AW Accounting RS300 Nationals at Weymouth - Days 1 & 2

RS Games - RS300 National Champion Steve Bolland © Mike Rice / www.fotoboat.com

RS Games - RS300 nationals day 1 © Mike Rice / www.fotoboat.com

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 3rd. 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 3rd place to Mark “Sparky” Newton. Bolland maintained his lead throughout the rest of the race with Bees taking 2nd and Newton taking 3rd. Matt Jenkins showed excellent pace throughout the race but couldn’t reel in Wood or Newton finishing in 5th.

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!”. With the wind dying quickly the race officer took the bold decision to finish the fleet on the first lap leaving Hannah in 1st, Acres 2nd and Sutton-Reid 3rd. National Champion Steve Bolland finished 4th giving him 3 point lead overnight over Bees in 2nd overall and Jenkins in 3rd.

Day 2 of the AW Accounting RS300 National Championships promised to be “Big Wednesday”, the forecast looked very promising, almost scary, and the fleet left the slipway with great expectations for the day.

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 3rd. 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 1st with Rideout in letting Richard Le Mare through into 2nd for the race and Dave Acres for 3rd.

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 2nd, Rideout in 3rd and Acres in 4th. 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 4th 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 1st at the windward mark with Le Mare in 2nd and Acres in 3rd who had fought back well from a “chanllenging” start. Le Mare’s 2nd was sadly not to be, the PRO adjudged him to be OCS. This promoted Rideout to 3rd, with much ducking and diving and challenging downwind legs placed stayed the same, boring boring Bolland taking his 3rd 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 2nd throughout the race but simply didn’t have the pace to cope with Le Mare. Acres was in 3rd but the run proved too much for him with a dramatic capsize then an early trip to the showers.

Matt Sargeant was in 4th 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 3rd 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 3rd. 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 2nd and Bees in 3rd.

A long but excellent day was had by all, with tight racing throughout the fleet, tired sailors litter the bar and cafés of WPNSA all recovering for another big day tomorrow.

RS Games Day 9 Video: (by fotoboat)

Overall Results: