RS600 Harken Sprints 2026 at Rutland Sailing Club

Harken Sprints 2026 at Rutland © Marcus Parkes

After the first day was cancelled due to a lack of wind, a keen group of RS600 sailors hit the water for 6 scheduled races in a marginal trapezing breeze.

In the first race of the day the fleet decided that the pin end was favoured with the majority of the fleet starting there. Will Russell and Jamie Mawson managed the best starts in race one and they were followed up the first beat closely by Matt Potter and Marcus Pakes. The fleet closed up on the downwind as bands of pressure came down the lake which resulted in the fleet splitting tacks as they went up the 2nd beat. Will and Marcus chose to take to the left hand side which then lifted allowing Will to take the lead from Jamie. This also allowed Marcus to overtake Matt on the reach. These positions remained the same but the fleet closed up with Ian Jubb making up a lot of ground and putting Matt and Marcus under pressure. Race one's podium was Will, Jamie then Marcus.

Harken Sprints 2026 at Rutland - photo © Natalie Smith

Heading into race two the breeze was just about holding, Will had a brilliant start off the pin with Marcus close behind. In the first downwind the fleet was very tight with lots of gybes being completed while people tried to get clear air. The breeze was beginning to drop as the fleet headed upwind again with the far left side of the leg being favoured, which allowed Jubby and Matt to make up places. This resulted in Will being 1st, Jubby 2nd and Jamie 3rd.

The breeze had begun to build again as we entered race 3. Again the pin end was favoured and Jamie and Will got away the cleanest. Coming onto the downwind Matt found some good pressure and managed to take the lead which he extended on the second upwind. On the downwind Matt, Will and Jamie found themselves in a lull down the left side and also in the dirty air of other fleets coming upwind. Marcus had found some great pressure down the right side of the leg but couldn't close the gap enough to the top 3. This resulted in Matt getting his first race win of the event! He was followed by Will, Jamie then Marcus and Jubby.

Harken Sprints 2026 at Rutland - photo © Marcus Parkes

Going into race 4 the wind had really begun to drop. Will, Jubby and Matt were all trying to fight Jamie for the pin but became victim to a last minute wind shift and stalled allowing Jamie to get away cleanly followed by Marcus and William Lloyd. Jamie held his lead for the rest of the race but had to hold off a last minute challenge from Marcus on the second downwind. They were followed by Matt then Will.

Going into race 5 the wind had dropped to a level where it had become extremely difficult to get trapezing. Marcus managed to win the pin end but was covered by Jamie resulting in him having to tack off. Jubby had also had a good start and showed some great downwind speed to take the lead going on to the second upwind leg. The wind by this point had really dropped and everyone had headed over to the left hand side. Marcus managed to make the most of the little wind to overtake Jubby just before a huge wind shift affected the leg. As the fleet began the reach the wind shifted so it first became a beat, then a dead run! Jamie, Will and Jubby all stuck very close to Marcus' transom until the final gybe mark for the finish. Marcus chose to gybe early and go for the pin of the finish whereas Jamie went to the finish boat opting to gybe late. Jamie just managed to drift ahead of Marcus enough to get the race win and the overall race win.

RS600 winners in the Harken Sprints 2026 at Rutland - photo © Laurie Callaghan

It was a great event even if it was limited by the wind and a huge thanks has to go to Rutland Sailing Club for putting on a great event despite the challenging conditions. Also thanks to Harken and Rooster for all their support.

Overall Results: