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Noble Marine 2022 YY - LEADERBOARD

Noble Marine RS800 National Championship at Brightlingsea Sailing Club - Day 1

by Guy Fillmore 8 Sep 12:47 BST 7-10 September 2023
Spinnaker hoist on day 1 of the Noble Marine RS800 Nationals at Brighlingsea © William Stacey

Twenty boats set sail from Brightlingsea Creek towards new racing waters for most of the fleet. Some were sceptical of the forecast, but the first day of the championships ended with three races sailed in a variety of conditions from underpowered to twin trapezing upwind, putting the championship one race ahead of schedule.

The fleet tried to understand the conditions during the first race, which provided a good shake out to rid any mishaps early: like being OCS, not checking the number of laps when leading a race, or ripping the rudder off the boat. Needless to say the Brightlingsea locals made the most of the home advantage with Eddie Bridle sailing with Tom Kyne, and David Conlon sailing with Ed Gibbons getting some solid results in the top ten.

The first race saw a number of lead changes, with Leo Wilkinson and Guy Fillmore able to take advantage of a kite hoist snag to overtake Monique Vennis-Ozanne and John Mather on the last leg to win.

Monique and John went on to prove staggering speed and solid tactical decision making in the light breeze to win race two and three by some margin.

Behind the speed-ship there was plenty of place changes in race two and three. The ever-consistent Luke and Emma McEwen started a strong series of results with two seconds. Fin Armstrong and Ewan Gribbin had got to grips with the reduction in power from their usual 49er in the second race to finish third, and Mathias Berthet, jetting in from Norway for the regatta, overcame the same problem with James Hall in the third race, to also finish third.

It's shaping up to be a tight series!

Results after Day 1:

PosSail NoHelmCrewClubR1R2R3Pts
1st1207Monique Vennis‑OzanneJohn MatherHill Head SC & HISC2114
2nd1220Luke McEwenEmma McEwenRoyal Lymington YC4228
3rd1144Leo WilkinsonGuy FillmoreMaidenhead SC & HISC16512
4th1Joe BradleyHugh ShoneSwanage SC35412
5th1140Mathias BerthetJames HallRoyal Norwegian YC & HISC124319
6th1188Fin ArmstrongEwan GribbinPaignton SC133723
7th1008Ben PalmerDicken MacleanHISC581023
8th1204Martin OrtonIan BrooksChichester YC612624
9th1200Eddie BridleTom KyneBrightlingsea SC107825
10th1139David ConlonEd GibbonsBrightlingsea SC7101229
11th1222Paul JenkinsPeter JenkinsEastbourne Sovereign SC991432
12th1166Ralph SingletonNuala SellwoodRestronguet SC8161640
13th1176Guy RivingtonAndrew WhapshottRS Sailing /Stokes Bay18111140
14th1043Blake TudorBrett TudorBrightlingsea SC11151541
15th1241Stephen BrownPhilip BairstowUllswater YC15141847
16th1121Ben CleggAbi CleggBrightlingsea SC14171748
17th820Bryan OrmondAnna OrmondQMSCOCS131349
18th907Tom WalkerAlice MastermanWitterings & HISCOCSDNC955
19th862Toby FreelandAlejandra GutierrezQMSC16DNC1958
20th1054James LewisEd MooreDabchicks SC17DNCDNC63
21st1203Tim GrattonArthur HendersonRoyal Thames YCDNCDNCDNC69
21st1156Huw WhitworthHarry WilsonDatchet Water SCDNCDNCDNC69

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