Noble Marine RS500 National Championship at Mount's Bay Sailing Club - Day 2

Noble Marine RS500 Nationals at Mount's Bay Day 2 © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

Day 2 of the Noble Marine RS500 Nationals was another fabulously sunny day but this time with a perfect 12 knot southeasterly blowing into Mount's Bay. The competitors were raring to go after yesterday's disappointingly unstable wind which meant today was the first day of actual racing, with a fourth race added to the schedule.

Taking advantage of the scenic beach launch for a photo opportunity with the castle behind, all the 500s lined up for a Le Mans start out to the race area, the biggest challenge being to get through the formidable wind shadow of the Mount.

The first race got away on time at midday. The racing was close to the finish, with not much separation through the fleet in tricky waves upwind and good surfing downwind. There was a band of slightly more pressure on the left side of the course which generally favoured that side. Emma and Luke McEwen led for the first half of the race but couldn't hold off the pace of multiple World Champions Tim and Heather Wilkinson upwind. Edd Whitehead and Ian Mairs took a well deserved third.

Noble Marine RS500 Nationals at Mount's Bay Day 2 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

After the hour-long 3-lap first race, the competitors were happy to see 2 laps signalled for the subsequent races. Tim and Heather were hot out of the blocks at the favoured committee boat end to lead the race from start to finish. Luke and Will Bradley were even hotter, a bit too hot in fact, so they fell foul of the U Flag. Paul Cullen and Fresh Abendstern sailed a strong race to defend second from Edd and Ian, successfully navigating around the tail end of the RS100 fleet particularly at the narrow leeward gate and judging well when to switch to a low mode as the wind softened on the last run.

In Race 3, James Curtis could feel proud of his training prodigies from Wednesday, as Emma and Luke and Bob and Isla Preston rounded the first mark in first and second and held those places to the finish. Tim and Heather were unusually absent from the front, having banged right on the beat and then capsized on the run. This time Luke and Will capitalised on their great speed to take third.

Noble Marine RS500 Nationals at Mount's Bay Day 2 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

For the final race of the day the wind kindly piped up again giving great racing and allowing Tim and Heather to flex their speed muscles again with a solid win ahead of Emma and Luke and Luke and Will. The fastest speeds of the day though were recorded on the reach to the beach, with the Mount in front lit up by glorious evening sun. Peter and James Curtis were very relieved to break their main halyard on the way in rather than on the first start tomorrow.

The wonderful beach and tally team were waiting patiently for us with our trolleys and delicious chocolate brownies. With aching muscles after 6 hours on the water we were not 100% disappointed to see that the tide had risen too far for the planned Inaugural RS500 Beach Cricket Championship, postponed to tomorrow; instead Heather conjured up tasty rolls for the whole fleet.

Noble Marine RS500 Nationals at Mount's Bay Day 2 - photo © Lee Whitehead / www.photolounge.co.uk

With a discard now applied, Tim and Heather are looking strong counting 3 bullets but it's still all to play for with six more races over the weekend. The forecast is showing a bigger onshore wind tomorrow and lighter offshore winds on Sunday, so plenty of variety. For the majority of the 500 fleet who have never sailed at the legendary Mount's Bay SC, a day like today will be etched in our memories for a long time.

Results after Day 2: