Noble Marine RS800 National Championship at Castle Cove Sailing Club - Day 3

Day three was another day of being blessed with awesome Weymouth sailing conditions: sunshine and 15 knots South Westerly.

Rob Gullan and Tom Partington took off in the first race and led until the final beat when a match race with Tom Morris and Guy Filmore really took hold. There are numerous questions about whether the 2nd cross actually happened up the final beat, but the problem was that they were so caught up in each other that Hugh Shone and Fiona Hampshire sailed a blinding beat to power through from the left hand side. Things went a bit light down the last run but Hugh and Fiona held on and managed to break the monotony of the Tom/Guy and Rob/Tom show with a race win. The race for second was incredibly close with four boats rounding the leeward mark all overlapped. Out of the closely fought battle between Tom and Guy, Rob and Tom, Phil Walker and John Mather, and James Penty and Eddie Grayson, Tom and Guy snuck through to take second with Rob and Tom in third.

Noble Marine RS800 National Championships 2021 day 3 - photo © RS Sailing

The left-hand side came good up the first beat of the second race, with Maria Stanley and Tommy Darling winning the pin and setting off at pace. Rob and Tom came through by the windward into first, with Hugh and Fiona in second. Despite Hugh and Fiona's best efforts at being "traffic", Tom and Guy pulled through to second and set out to catch Rob and Tom. Hugh and Fiona took third with Phil and John in fourth and James and Eddie in fifth.

In the third race, Rob and Tom turned on the accelerator and headed off into the sunset. Following were Tom and Guy, James and Eddie, and Phil and John. There was a twist in the tale however with a few obstacles catching Rob and Tom on the final run, making way for Tom and Guy to sneak through into first.

Noble Marine RS800 National Championships 2021 day 3 - photo © Richard Bowers

Much to the fleet's shock, there was a fourth and final race just to test how tired the crews actually were. With another three laps to contend with the only solace was that the breeze was dropping every so slightly. Rob and Tom declared themselves "lightening quick" upwind on the first beat, and took a storming victory. The first windward was rather busy with Phil and John, Maria and Tommy, Sam Pascoe and Isaac Lines, and Peter and Paul Jenkins all rounding in hot pursuit. Most boats chose to hoist slightly early on the reach of death but the fleet had to deal with a fully capsized moth (surprise surprise) bang in the middle of the reach. A few more gusts and shifts came through which caught a few people out downwind. Reportedly Peter and Paul have been taking turns to fall in, and Cameron and Darrol took a few punchy lay line downwind. In the end Rob and Tom took first, with Phil and John in second, and Tom and Guy pulled through into third.

Tomorrow is shaping up to be a light wind drifter where we may well see some new faces at the front - Ralph Singleton perhaps? First and second places are wrapped up but there still a hot competition on for the rest of the places in the top ten. Congratulations to Tom and Guy, and Rob and Tom for sailing a great championship.

Thanks to sponsorship from RS Sailing the sailors were welcomed ashore by a can of chilled pop or booze in return for handing in their tally.

At our Noble Marine daily prize-giving our race winners were awarded a range of goodies. Race six winners Hugh Shone and Fiona Hampshire won two insulated water bottles. Race seven and nine winners Rob Gulland and Tom Partington won two caps and two limited edition RS Class Association UV neck sleeves. Tom Morris and Guy Filmore won Toblerone bars for race eight.

Chris Catt and Chris Martin win the Hyde Spinnkaer at the Noble Marine RS800 National Championships 2021 - photo © Clare Sargent

Today was Hyde Sails day. At our evening party we had a sailor raffle for a brand new RS800 spinnaker generously donated by Hyde Sails. The lucky winners were Chris Catt and Chris Martin.

Results after Day 3: