RS200 Sailing Chandlery EaSEA Tour at Itchenor Sailing Club

by Ben Whaley 28 May 2024 12:39 BST 20-21 April 2024

The fleet blasted out to Chichester harbour with a cool 14-18knots and bright sunshine, it could not have been a more ideal day. Though race 1 hit all the crews sharply with steep chop and the slight issue of trying to remember how to do windy gybes after the winter break.

Two close together gates marks added to the spice. Joe and Clara Jones emerged from some of the chaos to take the first bullet of the day, chased by Owen Bowerman & Annabelle Orme, with Mark and Jess Oakley swiftly behind.

Race 2 the breeze dropped off slightly and less carnage ensued, with a slight right hand track developing with the tide. Mark and Jess showed impressive speed to power away and convincingly take the win after a large right hand shift up the second beat. Owen & Annabelle rounded off their day with another second.

Race 3 brought a similar scene, with pressure chasing being weighed up against the favourable channel tide downwind, making for interesting criss-crossing downwind and tight battles. Mark and Jess once again emerged at the top, really finding their groove ahead of the new season. James Hobson crewed by Ben Whaley took the second ahead of James Morson and Fiona Harrington.

The final race brought a similar right hand track upwind with the more glorious conditions, as Paris & Marta took advantage and put in their best performance of the weekend to take a well earned victory ahead of Merrick and Vic, also posting their top result, with Joe & Clara Jones finishing off the podium to leave them clearly second overall.

Mark & Jess took a convincing overall victory and will be hoping to take their newfound gains into the season's racing. Paris & Marta's consistency and final win paid off for them to take the third overall and crown off a fantastic day of racing.

The next Sailing Chandlery EaSEA Tour event is at Lee on Solent on the 8-9th June, which includes the RS200 Youth Champs. See details and link to online entry.

Overall Results:

Pos	Boat	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	Pts
1st		1740	Mark Oakey	Jess Oakey	Cardiff Bay	3	1	1	‑5	5
2nd	English Braids	994	Joe Jones	Clara Jones	Burghfields SC	1	‑9	5	3	9
3rd		439	Paris Thomas	Marta Ribera	RTYC	5	‑8	7	1	13
4th		1694				‑8	7	2	4	13
5th	Grey	1039	Thomas Goodey	Harry Frith	RNSA	9	6	4	(DNS)	19
6th		1078	Merrick Stanley	Victoria Upton	Warsash SC	13	5	‑15	2	20
7th		1295	Andrew Wishart	crew	Queen Mary SC	‑15	4	9	7	20
8th	Charville Dan	1667	Owen Bowerman	Annabelle Orme	HISC	2	2	(DNC)	DNS	23
9th		1358	Charlie Whitaker	Lucy Gates	Queen Mary SC	6	‑18	6	11	23
10th	N/A	211	James Morson	Fiona Harrington	Sussex YC	7	15	3	(DNS)	25
11th		1716	Zoe Nieveen		HISC	4	3	(DNF)	DNC	26
12th	Zephyr	1617	Alex Curtis	Raffie Fracie	HISC	12	‑17	8	6	26
13th	DoRiS	1678	Richard Bullock	Milly Bullock	ISC	10	‑12	10	9	29
14th	Tallulah	864	Dominic Stanislaus	Mia Stanislaus	ISC	11	11	11	‑12	33
15th		1415	Claire Whitehill	Luke Jones	HISC	14	‑16	12	8	34
16th	No Excuse	1100	Bridgitte Bee	Sarah McEwan	FPSC	‑17	10	16	10	36
17th		1442	Emily Page	Paul Walker	Shoreham SC	(DNC)	13	13	14	40
18th	Bayliss 200	419	James Bayliss	Lynn McQueen	ISC	‑16	14	14	13	41