Results / RS300 Slalom Championship Yorkshire Dales SC - 07/07/2007

Stop two on the RS300 northern tour saw eight helms roll into Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club for a day of mixed weather and competitive racing.

Race one’s start seemed to take the 300 fleet by surprise with many quite line shy. Slalom Champion Ian Smith of Craven made the bold choice to go starboard side up the first beat leaving the rest of the fleet heading up the middle or the left. Unfortunately the wind was not kind to Smith leaving Nathan Poulton of Dovestone to take the first mark followed closely by Mark Henman of Sunderland Yacht Club & Tim Keen of Sheffield Viking. The downwind leg saw Stephen Smith and Ian Smith show some excellent downwind speed compacting the fleet with the second beat starting with everything still to play for and everything to lose from last to first. With the breeze building the B Rigs of Keen, Poulton and Sutton stretched their legs on the second beat however Ian Smith in his A Rig held on well and with his superior downwind speed Smith took the first victory, with Keen second and Poulton in third.

Race two saw a much more competitive start line with Jeff Markst of Staunton Harold wining the starboard end leaving no room for Keen who ended up incurring a penalty up the first beat after getting a bit too friendly on the line. Although the starboard side of the course hadn’t paid for Smith in race one it worked out very well for Markst in race two ensuring Markst a first around the windward with Alex Lomas of Llandudno in second and the rest of the fleet in hot pursuit, most notably Keen who had already caught up following his penalty. Places constantly shifted around a close fleet downwind however Markst held on and managed to round the leeward mark with his lead in tact. Unfortunately for Markst he was soon to be overhauled. Beat two saw Keen offer an excellent example of upwind speed followed closely by Ian Smith and Sam Sutton. However it was Smith that was victorious in the end and with his second win he insured the event was his. Following a difficult start Keen had managed an impressive second with Poulton showing excellent downwind speed to seal third on the last lap.

Although race three was in many ways academic, racing was still as competitive. On lap two Smith, Keen and Poulton managed to break away with Keen finally finding the speed and the win he had been looking for all weekend. Ian Smith held on to a second with Mr Consistency Nathan Poulton getting his third third of the day and Stephen Smith leaving his best till last in fourth.

Next stop on the Northern Tour sees the 300 fleet head to Filey on the 21st and 2nnd of July. The whole fleet would like to thank YDSC for a fantastic weekend both on and off the water.