Results / Gul Winter Championships Bough Beech SC - 07/03/2009

GUL RS300 Winter Champs

‘A game of two halves’

It was, as they say, a game of two halves as the new season kicked off at the RS300 Winter Championship sponsored by GUL on 7/8 March. Bough Beech SC did us proud. All we needed was Motty on the bank in his sheepskin coat.

The first half (Saturday) started in a gentle breeze and Spring-like conditions. Early pacesetter in race 1 was Matt Sargent but Alastair Wood pulled though as the race progressed to take a home win ahead of Sargent, Steve Bolland, Mike Bees and Peter Warne.

Race 2 was run in slightly more breeze which even featured some sitting out at times. Rookie Jason Buchanan showed the fleet a clean pair of heels to take the win from Keen and Sargent with Bees taking another fourth.

The wind had piped up nicely for race 3 and Bolland led from start to finish ahead of the consistent Sargent with Keen in third place.

After halftime oranges the fleet was greeted to conditions somewhat different from the day before - a solid 20 knot breeze with a bit of bite to it on Sunday morning. Keen was the early leader in race 4 before picking up a yellow card for a blatant dive at the gybe mark. Bolland overtook Bees on the second reach to take the lead which he held to the finish. There was considerable carnage as the race progressed and the wind continued to build but Sargent finished in second place ahead of Buchanan and James Phare.

Going into the final race any one of Buchanan, Sargent and Bolland could take the title if they could hold it together. By now the wind was coming down the course in cubic metre lumps and the crowd was going mad. Keen again led early on until a tangled mainsheet earned him another booking. This left James Phare and Bolland neck and neck until another big gust caught Phare unawares at the bottom mark.

As the leaders started their second lap it began to get stupidly windy, proper squeaky bum time. Bolland chucked it in on the long broad reach in front of the clubhouse in what can only be described as a monster gust, allowing Sargent to take the lead. Another dunking for Bolland at the bottom mark looked set to allow Buchanan into second until he, too, succumbed. As the ref signalled a shortened course Sargent looked to have it all sewn up until he was blown flat on the final beat as the wind gusted to 40 knots. However, he recovered to take the win from Bolland, Buchanan and Garry Phare.

It is a credit to the fleet that everyone who started the last race managed to finish, in extreme conditions. At the end of the day Bolland won overall on goal difference from Sargent, the second time in three years these two have finished the Winters tied on points.

Many thanks to GUL for their sponsorship, Bough Beech for all their hard work and especially Alastair and Katherine Wood for their organisation, hospitality and beachmaster activity.