RS Aero UK Winter Championship at The Oxford Blue, Oxford Sailing Club

by Tim Hire 21 Feb 12:15 GMT 16 February 2019

RS Aero UK Winter Championship © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Whilst pleasantly spring like the weather for the 2019 edition of The Oxford Blue was challenging, with lightish winds for the sixth edition.

The Oxford Blue played host to both the finale of the Selden SailJuice series, but also to the RS Aero UK Winter Championship with RS Aero race results extracted. A whopping 48 of the 160 boats entered were RS Aeros, a third of the entries, giving the three RS Aero Classes their own start.

Race one set the precedent, with inconsistent gusts and shifts being the challenge of the day. As the first race started, the wind was very light. First to the windward mark was Mark Addison in an RS Aero 9 followed the RS Aero 7 of Charlie Roome in his first RS Aero race! The first RS Aero 5, a little way behind, was Jonathan Bailey. The lead RS Aero 9 of Gareth Griffiths was first to cross the line. It was Chris Hatton in a RS Aero 7, who had a great first race taking the RS Aero win on handicap and an impressive third overall after not the best of starts. Jonathan Bailey was the first RS Aero 5.

RS Aero UK Winter Championship - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

By Race two the wind had picked up a bit, although it was no less shifty! Richard Pye led around the windward mark followed by Tim Hire and Chris Larr who went on to cross the line first in his RS Aero 9, with the rest of the pack chasing closely. In the RS Aero 5 race Emily Davis was first around the windward mark followed by Lucy Greenwood and Ben Poe. Peter Barton made huge gains over on the right on the last beat, making up several places to catch the lead 7s who were now Charlie Sansom and Tim Hire, before effecting the overtaking manoeuvre on the final downwind to take a well-deserved win on handicap. Charlie and Tim were declared a dead heat as they crossed the line. Lucy Greenwood had an excellent race finishing first RS Aero 5 and eighth equal RS Aero on handicap.

RS Aero UK Winter Championship - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Race three was delayed slightly while the race committee speedily rotated the course. First to the windward mark was Mark Addison in the RS Aero 9 followed by Charlie Roome and Nick Neve in their RS Aero 7s, all charging in from the left. In the RS Aero 5 race, Josie Meredith was first to the windward mark followed by Theodore Deverell and Maisie Bristow. The wind picked up right at the end of the race, allowing those behind to make gains on the leaders on the downwind, producing a tense finale right up to the gun. Gareth Griffiths crossed the line first in the RS Aero 9. Tim Hire managed to hold off Peter Barton for the RS Aero 7 and RS Aero handicap win, with Mark Riddington right behind. Theodore Deverell finished first RS Aero 5 and 21st RS Aero on handicap.

It was great to see so many RS Aero 5s out, the second largest fleet at the event after the RS Aero 7s! It made for great Class racing as a fleet within the main event, with a variety of people showing at the front of the fleet including Alice Lucy who took third RS Aero 5 in Race 1, her first ever championship top three finish. Lucy Greenwood showed that consistency was key and took the RS Aero 5 win and Top RS Aero Lady when the results were extracted from the rest of the fleet.

RS Aero UK Winter Championship - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

The RS Aeros, in general, placed very well in the overall results for the whole event, with five RS Aeros squeezing into the top 12, the first time we have achieved this in five years - we must be getting faster! After three races, Peter Barton came out on top in the RS Aero7s in sixth overall by half a point to Tim Hire (Top Youth). Chris Hatton was third RS Aero in the Oxford Blue in 9th overall but after the RS Aero results were extracted from the rest of the fleet, Mark Riddington managed to slip past Chris to take third. First RS Aero 9 and Top Master was Gareth Griffiths in 15th overall.

Top Youth Lady was Caitlin Atkin from Whitstable SC in her RS Aero 7.

Thanks to SailJuice, SailRacer and Selden for an excellent Selden SailJuice Series and to Oxford SC for being wonderful hosts, running a fantastic day's racing.

