Results / Gul RS300 Winter Championships Queen Mary SC - 21/02/2004

Queen Mary sailing club provided all the ingredients necessary for a successful winter championships; bitter cold, freezing water and wind�a- plenty, giving thrills and spills all round. Add the excellent race management, and you have a weekend that will be remembered by all who entered. 7 RS300s braved the conditions, and it was class coach Matt Sargent who showed the way in the first two races, followed by the ever present and ever consistant Steve Cook. Class champion Steve Cockrill arrived late, and, having chased the fleet round in race 2, won race3 in an increasing wind. Sunday dawned even more windy, with spells of force 6 reported, leading to a slightly depleted fleet. Due to his late arrival, Cockrill could not win the event unless Sargent had a bad result, so these two treated those near enough to see, to an exhibition of match racing, in conditions where mere mortals where glad to survive. This duel was eventually won by Sargent, whilst Cockrill�s capsize allowed Cook to take another 2nd. Class rep Rob Eastwood used his new �A� rig to finish 4th, delighted to be the final survivor of the difficult mixture of gusts and lulls. Race 5 saw Sargent, Cockrill, Cook as the only starters, finishing in that order, and the race officers, called it a day at that point, there being no takers from either fleet for the last scheduled race. Special mentions should go to Cliff Shaw, who led race 1 for a while, winning the Merit award, and to Paul Barker and Chris McDonald, who showed good speed at their first 300 open. We look forward to seeing them again!