Rooster RS400 Southern Tour at Warsash Sailing Club
by Sean Cleary 15 Jun 2018 07:31 BST
9-10 June 2018
Rooster RS400 Southern Tour at Warsash Sailing Club © David Luetchford
Warsash SC never disappoints! A forecast of less than eight knots all weekend wasn't enough to scare away the 25 boat fleet.
Day one was a light day with winds generally around the six knot mark. The course seemed to be place right on the tide line which led to some tough currents to figure out! Jon and Nicky, our Eurocup champions, got off to such a good start winning the first race by a descent margin. The next bullet was taken by Chris and Steve who had no problem powering through the Solent chop. Francisco and Teresa stepped up for the last race of the day and won the third race.
The different winners of each race shows how tight the racing was. Many of the front runners on day one were spat out the back at some stage and found it challenging to sail back up the fleet. A testament to the quality throughout!
Warsash SC didn't disappoint with evening entertainment. Nicky again proved her skill in the hammer the nail into a log game. Richard also showed good form on the round the table game which left many of his opposition with strange bruises the next day!
Day two was another light day an easterly 4-5 knot breeze which seemed to get more thermally unstable as the sun came out. There was also quite a strong current running across the course which made for some interesting start. Race four started under a U flag after a general recall. Those who went left got stuck in quite a bad hole leaving right beaters to run away with it. Jon and Nicky took full advantage of this to take their second win of the regatta.
Race five got underway with a tight pin end start with a strong current pulling back towards the OD. This opened the door for Sean and Annalise to come in hot with port start and clear the fleet. They carried this through till the last downwind until Howard and Lou used their boat speed to take the win.
The OD and his crew throughout the weekend ran a really good show with good length races and minimum gaps in between. Credit goes to Andy Powell, David Swift and the rest of Warsash team for setting a high standard on how to run an RS400 event.
High quality racing was seen throughout the fleet with plenty of new faces in the mix showing that the RS400 class is in great shape at the moment. Next up is the summer championships in Parkstone in two weeks.
1st Howard Frabrother and Louise Hosken
2nd Jon Heissig and Nicky Griffin