allen	RFYC	7	10	8	9	4	2	9	5	14	2	3	3	52
7	GBR7102N	Jetstream	Ronnie Millar	RFYC	9	2	3	10	14	22	5	3	3	10	6	6	57
8	GBR7046N	Beaver Hunter	Paul Gray	RCYC	3	8	6	12	16	9	6	8	9	3	5	1	58
9	GBR7075N	A Grand Day Out	Chris More	SYC	11	7	7	16	5	6	4	12	8	13	7	9	76
10	GBR7062N	Sharky	Andy Hughes	THYC	8	12	11	11	10	7	14	17	16	7	12	5	97
11	GBR7110N	Brave Heart	Roger Doubal	PEYC	17	14	12	7	22	10	12	6	2	11	13	11	98
12	GBR7823N	Apollo	Malcolm Worsley	RTYC	10	9	13	6	8	14	17	18	12	9	9	12	102
13	GBR7061N	Rammie	David Smith / Mike Fleming	ASYC	12	13	15	5	7	12	15	16	18	15	11	8	113
14	GBR7024N	Second Fiddle	Anthony Dearden	SYC	15	11	9	15	12	8	11	14	7	16	17	14	116
15	GBR7023N	Tallulah	Susan & Simon Peakman	RFYC	19	18	16	13	9	11	7	11	11	12	14	13	117
16	GBR7049N	Touchdown	Alistair Mackie	BSC	18	16	14	14	17	13	10	10	13	18	18	17	142
17	GBR7021N	Blue Rusher	Bruce Temple / Sam Usher	SYC	14	15	17	17	13	15	13	21	20	14	15	18	151
18	GBR7084N	EH!	Andrew Lawrie	PEYC	13	17	21	18	15	16	19	20	17	17	19	20	171
19	GBR2576L	Partial Pressure	Gavin Simpson	RFYC	20	20	18	19	18	18	20	19	15	19	16	16	178
20	GBR7098N	Jalapeno	Steve Gush	PEYC	16	19	19	20	19	19	18	13	19	20	20	19	181
21	GBR7121N	Baltika	Peter McKenzie	PEYC	21	21	20	21	20	17	21	15	21	21	21	21	198