Day one of the AW Accounting RS 300 Nationals started with a fresh Northerly force 3 – 4, sadly the wind was not due to stay and whilst many of us hoped the forecast was wrong by the time we launched the wind had dropped to a force 2.

Race 1 started with in light air, the fleet got away clean, all be it with an individual recall. At the first windward mark national champion Steve Bolland lead from Mike Bees with Alistair Wood in 3^rd. Downwind the positions remained the same at the front whilst in the middle of the fleet there was much passing, mainly be pesky lightweights who get up and going in the marginal conditions.

The second beat saw Alistair Wood decide not to follow Steve Bolland which sadly in turn saw him relinquish his 3^rd place to Mark “Sparky” Newton. Bolland maintained his lead throughout the rest of the race with Bees taking 2^nd and Newton taking 3^rd. Matt Jenkins showed excellent pace throughout the race but couldn’t reel in Wood or Newton finishing in 5^th.

Race 2 started in dropping conditions with changeable pressure and direction up the first beat. Sam Sutton-Reid started on his own at the port end getting away on the port side of the beat with some nice pressure. Pete Hannah dominated the Starboard side and Dave Acres worked his way wisely up the middle. This lead to a short but sweet three way tussle up the first beat. Hannah showed that his physique was best suited to the wind showing Acres and Sutton-Reid a very clean pair of heels in Sebastian Vetel esq way , Sutton-Reid wondered if he could hear him say “OK, Bye Guys – Have fun!”.

Race 3 started in a fresh force 4 with a challenging short chop. Newcomer to the fleet Luke Rideout showed exemplary upwind speed and dominated throughout the first beat taking the windward mark from Steve Bolland with Richard Le Mare in 3^rd. Rideout tried hard down the first reach but couldn’t cope with the downwind speed of Bolland who took first, surely another bullet in the bag? Well Bolland didn’t want to make it easy for himself with a spectacular capsize on an early gybe down the run, showing that even the most skilled sailors in the fleet make mistakes from time to time. Rideout did take Bolland back during this lapse in concentration but once again couldn’t hold Bolland off leaving the overnight leader to take another 1^st with Rideout in letting Richard Le Mare through into 2^nd for the race and Dave Acres for 3^rd.

Race 4 saw a busy start line, Bolland showed of his exceptional fitness once again to get away from the fleet and take the windward mark with Scotland’s finest Neil Beveridge following in 2^nd, Rideout in 3^rd and Acres in 4^th. Downwind places stayed the same, with the wind building the downwind leg looked like it may take a few casualties but not quite yet. The second beat saw Richard Le Mare stretch his legs and work the shifts well catching up with the leaders and moving into 4^th taking Rideout who had lost out to Acres. Bolland finished the race off with another win from Beveridge and Acres.

Race 5 was yet again a busy start with people struggling to get pace off the line with the difficult chop. The fleet split, with Luke “I like the right hand side” Rideout banging his favourite corner and the majority of the fleet favouring the left. Bolland was yet again 1^st at the windward mark with Le Mare in 2^nd and Acres in 3^rd who had fought back well from a “chanllenging” start. Le Mare’s 2^nd was sadly not to be, the PRO adjudged him to be OCS.  This promoted Rideout to 3^rd, with much ducking and diving and challenging downwind legs placed stayed the same, boring boring Bolland taking his 3^rd bullet of the day.

The wind started to build slightly for Race 6, the run certainly was going to be interesting. The powerhouse known as Le Mare was fired up after his OCS, busting out of the line into the lead and over the horizon showing Bolland he couldn’t have it his was all week. Bolland mainted 2^nd throughout the race but simply didn’t have the pace to cope with Le Mare. Acres was in 3^rd but the run proved too much for him with a dramatic capsize then an early trip to the showers. Matt Sargeant was in 4^th and looking fast but unfortunately his boom couldn’t cope with the conditions and literally snapped in two. This left a Blue and White battle for 3^rd between Ben Yeates and Neil Beveridge, Yeates showed that he had blown the cobwebs out from a winter of little sailing in Inverness taking Beveridge and 3^rd. Some remarked that they were sure they could here “Flower of Scotland” emanating from Yeates’ boat.

Overnight Bolland has the lead, some 17 points over Beveridge in 2^nd and Bees in 3^rd.

The Final Day of the AW Accounting 2011 RS300 National Championships started with glorious weather and little breeze, then rain, then heavy rain thunderstorm and gales! Then sun again, what it is to live in an English Summer!

The PRO did try and get the RS300s out of the line and on the course but the dropping and shifting wind meant a last minute postponement. With the wind dropping out almost completely and swinging around a great deal it became a waiting game, as Murphy ’s Law would have it just as the PRO had thrown in the towel the sea breeze kicked in bringing with it a nice force 3-4 and some sun – top banana!

Dave Acres took an early advantage in the race with an excellent start hitting the line at full speed on the gun – No OCS this time for Mr Acres. This inevitably resulted in Dave taking the first beat and indeed the first lap, hotly pursued by Steve Bolland and Tim Keen.

Places throughout the fleet were tight with several groups all the way through the fleet only separated by several points. Richard Le Mare in second overall had a “bit of a moment missing” the toe straps at mark 3 leaving himself with a fight through the fleet and a bit of stress. Mike Bees and Neil Beveridge were best friends round the course sticking very close in hot competition.

Well done to Prestwick Sailing Club for winning the club prize, Gary Morris for becoming A Rig National Champion, Harry McVicar (and his support crew) for becoming Youth National Champion and Steve “My word how is this old man so fast” Bolland for winning the Masters.

2011 marked a record year for the 300 fleet with 35 entries showing that the fleet is still going from strength to strength! Thanks to all who were involved in supporting event, roll on Pwhelli 2012!!