RS700 Southern Championships at Hayling Island Sailing Club

UK RS Southern Championships at Hayling Island © Richard Janulewicz / www.fotoboat.co

The tropical waters of Hayling Island greeted 14 lucky 700s for a superb weekend of racing. With high pressure over the UK, the coast was the place to be! The third round of the year had the perfect combination of sunshine, waves, wind and cold beer. Two days of perfect windward leeward racing on the same course as the 800s, 100s and 500s was enjoyed by all. With the local micro climate of Hayling Island the breeze certainly surpassed the light wind forecast for the weekend.

Saturday started with a steady breeze varying between 8 and 14 knots and a small chop with the fleet getting in three races with some close racing in Hayling Bay. With a slow sail out, a handful of boats unfortunately missing the star. In the first race Neil Ashby led the fleet off the line closely followed by Ian Swann and the chasing pack for three laps eventually becoming the victor.

Race 2 saw another close battle at the front of the fleet with Neil and Ian swapping positions regularly. Kicker failure unfortunately put an end to the day for Richard 'The Punisher' Wadsworth after his strong third position in race 1. Ian eventually overcame Neil to clinch victory in a tight race.

Race 3 saw the wind speed reduce a little as the afternoon progressed but still allowed for some fantastic conditions with close racing throughout the fleet. Again Neil was first around the windward mark closely followed by Alex Reid and the pursing pack. With some tricky decisions and manoeuvres downwind to be taken for overtaking RS100s large gains were made by some, however Neil continued his winning streak for the final race of the day followed by Alex and Ian.

Saturday night saw the fleet nurse their sunburns and enjoy the excellent hospitality of HISC with a slap up championship dinner, plenty of beer and a good band. The only downside of the night was that the Doom Bar beer ran out fairly early on!

Sunday saw three more races in slightly lighter conditions than Saturday with the wind averaging between 6-12 knots. With the lighter conditions the course was slightly shorter and only two laps were set by the PRO. Race 4 saw another strong performance by Neil leading the fleet and extending at every opportunity. He was followed by 'HISC local' Adam Golding who took a well deserved second.

The PRO did a great job of starting race 5 early as the other classes were still bobbing around the course increasing the laps to 3. With a significant port bias to the line Neil took advantage of it and led off the line again. He was closely followed by a rejuvenated Richard with a lashed up repair on his kicker. Neil again showed his pace on the course with some great boat speed upwind and downwind and avoiding any traffic securing another victory with a well deserved second place for Richard.

Race 6 followed in a similar pattern with Neil again dominating the fleet from start to finish. With 5 bullets out of 6 and discarding a second Neil was the clear winner of the weekend.

A special thank you to HISC and RS for a fantastic weekend enjoyed by all. Roll on the next event at Lymington!

Overall Results: