RS400 Eurocup at Yacht Club de Carnac
by Heather Chipperfield 3 Jun 2018 18:08 BST
26-29 May 2018
Eurocup 2018: RS400 fleet in action © Christian Chandon
For the RS400 Eurocup event, the fleet joined five other RS classes at the popular venue of YC Carnac, Brittany.
The crews that came out early for an extended holiday were already enjoying sunshine & breeze, exploring the beautiful location on their bikes, frequenting the creperies and tucking into the local Breton cider by the time the fleets all gathered.
Thunderstorms and torrential rain greeted the fleet on the first day of the Championship so racing was postponed by an hour. Luckily the weather improved and an 8-knot north-easterly settled for the start. One race only in a gentle breeze, then back in before the lightning struck. After racing the sun came out to dry everyone's kit out nicely and we sat around socialising as the Yacht Club welcomed us all with free drinks and tasty snacks.
Day 2 of racing had a perfect forecast of F3 and sunshine. With a civilised start time of midday, the effects of the night before had time to clear and everyone had a bit more time to relax and settle in to their holidays. The fleet launched at low tide into slightly tricky waves breaking on the beach but all made it out OK. Very close racing throughout, but it was Howard Garbrother & Louise Hosken's day. With 1, 1, 2 and discarding a 4th, they finished the day with a good lead.
Day 3 and, as the crews contemplated another light wind day in the boat park, the YC Carnac race teams headed to the course area, with confidence the SW sea breeze would fill in. Right on time, and as most of the crews were hosting their sails, the breeze swung 180 degrees and a building sea breeze saw the boats spinnakering to the start line. Carnac is blessed with a very reliable sea breeze and with a clear sky the clouds quickly started to form over the land.
What followed was champagne sailing day in 12-15kts and bring sunshine. The 400s had, possibly, the best racing of the season so far today; the sun was out, the breeze was prefect and the atmosphere ashore was full of fun, enthusiasm and banter. We also had some of the best race management that most of the fleet could remember and based on the experience of some of the sailors, that is some compliment to the team at YC Carnac. Day 3, and Jon Gorringe and Owain Hughes showed us all a clean pair of heels. However, they were U-flagged in 2 races, letting through the ever-consistent Jon Heissig & Nicky Griffin into first place, now counting 2, 1, 1 for the day.
Unfortunately, the last day proved a frustrating affair, for both the race team and the sailors but very sensibly the race team sent the fleet ashore, as the wind very slowly tracked right from NE to SW, as the day wore on.
So the final scores saw Jon Heissig and Nicky Griffin, yet again, lift the Eurocup Trophy, seeing off an extremely competitive fleet, to show themselves to be worthy champions. Howard & Louise were 2nd,Steve Restall & Chris Stubbs 3rd and Mark Reddington, sailing in his favourite venue with Colin Staite, in an excellent 4th place.
The 400 fleet had a great time in Carnac and look forward to the Summer Champs at Parkstone and the RS Games, in August, where the battle will recommence.
Full overall results can be found here.