Please select your home edition
Edition
GP Watercraft

RS400s during the RS End of Season Regatta at Rutland Sailing Club

by Matt Sheahan 6 Nov 2018 12:50 GMT 3-4 November 2018

Of the 105 boats that chose to disregard the weekend's weather forecast and head to the RS End of Season Regatta at Rutland Water, 20 were RS400s.

Uncharacteristically for November it was easy to turn a blind eye to the strength of the breeze on the long morning drive as the Autumn sunshine, blue skies and striking auburn leaves provided some spectacular scenery as a distraction.

There's nothing quite like sunshine to make the day feel more manageable and with shelter from the breeze at the bottom of the slope by the water's edge we were all feeling pretty relaxed at the prospect of a 'better than forecast' day before we headed out for the first and only race of the day.

But it didn't take long before the real conditions hit home. Within a minute or so of hoisting kites and heading out to the start area we found ourselves in a full-on foam-up as big gusts, well into the mid-twenties, swept across the lake as if the big man upstairs was opening and closing a giant heavenly door at the club end of the lake just for fun. And fun it certainly was, so long as you weren't in the middle of a gybe at the time.

In a change to the normal EOS format, Saturday was a pursuit race while Sunday was three back to back races for each class.

Chasing smaller boats around the outside of a reservoir in a drag race that involves a surplus of two sail reaching and fetching is frequently the norm with pursuit racing and as a result isn't always popular with everyone. But this course was different as the PRO set a slender shaped triangular course with a 2km beat, a similar length downwind slide and a taxing two sail reach across the bottom. The result was a race track which provided plenty of tactical opportunities, but with enough variety to satisfy most, if not all of the classes that were sailing. One to note for future pursuit races perhaps.

When it came to the racing, the breeze was typically in the high teens and low twenties. But with a few lulls down to around 12 knots and gusts peaking at 28 knots, it was a punchy, tiring day in which the mainsheet never got close to the jammer.

Nevertheless, if the changing room banter and tall stories at the bar were anything to go by the two hour race had been well received, particularly by the four RS800s that had smoked the fleet.

Of those in the RS400s who were entitled to spin good yarns were Michael Simms and Jack Holden [1488] who took a class bullet with ease. Behind them were Sam and John Knight [1202] in second and Adam Whitehouse and Chris Bowness [963] in third.

Continuing the meteorological misinformation theme, Sunday turned out to be a long way from what was advertised. Instead of breeze in the high teens and gusts in the low twenties, we were delivered peak gusts of 6-8 knots for the first of the three races. Tricky, shifty, puffy conditions with more snakes than ladders across the windward leeward course.

Once again Simms and Holden showed the fleet how fast you could make an RS400 go around the course by taking all three races, a dominant, unequivocal performance which handed them the overall title with a 1st as a discard.

Behind them the scrap for the podium was a closely fought affair with the Knight duo demonstrating that an evening at the bar was no hindrance to performance afloat as they scored two 4th and a 3rd to take second overall. Sean Cleary and Annalise Nixon demonstrated once again how comfortable they are in any kind of breeze to finish just two points behind in third.

With a wind range stretching from minimum to max, a long around the cans course and a series of windward leeward races, only tide and salt water could have provided more variety. For the last big shout of the season, this was surely spot on for which the Rutland race management team deserves a large share of the credit.

