Noble Marine RS800 National Championship at Brightlingsea Sailing Club - Day 1
by Guy Fillmore 8 Sep 2023 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:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 1207 | Monique Vennis‑Ozanne | John Mather | Hill Head SC & HISC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2nd | 1220 | Luke McEwen | Emma McEwen | Royal Lymington YC | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 3rd | 1144 | Leo Wilkinson | Guy Fillmore | Maidenhead SC & HISC | 1 | 6 | 5 | 12 |
| 4th | 1 | Joe Bradley | Hugh Shone | Swanage SC | 3 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
| 5th | 1140 | Mathias Berthet | James Hall | Royal Norwegian YC & HISC | 12 | 4 | 3 | 19 |
| 6th | 1188 | Fin Armstrong | Ewan Gribbin | Paignton SC | 13 | 3 | 7 | 23 |
| 7th | 1008 | Ben Palmer | Dicken Maclean | HISC | 5 | 8 | 10 | 23 |
| 8th | 1204 | Martin Orton | Ian Brooks | Chichester YC | 6 | 12 | 6 | 24 |
| 9th | 1200 | Eddie Bridle | Tom Kyne | Brightlingsea SC | 10 | 7 | 8 | 25 |
| 10th | 1139 | David Conlon | Ed Gibbons | Brightlingsea SC | 7 | 10 | 12 | 29 |
| 11th | 1222 | Paul Jenkins | Peter Jenkins | Eastbourne Sovereign SC | 9 | 9 | 14 | 32 |
| 12th | 1166 | Ralph Singleton | Nuala Sellwood | Restronguet SC | 8 | 16 | 16 | 40 |
| 13th | 1176 | Guy Rivington | Andrew Whapshott | RS Sailing /Stokes Bay | 18 | 11 | 11 | 40 |
| 14th | 1043 | Blake Tudor | Brett Tudor | Brightlingsea SC | 11 | 15 | 15 | 41 |
| 15th | 1241 | Stephen Brown | Philip Bairstow | Ullswater YC | 15 | 14 | 18 | 47 |
| 16th | 1121 | Ben Clegg | Abi Clegg | Brightlingsea SC | 14 | 17 | 17 | 48 |
| 17th | 820 | Bryan Ormond | Anna Ormond | QMSC | OCS | 13 | 13 | 49 |
| 18th | 907 | Tom Walker | Alice Masterman | Witterings & HISC | OCS | DNC | 9 | 55 |
| 19th | 862 | Toby Freeland | Alejandra Gutierrez | QMSC | 16 | DNC | 19 | 58 |
| 20th | 1054 | James Lewis | Ed Moore | Dabchicks SC | 17 | DNC | DNC | 63 |
| 21st | 1203 | Tim Gratton | Arthur Henderson | Royal Thames YC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 69 |
| 21st | 1156 | Huw Whitworth | Harry Wilson | Datchet Water SC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 69 |