The Prize Giving for the RS Aero UK Winter Champs will take place at the RS Aero UK Spring Champs at Island Barn RSC on Saturday 27th April. The last two events on the RS Aero UK Winter Series are the Frensham Frenzy on Sunday 10th March and the Starcross Steamer on Saturday 16th March.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail	Helm	Club	Class	GL PY	Cat	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1st	2810	Peter BARTON	Lymington Town SC	RS Aero 7	1073		‑16	1	2	3
2nd	2439	Tim HIRE	Royal Lymington YC	RS Aero 7	1073	Y	‑8	2.5	1	3.5
3rd	2553	Mark RIDDINGTON	Emsworth Slipper SC	RS Aero 7	1073		3	‑5	3	6
4th	1590	Chris HATTON	Bowmoor SC	RS Aero 7	1073	Y	1	‑6	6	7
5th	1068	Charlie SANSOM	Bowmoor SC/UPSPC	RS Aero 7	1073		‑6	2.5	5	7.5
6th	2148	Gareth GRIFFITHS	Island Barn Res SC	RS Aero 9	1024	M	2	‑11	10	12
7th	2098	Pierce SEWARD	Broadstairs SC	RS Aero 7	1073		4	8.5	‑13	12.5
8th	2502	Peter CHAPLIN	Burghfield SC	RS Aero 7	1073	M	13	‑25	4	17
9th	2572	Andy HILL	Warsash SC	RS Aero 7	1073		7	10	‑22	17
10th	1020	Richard PYE	Draycote Water SC	RS Aero 7	1073		‑19	4	14	18
11th	1888	Chris LARR	Northampton SC	RS Aero 9	1024		‑14	7	12	19
12th	2792	John WARBURTON	ChewValley Lake SC	RS Aero 7	1073		11	‑17	8	19
13th	2427	Nigel ROLFE	Burghfield SC	RS Aero 7	1073		‑20	13	7	20
14th	2188	Mark ADDISON	Upper Thames SC	RS Aero 9	1024		5	‑24	16	21
15th	2543	Steve NORBURY	Warsash SC	RS Aero 7	1073		9	12	‑18	21
16th	2806	Charlie ROOME	RYA	RS Aero 7	1073		10	‑16	15	25
17th	1232	Tim NORRIS	Warsash SC	RS Aero 7	1073		‑15	14	11	25
18th	2582	Nick NEVE	Rutland SC	RS Aero 7	1073	M	‑21	20	9	29
19th	2126	Graham ILES	Burghfield SC	RS Aero 7	1073		12	21	‑25	33
20th	2420	Nigel DAVIES	Draycote Water SC	RS Aero 7	1073		‑28	18	17	35
21st	1685	Lucy GREENWOOD	Oxford SC	RS Aero 5	1129	L	29	8.5	‑36	37.5
22nd	2550	Chris JONES	Sutton Bingham SC	RS Aero 7	1073	M	18	‑23	19.5	37.5
23rd	2808	Richard KENNEDY	Emsworth Slipper SC	RS Aero 7	1073		‑23	15	23	38
24th	1739	David CHERRILL	Broadwater SC	RS Aero 7	1073		22	19	‑24	41
25th	1568	Caitlin ATKIN	Whitstable SC	RS Aero 7	1073	Y L	‑31	22	19.5	41.5
26th	2672	Will GIFFORD	Whitefriars SC	RS Aero 7	1073		17	‑32	29	46
27th	2717	Chris HARRUP	Burghfield SC	RS Aero 7	1073		24	‑29	27	51
28th	2442	Jonathan BAILEY	Grafham SC	RS Aero 5	1129	Y	25	27	‑28	52
29th	1336	Joe GALLIVAN	Lymington Town SC	RS Aero 7	1073		26	26	‑31	52
30th	2317	Theodore DEVERELL	Hunts SC	RS Aero 5	1129	Y	32	‑42	21	53
31st	2643	John BANBROOK	Bowmoor SC	RS Aero 7	1073		27	‑28	26	53
32nd	2204	Alan MARKHAM	Upper Thames SC	RS Aero 7	1073		‑33	31	32	63
33rd	1964	Alice LUCY	Rutland SC	RS Aero 5	1129	Y L	30	34	‑38	64
34th	2141	Steve SHARP	Seafarers SC	RS Aero 7	1073	M	‑36	33	33	66
35th	2552	SammyISAACS‑JNSN	Maidenhead SC	RS Aero 5	1129		38	‑43	30	68
36th	2073	Tim SEWARD	Broadstairs SC	RS Aero 9	1024		35	‑37	34	69
37th	2724	Josie MEREDITH	Papercourt SC	RS Aero 5	1107	Y L	34	35	‑41	69
38th	1107	Ben POE	Oxford SC	RS Aero 5	1129		(DNC)	30	40	70
39th	1702	Bruce MACDONALD	Dorchester SC	RS Aero 7	1073		37	36	‑44	73
40th	2429	Robin CAIGER	Bough Beech SC	RS Aero 7	1073		39	‑41	37	76
41st	2708	Maisie BRISTOW	Island Barn Res SC	RS Aero 5	1129	Y L	40.5	‑44	39	79.5
42nd	1809	Iona WILLOWS	Dorchester SC	RS Aero 5	1129	Y L	45	‑46	35	80
43rd	2039	Karl MORLEY	Burton SC	RS Aero 7	1073		‑43	39	42	81
44th	1301	Emily DAVIS	Great Moor SC	RS Aero 5	1129	L	44	38	‑45	82
45th	2223	Mark FOX	Stokes Bay SC	RS Aero 9	1024	M	42	40	‑43	82
46th	2807	Michael SEALEY	Butte SC	RS Aero 7	1073		40.5	45	‑46	85.5
47th	1773	RosemaryDILLWORTH	Bowmoor SC	RS Aero 5	1129	L	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	98
47th	1298	Richard WATSHAM	Starcross YC / RNSA	RS Aero 9	1024		(DNC)	DNC	DNC	98