Sailing Chandlery RS200 Northern Tour at Staunton Harold Sailing Club
by Jon Ward 27 May 11:34 BST
Sailing Chandlery RS200 Northern Tour at Staunton Harold © Mark Stevens
The sun was out in full force for the third event in the 2026 Sailing Chandlery sponsored RS200 Northern Tour hosted by Staunton Harold SC on Saturday, 23rd May. Four visitors joined six home boats for the event.
The weather forecast had improved overnight and race 1 started in a steady force 2 but it didn't last for long and there was a recurring pattern throughout the day with the wind continually fading and then coming through in pulses throughout the day. Racing became a matter of racing to maintain momentum and dodge the holes in the light breeze, with local knowledge often giving the home boats an advantage.
In race 1, Rach Gray & Amy Nugent took an early lead and stayed well in front throughout the race. Jon & Heather Ward looked to be safe in second for the first two laps, but a bad third beat let Nigel & Di Pepperdine and Martin & Barbara Smith close in. Nigel & Di passed Jon & Heather on the run to take second with Martin & Barbara in fourth.
Just before the start of race 2, there was a wind shift which saw several of the leading pack from race 1 struggling mid fleet. Lawrence Hayward & Ann Nugent managed to keep in the pressure throughout the race to take the win. Nigel & Di came second with Huw Hopkins & Holly Alfs sailing well to take third with Martin & Barbara pulling through to finish fourth again.
After lunch, the course was changed to reflect the wind shifting from southerly to south-south-westerly. Jon & Heather pulled into an early lead with Nigel & Di pulling through to challenge for the lead. Jon & Heather managed to retain first place with Nigel & Di taking second, Pete Gray (standing in for Rach who had to leave early) and Amy Nugent took third with Martin & Barbara in an ever consistent fourth.
With one race to go, Nigel & Di with three second places were well placed to take the event win but could still be beaten. They made no mistakes taking the lead early on and were never headed. Pete and Amy came second, while Jon & Heather took third and Martin & Barbara came fourth once again.
Overall winners of the third event in the series were Nigel & Di on 5 points, with Jon & Heather second on 7 and Martin & Barbara third on 12.
A big thank you to Staunton Harold SC for a great welcome and to Grahame Newton and his team for running the racing very professionally in difficult circumstances; and to Sailing Chandlery for their ongoing support of the RS200 Northern Tour series.
As part of their sponsorship, Sailing Chandlery provide a £15 voucher, a dry bag and some sunglasses that are raffled at each event. The winners were Paul & Lynne Munro; Lol Hayward & Anne Nugent and Rach Gray & Amy Nugent respectively.
The next event on the Northern Tour is on Saturday, 13th June at Budworth SC who have a very competitive home fleet. See you there!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 1707 | Nigel Pepperdine | Di Pepperdine | SHSC | ‑2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 2nd | 1560 | Jon Ward | Heather Ward | Budworth sc | 3 | ‑6 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
| 3rd | 1606 | Martin Smith | Barbara Smith | Yorkshire Dales SC | ‑4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| 4th | 1620 | Lawrence Hayward | Ann Nugent | SHSC | ‑6 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 13 |
| 5th | 927 | Huw Hopkins | Holly Alfs | Chase | ‑5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 |
| 6th | 1421 | Pete Gray | Amy Nugent | SHSC | (DNC) | DNC | 3 | 2 | 17 |
| 7th | 1421 | Rach Gray | Amy Nugent | SHSC | 1 | 5 | (DNC) | DNC | 18 |
| 8th | 1666 | Ben Dearden | Alice Carter | Yorkshire Dales SC | ‑8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| 9th | 1006 | Matt Smith | Carole Smith | SHSC | 7 | ‑10 | 8 | 8 | 23 |
| 10th | 937 | Paul Munro | Lynne Munro | SHSC | ‑9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 26 |
| 11th | 1362 | Terry Forbes | Alan Donaldson | SHSC | ‑10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 29 |