RS800 Rooster National Tour 2023 - congratulations to Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore

RS800 Rooster National Tour podium © Natalie Smith

RS800 Rooster National Tour stats for 2023 © Hugh Shone

From the steely grey waters of Rutland in early March to the sumptuous sea-swell of Hayling Bay; from the Olympic ordained Portland Harbour to the war of attrition witnessed at Lymington in August, the RS800 fleet has been spoiled by seven fantastic venues and their respective race teams and hordes of volunteers.

Between a choice selection of excellent championships, the circuit has provided that monthly opportunity to catch up with friends before trying to lose them again on the racecourse.

In total, over 2023, we saw 44 boats take part in the Rooster National Tour. With teams switching, swapping and press ganging throughout, this meant that 96 sailors took part in total. That's a whopping 83% increase in attendance from last year! Really positive to see, especially with new teams coming through and getting stuck in straight away.

Aside from turnout, when crunching the numbers you can also see the vast range of team weights, ages and team makeups that competed this year - again showcasing the continued appeal of the RS800 to a wide variety of sailors and its ability to offer affordable, and excellent one design skiff racing.

Despite the infusion of new faces, it was the usual suspects who reigned supreme in the final standings. Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore 1144 (HISC) wrapped up the series after a convincing display at the Rutland RS End of Seasons in their brand new vessel. Overall it was a masterful display throughout although they were made to work hard.

In particular at the Salcombe Gin HISC Summer Champs that went right down to the wire.

Second overall saw Hugh Shone and friends in 1231 (Swanage SC) pip 2023 National Champions, Luke and Emma McEwen 1220 (Royal Lymington) into third. After hosting a whole paddock of talented helms (Fiona Hampshire, Joe Bradley, Luke McEwen and Monque Vennis Ozanne) Hugh is hoping for a slightly more settled partnership next year after what was his first full year of crewing.

2023 also saw the introduction of a Gold and Silver fleet, which again saw some great battles. In Gold fleet, Martin Orton and Ian Brookes 1204 (Chichester YC) became untouchable after a cracking start to the season with strong results at Stokes Bay and Castle Cove.

They followed this up with a good showing at the Rope4Boats Grafham Inlands which pushed Bryan and Anna Ormond 820 (Queen Mary SC) and Fred Lord and Louise Gale 1224 (Carsington SC) into 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Silver fleet saw a Northern royal rumble take place with Stephen Brown and Philip Bairstow 1241 (Derwent) taking home the crown. They pipped Alistair Hodgson and Ella Spain 1099 (Draycote Water SC) and Liz Watton and Christopher Williams 1225 (Leigh and Lowton SC) into 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Winner of the Gold and Silver fleets will now be bumped up.

Aside from some great sailing the Tour also saw an increased focus on shoreside entertainment with the highly prized Social Conch regularly up for grabs. Tuning workshops and post-race day briefings have also provided lots of learning opportunities. We are looking to continue all of this in 2024 and more!

We want to say a huge thank you to all of the sailors that took part and made the 2023 Rooster National Tour such a rip-roaring success and we can't wait to get stuck in again in 2024!

Tom Morris and Guy Filmore - RS800 Rooster National Tour event number two at Stokes Bay SC - photo © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Overall Series Results: (boats attending more than 1 event)