Stewart Brewing RS400 Scottish Championship 2024 at Dalgety Bay Sailing Club

Stewart Brewing RS400 Scottish Championship at Dalgety Bay © Ian Baillie

Eight RS400s made it to Dalgety Bay Sailing Club on 28th September for the culmination of the year's Stewart Brewing RS400 Scottish Tour, and the Scottish Championships as part of Dalgety Bay's annual regatta.

Everything promised a vintage year for the championships with a forecast of sun, 6-16kts of breeze, an exciting mix of faces old and new, and some in curious pairings. For the championship there was a bumper field of contenders: would it be old favourites Stuart Robertson/Fraser Mulford; newcomers Mark Powell/Will Fearn; local hero and hero-ccino Andy and Angus Marshall; or IronMan + IronLiver Neil McLellan/Keith Bedborough? Anyone was in with a shot at the silverware, but in the Scottish tour series results it was down to a repeat of 2023's grudge match between Neil McLaren/Jamie Rogers, or the less-local Angus and Imogen Marshall.

Stewart Brewing RS400 Scottish Championship at Dalgety Bay - photo © Ian Baillie

Race 1 got off in champagne conditions with a tight starboard end pack, all boats aiming to minimise distance to the right-hand Dalgety shore to get out of the worst of the tide. Through tight tacking up the shore, it was McLedborough who showed blistering speed to round the windward mark first and hold a lead to the finish. A tight battle in the pack behind ensued, but it was Powell/Fearn who managed to manufacture a 3-way downwind fight on the last run, before sailing clear and getting ahead to take 2nd.

For race 2, it was only Marshall/Marshall who opted to capitalise on the pin bias and pulled off a port flyer to cross the fleet on the way to the right shore. This was evidently the best breeze call they made in the race, as they lost the lead to McLedborough in the shifts upwind, then a close Marshall/Marshall vs Marshall/Marshall contest was decided downwind as Andy found a gust on the left and cruised past.

Race 3 was another fight for the right (to party) upwind, but in a progressively deteriorating breeze, opportunities opened up for overtaking on the shifts. The push inshore was so enthusiastic that several boats heard a 'bang' from their depth-sounders. Despite finding the bottom, again McLedborough managed to fend off Robertson/Mulford's cleaner route through the rocks and take their third bullet of the weekend. The competition cut right through the fleet, with Palmer/Donachie utilising their intimate knowledge of the Forth to find a way past their mortal rivals Grant/Birse and take 7th.

Stewart Brewing RS400 Scottish Championship at Dalgety Bay - photo © Ian Baillie

Three close races down, and it was time for Keith to swap hikers for Hawaiian print and enact the year's biggest musical event... After years of waiting, the reformation of this musical duo was so momentous that the ticket websites failed to keep up and you literally couldn't get tickets anywhere. It was just a select few who got to attend Root Ginger live at DBSC, with complementary birthday cake; cool, refreshing Stewart Brewing; and the mandatory awarding of the pintles of shame to an uncontested Fraser Mulford, after adding a large speed hole to Stewart's best spinnaker.

Sunday morning dawned somewhat too bright and too early for some of the night's revellers, and mercifully the wind held off until the whole fleet was ready to hit the water. Racing got under way in a deceptively steady easterly, but the fleet playing the usual inshore tactic was bamboozled by a southerly shift so dramatic that PRO McKenzie abandoned the race.

After resetting the marks, race 4 started in a slackening tide and it was Powell/Fearn who played the breeze better on the first leg to establish their lead. McLedborough, Robertson/Mulford, and Marshall/Marshall proceeded to sail from the first mark to the finish nose to tail in 2nd-4th, all unable to establish any advantage over each other.

Stewart Brewing RS400 Scottish Championship at Dalgety Bay - photo © Ian Baillie

Race 5 saw a building, steadying breeze, and a tight first beat across the fleet. Competition was intense in the midfleet, and despite a good first leg Marshall/Marshall found themselves struggling to hold off Marshall/Marshall (again) and McLaren/Rogers (again) for the crucial 4th place. It was the teams organised enough to read the course-board who won the day though, with McLedborough and Marshall/Marshall turning right at the last leeward mark towards an imaginary 3rd lap and a DNF, leaving the door open for Robertson/Mulford to take a bullet, followed by Powell/Fearn, then Marshall/Marshall.

After five nail-biting races, congratulations go to Neil McLellan and Keith Bedborough for showing that even triathletes can crew their way to being 2024 RS400 Scottish champions. Stewart Robertson and Fraser Mulford disproved Ineos Team UK's motto by being second, while Mark Powell and Will Fearn laid down the gauntlet for their 2025 campaign with a strong third. Neil McLaren and Jamie Rogers defended their points lead over the year to take the Travellers series win, leaving Angus and Imogen Marshall to come 2nd and Mike and Alan Birse in 3rd for the series. Huge thanks go to Dalgety Bay Sailing Club for putting on a brilliant event, Ian Baillie for his photos of the event, and to Stewart Brewing for their continued support of the RS400 class.

Overall Results: