RS600 Harken RS End of Seasons Regatta at Rutland Sailing Club

The forecast predicted strong winds but a pleasant morning greeted the fleet making rigging a pleasure.

Race one: George Smith immediately showed his intent getting away to a great start with Jamie Mawson in hot pursuit. Behind the front two, as the wind built Scott Holland showed some amazing bursts of speed only to fall back again. Regular place changing meant the boat making fewest mistakes profited. Mike Iszatt gained a narrow third place ahead of Ian Marshall and Scott Holland.

RS600 Harken RS End of Seasons Regatta - photo © Tim Olin

Despite the wind now up to consistent 30 knots the fleet got off to a good start, yet again George and Jamie lead the way. The sailing was spectacular with all the competitors gybing and tacking in clouds of spray, with surprisingly few spills. However attrition started to thin out the chasing pack, the most noticeable being Simon Hibbert who was catapulted spectacularly through the air and straight through his mainsail whilst travelling at full speed on a broad reach. Others decided that discretion was the order of the day. Both George and Jamie capsized on the run. George recovered quickly to sail onto win, while Jamie was concentrating so hard that he missed the finish line and proceeded to sail an extra lap, handing Mike Iszatt second place.

The forecast for the second day's sailing was similar to the first resulting in Ian Marshall and Mike Iszatt deciding to race with reefed sails, as did most of the RS300 fleet with whom they shared the course.

The strong winds however did not materialise. Yet again George and Jamie soon worked their way into a commanding position. Out of nowhere on the first run a squall hit the following pack, capsizing them all apart from Mike. This enabled Mike to hang onto third from a rapidly catching pack of boats with full sails.

RS600 Harken RS End of Seasons Regatta - photo © Tim Olin

Throughout race four the wind continued to drop. George got away from the fleet with his trademark upwind speed being hotly pursued by Jamie. Simon Hibbert was finally starting to get it right and with Jamie having rigging trouble, which made tacking difficult, he swept into second place. In the falling wind Matt Potter, gybing regularly to catch the odd gusts, skilfully worked his way into fourth.

The final race started in light fluky winds. George broke his stainless steel trapeze fitting forcing him to retire. With wind coming from all directions Jamie played the shifts well to gain a commanding lead. Then the forecast winds finally started to fill in. Matt and Simon did some amazing sailing, alternating from making silly mistakes to getting it right with places changing regularly. Matt managed to squeeze Simon out at the finish winning by a few seconds.

Well done to George Smith our RS600 End of Seasons winner for 2021 who won a Harken voucher with his prize glass. Thank you to Harken for sponsoring the RS End of Seasons Regatta. Overall it was an easy victory for George, with Jamie Mawson clear second from Mike Iszatt in third. The Notts County Sailing Club boys of Simon Hibbert and Matt Potter got better as the weekend progressed coming in fourth and fifth. Ian Marshall got a year's worth of bad luck over and done with so next year should be good for him.

Overall Results:

It was then the prize-giving for the RS600 Rooster National Tour. Four events were raced with three to count. The top five sailors won vouchers generously donated by Rooster. Congratulations to our 2021 RS600 Rooster National Tour winner George Smith!

RS600 Rooster National Tour:

1st George Smith
2nd Jamie Mawson
3rd Mike Iszatt
4th Simon Hibbert
5th Matt Potter

Thank you to Rutland Sailing Club for such a well-run operation. We look forward to returning to battle it out at the 2022 RS End of Seasons Regatta 5-6 Nov 2022.