Overall Results:

PosSail NoHelmCrewClubPursuitR1R2R3Pts
1st1488Sims MichaelJack HoldenCarsington SC2‑1114
2nd1202Knight SamJohn KnightBartley SC4‑43411
3rd1377Cleary SeanAnnalise NixonOxford SC8‑52313
4th1414Whitehouse CarolineAshwell RichardBartley SC122‑5216
5th963Whitehouse AdamBownes ChrisWilsonian667‑819
6th1465Williamson BenCharlie TicehurstWelton SC1634‑723
7th1262Willars JonRichard BrameldWelton Sailing Club10‑99928
8th1450Eaves NickGreg PaceBartley SC14158‑1737
9th1345Hobson JohnRebecca OgdenNotts County SC28‑76539
10th1435Sheahan MattEllie SheahanQMSC188‑161642
11th1332Andrews TimHaw SusieBrancaster Staithe SC22‑14101042
12th1254Murray PhilipNeil SchofieldTynemouth SC2011‑141445
13th1196Snowdon PeterLouise CarrScaling Dam SC241011‑1545
14th1340Neal SamBill KnightsGrafham Water SC26‑13131150
15th1845Groome AnnabelWill EllisonBrancaster Staithe SC30(DNF)171360
16th1029Cunningham JohnNicky CokayneCarsington SCRET‑1212660
17th872Cokayne JamesEmily CokayneCarsington SCDNS(DNC)151269
18th676Marriott MikeBarnes MauriceThorpe Bay YCDNC16‑181876
19th747Godbold MattRichard TurnerBrancaster Staithe SCDNC17‑191978
20th904Summerfield MartinCoale EllieRSCRET(DNC)DNCDNC84

Related Articles

RS400s at Tynemouth
Scottish Tour and Northern Tour The forecast and the locals promised wall-to-wall sunshine and a pristine Force 3-4 for Saturday, with a touch more on Sunday. Little did the fleet know quite what weather they would actually get... Posted on 27 Jun
RS400 Southern Championship at Warsash
The principal race officer's briefing brought mixed reactions For anyone in the 27 boat fleet who had looked at the weather forecast ahead of the RS400 Summer Championship hosted by Warsash Sailing Club, the principal race officer's briefing brought mixed reactions. Posted on 23 Jun
RS400 Trident UK Northern Tour at Carsington
A delightful report in the form of a poem! The first day brought an inconstant breeze— It whispered, vanished, teased the seas. Shifty winds played cat and mouse, each helm alert from stern to house. Posted on 12 Jun
RS400 Eurocup early bird entry closes soon
Enter before 20th June 5pm to save The Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club, in association with Mercedes-Benz Belfast, is reminding all RS400 sailors that early bird entry for the RS400 Eurocup and UK & Irish National Championships closes in just ten days! Posted on 10 Jun
RS Sailing Store partners with RS Nationals
Official chandlery partner for the noughty and RS Vareo class Nationals 2025 The RS Class Association is thrilled to announce that RS Sailing Store will be the official chandlery partner for the noughty and RS Vareo class National Championships 2025. Posted on 5 Jun
Sailing Chandlery RS400 Southern Tour at Parkstone
10-20 knot South Westerly breezes and sunshine greeted the sailors A super forecast of a 10-20 knot South Westerly breezes and sunshine greeted the sailors for the combined RS400 Southern Tour sponsored by Sailing Chandlery and the South West Ugly Tour RS200 Open Meeting. Posted on 4 Jun
RS400s at Harken RS Sprints Regatta
Starting with very light shifty winds and a lot of eager racers The 2025 Rutland Harken RS Sprints kicked off with very light shifty winds and a lot of eager racers. All the races were very competitive with not much distance between the boats. Posted on 29 May
Poole Week Revitalised For 2025
New race teams and new courses for the summer's big event How do you make a great sailing week even better, without losing the elements that have always made it a great sailing week? Posted on 24 May
RS Northern Championships at Strangford Lough
Tight racing across the RS Aero, RS200 and RS400 classes The RS Northern Championships came to Strangford Lough Yacht Club in County Down, producing some tight racing across the RS Aero, RS200 and RS400 classes. Posted on 19 May
15% Off New Sails with Early Bird Entry
For RS sailors who going to any UK National Championships RS Sailing Store is proud to support the UK RS Class Associations and their events in 2025. RS Sailors gearing up for their 2025 UK season can take advantage of an exclusive offer to help them hit the start line with fresh sails. Posted on 17 May