JPWatersports RS200 Scottish Tour Round 2 at Port Edgar Yacht Club

RS200s at Port Edgar © Jim Scott / Port Edgar YC

RS200s at Port Edgar © Jim Scott / Port Edgar YC

RS200s at Port Edgar © Jim Scott / Port Edgar YC

Wall to wall sunshine and light winds was the theme of the weekend, for the second event of the JP Watersports Scottish RS200 Tour.

Seven eager 200s rocked up early doors on Saturday morning for a full days training with RS200 hot shot Dicken Maclean. The fleet were greeted with a sparrow's fart of breeze and had a challenging morning of rabbit run starts, short course races and trying not to be swept away by the tide. The breeze did build enough for the afternoon session, which consisted of more short courses and a cheeky gut-buster to end the day. This certainly worked up a thirst for beers during the video debrief. Thanks to Dicken for running the session, which was beneficial and enjoyed by all. Thanks also to JP Watersports for the cold beers and soft drinks.

An entertaining evening was had in local South Queensferry, involving a hijack of the RS400 curry night, a few sing songs and a chance to show off some serious sunburn...

A few more 200s turned up on Sunday for the racing, giving a competitive 10 boat fleet. A special mention to Neil and Alice who got a tad lost on the way to the event and were seen scrambling about trying to get their mast up whilst rest of the fleet were busy launching. After a tow out to the start they made it just in time to watch everyone else going up the first beat!

Those who were listening to the crewing tips from Saturday were quick to realise the aim of the day was to get inshore and benefit from a conveyor belt of a back eddy that was propelling boats up the shoreline. After the long beat up the shoreline in front of a number of spectators enjoying the fine Scottish weather, the hardest decision was when to tack out into the tide towards the windward mark. Due the light breeze and a massive course, race 1 consisted of only one lap, which was won by Roger Carter and Rachael Cooke, closely followed by Martin Faulkner and Bill Forsyth who managed to nip ahead of Emily Robertson and Rachel Mawer right at the last beat.

The wind had increased slightly for the second race, which followed a similar pattern with a one sided racecourse and hunting for puffs of breeze downwind. Roger/Rachael got the hang of this pattern by this point and extended a slightly more convincing lead over the fleet with Stuart Teasdale and Charlie Nunn leading the fight for second in a very tight pack.

Race 3 was all about the start, and after a general recall due to a few eager beavers the fleet got away cleanly and proceeded to battle it out up the shoreline. After leading at the windward mark Fiona Rigg and Helen Whiteman headed inshore downwind. Martin/Bill gybed off out into the tide and their winter training showed as they narrowly missed out on the win after Roger/Rachael sneaked ahead of them at the last mark to put in another first. Fiona/Helen who were scuppered by the breeze downwind, popped in behind Martin/Bill for another solid third.

With the breeze now dying away, the race committee started the fleet for the final race in the lightest conditions of the day. Roger/Rachael were obviously a tad too keen to get back to the showers as they were scored OCS, whereas a couple of other more conscientious boats went back to exonerate themselves. Another similar format race followed with Martin/Bill taking the line honours, a second place for Fiona/Helen and third for newly volunteered Social Secretary Emily and crew Rachel.

Roger/Rachael were luckily able to discard the OCS to take the overall win. Martin/Bill were consistently near the front to take second and Fiona/Helen showing ever increasing results throughout the day to take third ahead of Emily/Rachel. Worth noting that only a spread of 5 points separated the remaining 6 boats, highlighting how little it took to jump up or down the leader board. It was great to see a mix of new boats and some old hands getting back into the fleet.

A huge thanks to JP, Port Edgar Watersports and Port Edgar Yacht Club for getting in 4 good races in challenging conditions and providing some excellent vouchers as prizes.

Next up is the Scottish Champs at East Lothian Yacht Club on 4-5 June where we are expecting a bumper turnout, so get your entry in early for a discounted price.

Overall Results: