Results / Bartley Open Bartley - 07/04/2002

On Sunday 7th April, the RS300s had their Open Meeting at Bartley Reservoir near Birmingham. With a 3 - 4 SE blowing down the lake, glorious sunshine and 9 boats, it was always going to be a good day on the water. The first race got underway with a combined start with the RS Vareos, taking part in their first ever Open. The 300s quickly pulled away on the long first beat, Mark Reddington (Bartley) taking an early lead from Jamie Mawson (Ulley). As the fleet began the long run down the lake, the option to go left or right was paramount with unpredictable gusts blowing on both sides of the leg. Reddington seemed to get it right, extending his lead. Matt Thursfield (Chelmarsh) passed Mawson, with Steve Cook (Stokes Bay) quickly closing on third place. Reddington and Thursfield pulled away, leaving Mawson and Cook battling around the course, both capsizing allowing Mark Davies and Damien Roe (both Bartley) to get through. Meanwhile Thursfield was reeling in Reddington, finally getting passed on the last lap to take line honours. Cook and Mawson managed to pass the two Bartley boats on the final beat, Cook just pipping Mawson to the line. Race 2 saw Reddington and Thursfield again get away on the first beat, to have their own private battle around the race course, the long run down the lake again having an impact on the race. Each beat Thursfield would pull away, only for Reddington to read the runs better and close the gap. With the final leg being a beat, Thursfield pulled away to take the gun from Reddington in 2nd, Mawson battling with Cook to take third, with Mark Davies in 5th. The final race saw what was probably the tightest battle of the day. Thursfield initially built a comfortable lead from Reddington, only for poor beats allowing the whole fleet to compress, Cook coming through to challenge for the lead. Mawson fought back from a poor first beat, in the knowledge that a win would take him ahead of Reddington to 2nd overall. The final beat was nip and tuck, the top three sailors covering each other, allowing Mawson to close the gap to a couple of boat length by the finish line on Reddington, who was desperately trying to break Cooks cover. Thursfield took 1st, Cook 2nd, Reddington third, Mawson in fourth. A good days sailing was had by all in great 300 conditions. Bartley seems to bring the best out of the 300, with close racing throughout the fleet.