Gul RS800 Inlands at Rutland Sailing Club

by Sarah Marriott 18 Oct 2005 12:40 BST 15-16 October 2005

35 800s were greeted with near perfect pond sailing conditions on arriving at Rutland Sailing Club for the GUL RS8000 inland national championships 2005. With the forcasted 10 knots blowing nicely from the east meant the racing got away bang on time.

Race 1 and the Magic Marine boys Steve Irish and Martin Goterl bombed up the first beat in true ‘we’ve just won the national championships’ style! Jane Olive also deserves a huge thumbs-up for beating hubby Spod to the top Mark, rounding in 2nd place having never helmed an 800 before! The glory was short lived as Spod popped her in her place and whizzed down the first run with great style. With lots of place changing in the pack over a very short course the top three after race 1 were Irish and Gotrel (Magic Marine), Matt Gill and Jimbo Hughs and Spod Olive and Sarah Hughes (Sola Harken).

Race 2 very similar conditions and it was a repeat performance from Irish and Gotrel. Olive and Hughes went one better to notch up a 2nd while big wind and wave specialists, Andy Jeffries and Ally Ody from Eastbourne, showed awesome pond sailing skills to take 3rd place.

Race three and no prizes for guessing the winner! Paddy Gamble and a slightly worse for ware Fiona Lockwood showed excellent pace holding second all the way round only to be overhauled on the last lap by Andy Jeffries and Ally Ody who finished in second with Andy Cornah and Orwin Murray in 3rd.

With the racing all tied up by half past three the action moved to the bar and the top five looked like this: Irish and Gotrel in first, Jeffries and Ody 2nd, Olive & Hughes 3rd, Gill and Hughes 4th and Gamble and Lockwood 5th. In true 800 style ‘twenty ones’, the bunny game and drink while you think whittled away the hours before the fleet dispersed into bunk beds, tents and camper vans!

A very misty start to Sunday meant an hours postponement before any racing could commence. The breeze looked fresh though leaving everyone raring to go....

Race 4 and what more can we say - turbo shandys are obviously fast! Ian Martin and stand-in crew Sarah Marriott blew a marginal hangover away by leading the pack to the top mark, closely followed by Ben Schooling and Tim Hirst; Spod Olive and Sarah Hughs snapping at their heels in thrid ( no sign of Steve and Martin yet.....!) Despite pulling out an awesome lead by the end of lap two, Martin and Marriott couldn’t quite hold it to the finish, giving Olive and Hughes their first bullet of the day! Schooling and Hirst just loved the bigger breeze and flew accross the line in 3rd, just behind Martin and Marriott. Result!!

Race five and Merlin Rocket legend Phil King and his daughter Christina found great pace at the front of the fleet. But all fired up from a bullet in race 4, Olive and Hughes hung in their to take first place once again. The Kings took a very convincing second, Irish and Gotrel third and Jon White and Alex Cruttenden crossed the line in 4th.

Last race of the day, 4 laps to go and a marginal increase in breeze - brilliant! Hamble-based James Ross and Heather Back showed fantastic form leading the fleet round the top mark! King and King sailed their way to the front of the fleet rounding in 2nd, once again leaving quite a tussle behind them! But from nowhere and returning to race-winning form, Irish and Gotrel picked perfect lanes every time to take 1st place, Ross and Back stormed accross the line in 2nd, with King & King in thrid and Gill & Hughes in 4th.

So Steve Irish and Martin Gotrel proved themselves once again and took the title of GUL RS800 inland national champions for the 2nd year running. Spod Olive and Sarah Hughs finished up 2nd on the podium while Andy Jeffries and Ally Ody came third.

A fantastic weekend’s racing from Rutland and a huge thanks to our race officer for setting fantastic courses, not to mention the sponsors GUL for some great goodys!

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	1058	Steve Irish	Martin Gotrel	Draycote	1	1	1	7	3	1	7
2	1083	Alan Olive	Sarah Hughes	Stokes Bay	3	2	7	1	1	5	12
3	1014	Andy Jeffries	Allyson Ody	Eastbourne	4	3	2	4	6	7	19
4	1075	Matt Gill	James Hughes	Royal Corinthian	2	7	5	6	8	4	24
5	1012	Paddy Gamble	Fiona Lockwood	Stokes Bay	5	6	4	5	DNC	11	31
6	1089	Ian Martin	Sarah Marriott		9	24	8	2	9	9	37
7	881	Andy Cornah	Orwin Murray	Netley	10	4	3	DNF	11	10	38
8	1016	Peter Barton	Ian Gotts	Lymington	7	8	6	13	12	6	39
9	989	Ben Schooling	Tim Hirst	Helensburgh	12	11	16	3	5	16	47
10	843	Neil Baker	James Holmes	RVB	8	5	14	11	10	25	48
11	1011	James Ross	Heather Back	Hamble	24	9	17	12	15	2	55
12	1087	Mick Whitmore	Sarah Smith	Eastbourne	6	10	19	19	13	8	56
13	961	Philip King	Christina King	Oxford	DNC	28	15	9	2	3	57
14	882	Jon White	Alex Cruttenden	Pevensey/Stokes Bay	14	21	21	8	4	12	59
15	1052	Christian Reynolds	Lucy Jones	Locks	18	23	10	16	7	17	68
16	926	Alastair Shires	Penny Shires	Stokes Bay	21	12	11	23	14	13	71
17	1102	Aaron Barden	Martin Barden	Parkstone	13	14	12	18	19	14	71
18	991	Max Streeton	Miles Roebuck	Hayling Island	11	13	20	10	18	26	72
19	892	D Pike	R Alexander	Eastbourne	15	25	9	14	16	19	73
20	864	Adrian Coatsworth	Julia Jenkins	Southwold	17	15	13	15	24	15	75
21	848	Phillip Highfield	Tamsin Butcher	GYG	27	17	18	21	20	20	96
22	836	Derek Buchanan	Elaine Buchanan	Oxford	20	18	26	24	17	21	100
23	883	Kate Gillow	Katie Savage	Draycote	25	16	22	31	21	22	106
24	850	Jane Olive	Alex Davies	Stokes Bay	22	19	27	20	22	24	107
25	953	Andy Pickrell	Sam Proctor	Wilsonian	16	27	23	26	26	18	109
26	1099	Adam Broughton	Rob Hopper	RYA	26	20	29	17	23	27	113
27	833	Pippa Baker	Mostyn Evans	Mounts Bay	31	26	24	27	28	23	128
28	815	S Ferens	M Stone	Hayling Island	28	29	31	22	25	DNC	135
29	1103	Stephen Brown	Megan Perkins	Ullswater	19	32	32	29	29	30	139
30	809	Mandy Hindle	Bill Smith	LTSC	32	22	25	30	31	DNC	140
31	1065	Glenn Davis	Stuart Ward	North Lincs	29	30	28	25	32	28	140
32	844	David Goddard	Martin Brooking	Bewl Valley	30	31	30	32	27	29	147
33	1104	David Andrew	Michael Andrew	RSC	23	34	DNC	DNC	30	DNC	159
34	1017	Jeremy Bartle	Matthew Bartle	Ripon	33	35	DNC	28	33	31	160
35	1051	Alex Willard	Becca Willard	Royal Corinthian	DNC	33	33	33	DNC	DNC	171