Please select your home edition
Edition
Sailingfast 2018 728x90

RS400 Supercup at Tynemouth Sailing Club

by Neil Schofield 21 Oct 2021 11:40 BST 16 October 2021
RS400 Supercup at Tynemouth © Andrew Nel & Melanie Landamore

The RS400 fleet at Tynemouth signed off the season with a 13 boat home fleet taking to the water for four sprint races within the harbour, the event was ran with the aim of getting our 15 boat strong fleet all on the water, we did exceptionally well to get 13 out given we are still living with Covid.

This event was to differ from other 400 events ran at Tynemouth, with the aim of not having the usual front runners getting their own way! We did a split start offset by 1 minute, giving the boats that are not that accustomed to being out in front a head start and the guys starting behind a chance to see if they could pick their way through the fleet.

What was great to see was how many regular crews swapped positions and helmed for a race or two, this really shook things up and gave the regular helms a chance to appreciate how hard us crews have to work!

With a strong ebb tide running, Howard Stevenson our PRO set a short windward leeward course in the middle of the river, the current caught a few out and they had to go back. A short 20 minute race was won by Sven Richards & Nathan Batchelor, second was Phil Murray & Neil Schofield, third was Jon & Sally Cooper, who having only sailed a RS400 once had an excellent day on the water.

The second race was on the same course, Sven & Nathan showing great upwind speed to claim another victory, - to be sent to the second start with two bullets. Second place was Andy Brown & Alex Sutcliffe, sporting a brand new set of sails certainly helped in the 4 to 6 knot breeze, in third place was Graham Fraser & Uschi Hermeier who managed to nail the start and sailed a good clean race to hold of the charging pack behind them.

The 3rd race was now a port handed triangle which initially sounded processional but the strong tide played its part to make this challenge for the fleet, Jon & Sally sailed clean and fast to take the win. Second place was our very own RS400 club boat, kindly donated to the Club by Rob Storrar and sailed by John Pitkethly & Ewan O'Keef, John has never helmed a RS400 and managed to get up to speed very quickly, having Ewan onboard certainly made the boat go well. Third went to a young team of Anthony Walton & Phil Cowans proving that the older boats still have the potential to do well.

The last race was a the same as race 3 but an extra lap created a bit more of a spread across the fleet, Andy & Alex taking the win by the narrowest of margins over Pete Wilkes, new to the 400 fleet this year and having never sailed a boat with a spinnaker never mind an asymmetric did exceptionally well to hold the rest of the fleet off. Third went to Phil Murray and stand in crew Jo Baker - her first time in a 400 as well.

The fleet retired to the club for party games and pizza, oh and a few beers too! It's been a fantastic first season for Tynemouth's RS400 fleet, we have adopted the fleet, held our first RS400 open, done training days, had 4 boats compete at the nationals and now boast a 15 boat fleet, this is hopefully going to grow even further, watch this space!

Related Articles

Irish RS400 Inlands at Killaloe
Hurricanes can't the stop racing With the tail end of hurricane Lee sweeping the Island we saw numerous sailing events cancelled this weekend across Ireland. The team at Killaloe Sailing Club decided to go ahead as planned with the hope of getting some racing for the 33 boats entered. Posted on 25 Sep
Irish RS200 & RS400 Inlands preview
Killaloe SC to host this weekend The Irish RS fleet is scheduled to have their final event of the year 23/24 Sept in Killaloe SC, Co. Clare. In 2022, they debuted their brand new clubhouse and it was an event to remember! Posted on 21 Sep
RS 400 Trident UK Northern Tour at GNAC
Bassenthwaite SC's Great Northern Asymmetric Challenge The Trident UK Northern Tour concluded at Bassenthwaite Sailing Club as the RS400 fleet competed as part of the ever-popular Great Northern Asymmetric Challenge (GNAC). Posted on 20 Sep
2023 Great North Asymmetric Challenge
Sixty boats take part at Bassenthwaite SC Bassenthwaite Sailing Club hosted sixty boats for the 2023 Great North Asymmetric Challenge sponsored by Trident. The GNAC has become a firm favourite in the asymmetric sailing calendar, with this year's event welcoming visitors from all over the UK. Posted on 18 Sep
RS400 Northern Championship 2023 at Notts County
Rooster National Tour and the Trident UK Northern Tour combine The Rooster National Tour and the Trident UK Northern Tour combined at Notts County Sailing Club over the weekend of 2/3 September for the Northern Championship. Posted on 5 Sep
RS400 Scottish Tour at Aberdeen & Stonehaven
The highest turnout of this year's tour The weekend of the 19th & 20th August was to see the highest turnout of this year's RS400 Scottish tour making their way to Stonehaven. A forecast of strong winds and large swell was on the cards! Posted on 27 Aug
Rope4Boats RS400 Southern Tour at Lymington
The real challenge was the extremely steep chop generated by wind against tide Much has already been written about Lymington Dinghy Regatta held on 12/13 August 2023. The Rope4Boats Southern Tour event was a similar affair. Saturday was cancelled early on to allow competitors to enjoy their day off to the relief of many. Posted on 21 Aug
Great North Asymmetric Challenge preview
Enter now for this ever-growing September event Bassenthwaite Sailing Club's Great North Asymmetric Challenge (known as the GNAC) will be held on the 16th and 17th September. For those who like a gybe this is a firm favourite in the northern sailing calendar. This years event is sponsored by Trident. Posted on 19 Aug
Craftinsure Bass Week 2023
230 entries, the biggest in the last 10 years Craftinsure Bass Week 2023 was a big one, with 230 entries, the biggest in the last 10 years. The club grounds were expertly prepared for the onslaught when the gates opened at 9am on Friday 5th August. Posted on 15 Aug
Noble Marine Rooster RS400 Nationals report
Mounts Bay delivers for the fleet afloat and ashore In an ideal world a national championship would consist of the widest spread of conditions in which to establish the very best. The 2023 RS400 Noble Marine Rooster National Championships in Mounts Bay delivered just that. Posted on 14 Aug