Staunton Harold SC RS200 Open Meeting

The second event of the RS200 Northern Tour took place at Staunton Harold SC on Saturday, May 14th.  The forecast looked perfect: a nice sunny day and a force 3-4 Northerly.  The reality proved somewhat more interesting with a force 2 , but with the wind just cutting off every now and again and then filling in a very patchy manner.

It was more like snakes and ladders on water than normal racing and there were plenty opportunities to show 'your skill' as you progressed up the fleet and 'bad luck' when you disappeared back down again.

In race 1, Martin and Sian Joesbury had had an uncharacteristically poor start and went right down the first run whilst al the boats ahead of them went left.  The wind died on the left allowing Martin and Sian to power through to the lead, which they consolidated throughout the race to win from Jon and Heather Ward followed by Martin and Barbara Smith.

Race 2 saw Martin and Sian sail consistently well throughout to take the win from Keith Escritt and Andrea Clough followed by Matt Bromley and Millie Cowan

Race 3 saw Jon Chapman and Wendy Martin heading furthest to the right on the first beat to pick up the new breeze first and move into the lead.  On the second beat Jon and Heather appeared to have made the power play by heading out much further to the right to pick up the new wind first and sailed into the windward mark under spinnaker only to lose it all down the final run as the wind switched off completely.  Those boats that made their way out to the right did best with Jon and Wendy managing to regain their lead to finish first from Lol Hayward and Wendy Gray in second and Martin and Barbara in third.

After a long lunch break, the fleet headed out for two more races with the wind growing ever more fitful.

Race 4 saw Keith and Andrea taking the win from a consistent Martin and Barbara and an almost as consistent Jon and Wendy.

With all the top boats having at least one mediocre result, anyone of four boats could still win the event.  Keith and Andrea started well and looked to be have the event in the bag until the last part of the final run when the wind shut off again for the leaders.  Martin and Sian spotted the new wind coming in from the left earlier than anyone else to sail through from sixth position to first to win the event. Jon and Heather, who had pulled their way through the fleet after a very poor start, took second followed by four boats finishing almost simultaneously.  Keith and Andrea just managed to keep their nose in front of the others to take third, which was enough to give them second overall with Jon and Wendy able to discard their final race sixth to take third overall.

Many thanks to the Staunton Harold race team who managed to get five races sailed in less than favourable conditions.

Author: Jon Ward