RS700 Rooster National Tour at Brightlingsea Sailing Club

RS700 Rooster National Tour at Brightlingsea © Katie Bees

RS700 Rooster National Tour at Brightlingsea © Katie Bees

Carter struts his stuff in Essex

It was back to the 2023 Nationals venue of Brightlingsea for the RS700s, next stop on the Rooster National Tour. The home fleet welcomed visitors to occasional blue skies and consistently brown waters. With the course being shared with the F18 Nationals, Darts, Tornados and Shearwaters, there was mild trepidation over how the fleets may come together on the windward/leeward racetrack. In the end, fears were allayed and no skewering occurred.

Day one opened with a short wade through the mud to launch at low tide. It was compensated with a pleasant 10-14 knot breeze. Race one commenced bang-on schedule with Matt Carter hitting the windward mark first, followed by newly elected Class Chair, Matt Conner. Chasing hard were Pete Purkiss, Richard Goldklang and the formidable Stephen Carr. It was an order that would remain for the full three laps and a clear signal from Carter that he was not going to allow the locals an easy ride.

Races two and three saw Matt Carter strengthen his position, with another two wins, the battle for second place was between Conner and Pete Purkiss, with Purkiss gaining the upper hand. In other news, Richard suffered a kite halyard failure which ejected him from the boat and caused a subsequent retirement through injury. In the meantime, Carr was spotted resting up on the beach to take in the view and adjust his rig settings to further optimise for the conditions.

The evening events started early, with the bar ready to receive the moment the changing rooms were vacated. The combined fleets shared a great evening of hospitality and a delicious galley cooked curry.

Day two was forecast to be lighter with a fading wind as the day progressed - a forecast which turned out to be spot on. Setting off into 8-9 knots, the first race got away cleanly, with Matt Conner and Carter heading left and Pete Purkiss using local knowledge to head hard right, inshore to avoid the ebbing tide. This time it didn't pay and with an inshore header, Pete was slightly behind at the windward mark. Conner held him off until the last gybe, but Pesky Pete carried a touch more pace to cross the line ahead and score another 2nd place. The scoresheet was becoming somewhat consistent.

Race two saw the beginning of the softening breeze, starting with 8 knots and dropping to 6 by the end. Matt Carter once again showed a clean pair of heels to take the win. Pete Purkiss, tried the inshore route again and it came good for another 2nd place. Conner was well and truly resigned to report writing with another 3rd. With the breeze dropping, a tide to fight and the M25 to contend with, Conner and Carter headed for shore and gifted Purkiss the win for the final race of the day. Light wind maestro Steve Carr was always a challenge to hold off, but in the end he had to settle for second.

Once again Brightlingsea delivered, with excellent hospitality and well-run race management. We look forward to returning. Thank you to Rooster our National Tour sponsor.

Overall Results: