RS200 Sailing Chandlery Northern Tour at the Flash Dash, Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club

RS200 Sailing Chandlery Northern Tour at the Flash Dash © Paul Hargreaves Photography

The first event of the RS200 Sailing Chandlery Northern Tour was kindly hosted by Leigh and Lowton as part of their inaugural Asymmetric Regatta, the 'Flash Dash'.

8 boats arrived at Leigh and Lowton, not deterred by the forecast of strong gusts, rain and Low temperatures. The first race saw many capsizes and multiple retired boats. The gusts combined with the shifts presented a tough Sailing environment, certainly enough to blow off any cobwebs built up over the winter. Allister & Helen led for most of the first race however myself & Alice managed to overtake round the penultimate leeward mark rounding claiming the first win.

A short but needed break for lunch led us into the second race. A much smaller fleet took to the startline, and Allister & Helen took the win with Matt & Oliver taking second and myself & Alice in third. By this point, I can probably speak for the whole fleet in saying that we were dreaming of warm showers and comfy sofas, and a huge thanks must be given to the race officials and safety teams who were, without doubt, as cold as we were. As we started the third race of the day, a great achievement in such challenging conditions, Helen & Allister took the win, once again hotly contested by Matt & Oliver, while Ben & Harriet managed to bag.

RS200 Sailing Chandlery Northern Tour at the Flash Dash - photo © Paul Hargreaves Photography

Saturday night, we were treated to a delicious home-cooked lasagne prepared by their amazing catering team. The club also put on a sailing-themed games night, which kept us all entertained and did an incredible job of raising spirits ahead of Sunday's races.

With an early start and a loss of 1 hour of sleep, we awoke on Sunday morning to a fairly calm view of the lake. The first two races on Sunday saw 5 boats racing in very close competition, with Allister & Helen leading and Matt & Oliver taking second in both races. Third place was very hotly contested, with all three of Adam Catlow, Oliver Thompson, and me holding it for some of the race. Myself & Alice managed 3rd with Oliver & Elliott in 4th and Adam & Jamie in 5th. The following race saw Allister & Helen continue their winning streak with Matt & Oliver in 2nd and Adam & Jamie taking 3rd.

RS200 Sailing Chandlery Northern Tour at the Flash Dash - photo © Paul Hargreaves Photography

Over lunch, we were faced with brief periods of sunshine, hailstorms, horizontal rain, really all weathers in one day! Sunday afternoon, Allister & Helen continued their winning streak with 2 more bullets, Matt and Oliver again claimed 2nd and Oliver & Elliott collected 2 thirds.

The first event of the RS200 Northern Tour concluded Sunday afternoon with a prize-giving and some excellent prizes from our sponsors, Sailing Chandlery.

A massive thank you has to be said to Leigh and Lowton for being such excellent hosts over the weekend and looking after us exhausted sailors so well, both on and off the water.

The next event for the tour is the Daffodil Regatta, hosted by Ullswater YC, on the 25th / 26th April, where we hope for another great turnout and potentially more travelling boats seeking to investigate the venue ahead of the RS200 Summer Champs, which will be incorporated into the Lord Birkett Trophy.

Overall Results: