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Noble Marie Allen RS600 Nationals at Stone Sailing Club - Day 1

by George Smith, Jamie Mawson & Ian Montague 24 Jun 2023 21:36 BST 24-25 June 2023

Day one of the 2023 Noble Marine and Allen Brothers-sponsored nationals dawned with a light breeze and a strong tide, as forecast, leading to a postponement. The fleet, well fed at lunch, launched into an 8-knot westerly breeze with an incoming tide. This dictated much of the theme of the day - don't be early and generally go left.

Race one saw a relatively conservative start with a busy pin end. The left side of the course generally paid, and the top half of the fleet piled in from the port lay line. Tim Cutsforth rounded first, having benefited from the practice day on Thursday, chased by the Notts County boys, Jamie Mawson and Matt Potter, and local legend Ian Montague. As the race unfolded, Ian eventually overhauled Tim, and George Smith rounded out the top three.

Race two didn't get away as planned. Neil Fulcher, our race officer had spoken too soon, suggesting the fleet were well behaved. After one general recall the fleet split between those that had learnt to go left and those tempted to the right. The top mark was a tight round between Jake and Ian Montague. The pack chased hard with the paying move getting out of the tide on the downwind. George eventually overhauled Ian, with Jake chasing hard for 3rd and Matt consistent in 4th.

Race three saw three further general recalls, forcing the race officer to lengthen the line, reduce the pin end bias and move onto an I flag. The fleet got away, again splitting between the pressure on the right and the promise of the left paying.

The left again paid as the tide quickly turned from slack to heading out to sea. Anyone on the right was caught out and apart from the Notts County boys who rounded clear ahead, most struggled to make the windward mark in a dying breeze. The rich got richer and the race got longer for those still struggling upwind. Jamie and Matt were clear ahead and finished almost in a different time zone. The rear third of the fleet were sensibly finished early. Little did they know, the onshore beers were named the 'turning tide', which was supremely apt. The middle of the fleet battled on and rounded the leeward mark to a strengthening outgoing tide. The line proved further away than it appeared, and the last leg took as long as the rest of the race to complete.

Thanks to go to Mike Izzat of Silverhook who kindly provided welcome goodies for the fleet as well as presenting a daily prize to Ian Montague who is our overnight leader.

Tomorrow is looking a tricky day to be a race officer with many eyes on the forecast and an already high scoring event leaving all to play for.

Results after Day 1:

PosHelmSail NoR1R2R3R4R5R6Pts
1stJamie Mawson10014th5th1st1st1st8th12
2ndGeorge Smith10053rd1st10th2nd4th2nd12
3rdTim Cutsforth8002nd7th5th9th2nd3rd19
4thMichael Iszatt9519th9th3rd4th3rd1st20
5thIan Montague10001st2nd6th8th9th4th21
6thJake Willars8105th3rd11th5th6th7th26
7thMatt Potter9076th4th2nd20th12th6th30
8thIan Marshall6548th6th7th3rd8th16th32
9thElliot Marks88113th8th4th6th7th19th38
10thJames Crook84214th15th9th7th11th9th50
11thSimon Hibbert93817th10th8th15th13th5th51
12thDavid Nunn8267th12th16th11th10th14th54
13thChris Owens100312th16th13th13th5th15th58
14thWill Russell72810th14th15th12th14th11th61
15thNeil Cooney85011th19th17th10th17th10th65
16thAdrian Miles80315th11th12th14thDNFDNF73
17thJamie Watson76116th13th20th19th16th12th76
18thJames Cowen66818th20th18th16th15th13th80
19thTim Morgan89219th18th14th18th18th17th85
20thBradley Field94220th17th19th17thDNF18th91

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