RS700 Volvo Noble Marine National Championship - Overall
by Rob Higgins 16 Sep 2020 13:28 BST
12-15 September 2020

RS700 Volvo Noble Marine National Championship final day © RS Sailing
Day four with two scheduled races and we were greeted with a light breeze and warm sun. An early postponement was sounded which allowed the fleet time to relax and enjoy the sun while allowing the wind time to decide which way it wanted to come from.
Eventually the breeze showed signs of settling and the fleet were launched into a 6 knot breeze that would build to 10 knots.
Race Nine
The fleet got away with a general recall being sounded, the guilty party Pete Purkiss acknowledged and went back. Theo Gayler, knowing a good result would seal the event, made a solid start at the committee boat joined by Liam Willis. Theo would just tack inside Liam to round the windward mark first closely followed by Liam, Rob Higgins and Matt Conner.
The chasing pack was headed by Jerry Wales. Rob managed to hoist quickly and get over the top of Liam to move into second. The final lap proved to be the most eventful. Theo rounded first with Rob in second. Rob headed out to the left joined by Liam. Jerry and Matt headed out hard right - this would greatly pay. Jerry rounded the windward mark first closely followed by Theo, and Matt who had now overtaken Rob and rounded in third.
At the bottom gate Jerry decided to drop in order to head to the finish line while Theo decided he would try and hold the kite. The pair were separated by one second with Jerry taking the win. Rob had overtaken Matt downwind to take third, Matt fourth, then Pete Purkiss who recovered well to take fifth.
Race Ten
The signs weren't good as the RS800s finished in a dying breeze. The breeze didn't come back in and so racing was cancelled for the day.
Congratulations to Theo for successfully defending his national champion title. There was excellent racing throughout the fleet with many new faces livening up the on the water battles.
Thank you very much to the great team at WPNSA for being able to pull off such a strong racing event at such short notice. Thank you very much also to our generous sponsors Volvo, Noble Marine, Hyde Sails, RS Sailing and Rooster for supporting us so well.
The lucky winner of the RS700 spinnaker generously donated by Hyde Sails was Andrew Wright from Queen Mary SC. Matthew Conner, also from Queen Mary SC, won the sports bag donated by Noble Marine.
- Apprentice: Liam Willis from Lymington Town SC
- Fidelis Trophy: Ian Swann from HISC
- 1st Silver: Graham Blake from Queen Mary SC
- Master: Jerry Wales from Windsport
Overall Results:
Pos | Fleet | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts |
1 | Gold | 1063 | Theo Galyer | Hayling Island SC | 1 | 1 | ‑6 | ‑10 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
2 | Gold | 1060 | Jerry Wales | Windsport | ‑5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | (RET[18]) | 2 | 1 | 18 |
3 | Gold | 1029 | Rob Higgins | Chew Valley Lake SC | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑6 | 3 | ‑6 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 19 |
4 | Gold | 1042 | Pete Purkiss | Brightlingsea SC | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | ‑7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | ‑5 | 21 |
5 | Gold | 1062 | Matt Carter | Lancing SC | 3 | 5 | 4 | ‑7 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | ‑7 | 27 |
6 | Gold | 1032 | Liam Willis | Lymington Town SC | 6 | 6 | ‑12 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | (RET[18]) | 9 | 34 |
7 | Gold | 1022 | Ian Swann | Hayling Island SC | ‑16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | ‑9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 45 |
8 | Gold | 944 | James Bayliss | Queen Mary SC | 7 | ‑9 | 7 | ‑11 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 46 |
9 | Gold | 1041 | Matthew Conner | Queen Mary SC | 8 | 8 | ‑13 | ‑9 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 51 |
10 | Silver | 914 | Graham Blake | Queen Mary SC | 9 | 11 | ‑14 | 5 | ‑12 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 64 |
11 | Silver | 982 | Roland Smith | Hayling Island SC | 11 | 10 | ‑16 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | ‑15 | 78 |
12 | Silver | 859 | Peter Onions | Draycote SC | 12 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 13 | (RET[18]) | (DNS[18]) | 11 | 84 |
13 | Silver | 808 | Turner James | Hayling Island SC | 10 | 12 | 9 | 12 | (RET[18]) | (DNC[18]) | DNS[18] | DNS[18] | 13 | 92 |
14 | Silver | 931 | Malcolm Streeton | Hayling Island SC | 14 | 16 | 11 | 13 | (RET[18]) | 12 | 12 | (RET[18]) | 14 | 92 |
15 | Silver | 1035 | Roger Taylor | Hayling Island SC | 15 | 14 | (DNF[18]) | 17 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 10 | (DNC[18]) | 93 |
16 | Silver | 1067 | Simon Hamilton | Queen Mary SC | 13 | (RET[18]) | 8 | 8 | (DNC[18]) | DNC[18] | DNC[18] | DNC[18] | DNC[18] | 101 |
17 | Silver | 1061 | Andrew Wright | Queen Mary SC | 17 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 15 | (DNC[18]) | | | 104 |
Our next event is the Rooster Inland Championship at Oxford Sailing Club 24-25 Oct. Event information here.
There is one space left at the informal coaching on Sat 17 Oct at Oxford SC. Contact to grab your spot.