West Country Boat Repairs RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Parkstone Yacht Club
by Rob Henderson 29 May 2018 16:14 BST
19 May 2018
RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Parkstone © David Harding /
www.sailingscenes.com
Forty-six boats arrived at the new Parkstone Yacht Club, glistening in the sun for four back-to-back races in the famous "Top Triangle". During a comprehensive briefing by Club President and PRO for the day Bryan Drake, it was revealed that the team who finished fourth was to write the race report, a policy originally proposed by the author... funny how these things work.
Race 1 got underway with the U-Flag flying and 6-8 warm knots blowing down the course. Jeremy and Becca Stephens navigated the twisting tides, clumps of weed and patternless shifts to a narrow lead from Alistair Norris and Helen Summersgill at the windward mark. Leading an extremely tight chasing pack were the smiling newlyweds Matt and Emma, who did not seem to have slowed down despite a bit of a break from the circuit post Tenby. Ominous. Place changing was rife as were the course changes, with the shifting breeze giving Bryan's windward mark layers a workout in the sun. Undeterred, Jeremy and Becca saw the race out with a textbook display of fleet management.
Local heroes Edd Whitehead and Millie Alcock showed their class in Race 2 to take the win, followed by Norris/Summersgill, who were already showing ruthless consistency. Roger and Lucy Phillips kept their cool and out of the holes to round off the top three.
In Race 3, the approach to the windward mark became almost Volvo-esque. Forget about the rest of the race, a puff could cost or gain you ten places in one go. Having nailed the start and the first shift, Cam Stewart and Tom Harrison led round the windward mark however Norris/Summersgill, who by now seemed to have got to grips with the doldrums, snuck past. Their skill wrapped the event up with a race to spare, and it was universally acknowledged quite how impressive their performance had been after racing.
The "sea breeze" continued to splutter over Brownsea Island before swinging right thirty degrees, creating an entirely new course for the final race of the day. A favoured pin end start and timely left hand shift enabled Maria Stanley and Rob Henderson to lead at the first mark followed by Matt and Emma. Unfortunately the breeze righted a bit further on lap 2, making the rest of the race somewhat processional. Nonetheless, the sailors could have no complaints as the Race Team had done a fantastic job all day in very unpredictable conditions.
So first went to the indefatigable Alistair and Helen, 2nd Edd and Millie and Matt and Emma 3rd. Cam and Tom's Race 3 heroics saw them take the Silver Fleet while Simon and Barney can look forward to banishment from the Bronze fleet, a fantastic performance from the young crew!
The fleet were very pleased with themselves as they tucked into the awesome BBQ and cake laid on by the Parkstone team. We had had a day of fair and high level racing in one of the best places to do so, and look forward to returning for the Summer Champs in July!