Sandy Shell 2024 at Hayling Island Sailing Club

by Tommy Darling 21 Oct 15:10 BST 19 October 2024

Sandy Shell at HISC © Debbie Jarvis

Described as the unofficial RS200 Sprint Racing World Championship, the Sandy Shell is hosted annually by HISC. Originally a battle between boats from Hayling Island & Itchenor Sailing Clubs, the trophy is presented to the top team from either club.

This year's instalment saw 24 boats battle it out in 6 short, 20-minute races inside Chichester Harbour. The morning delivered sunshine, 12 knots and strong, spring tides.

It was key to win the biased end of the start line but work hard to get the early tack in before getting pinned to the fast-approaching lay lines. These lay lines were often hit after just a minute of sailing off the start. 2023's RS200 National Champions, Arran Holman & James Crossley, were the first to get in phase with the bandy pressure & flicking shifts; taking wins in the first 2 races. Tommy & Charlie Darling capitalised on the change in bias from port to starboard in the 3rd race, winning the committee boat end & leading the fleet into less tide. Later the breeze dropped down to 6-8 knots allowing light wind specialists, James & Jess Hammett, to win races 4 & 5 comfortably.

Sandy Shell at HISC - photo © Paul Hammett

Just one point separated the top three as they went into the final race, but the pressure seemed to affect the teams as they all rounded outside the top 5. Alex Sydenham helming for his dad had been steadily climbing the leaderboard, they took the final race win & bumped the Hammett's out of the podium spots.

The day was finished off with a games night for all sailors, hosted in HISC's main bar, with classic games such as; swing the hot dog, piggy bank and grab the banana.

Sandy Shell at HISC - photo © Cam Stewart

Thanks to the race team for flying through six great races in record time. The RS200 fleet at HISC will be revitalising their sprint racing calendar with the 'Snowy Sprint Series' this winter, making it a great time to join both the club and the class. Contact Jess Hammett at , if you would like to get involved.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1st	1667	Arran Holman	James Crossley	Hollowell	1	1	4	2	‑5	5	13
2nd	1733	Tommy Darling	Charlie Darling	HISC	2	4	1	5	2	‑6	14
3rd	1540	Lee Sydenham	TBA Sydenham	HISC	4	3	3	‑15	3	1	14
4th	880	JJ Hammett	Jess Hammett	HISC	‑8	2	5	1	1	7	16
5th	1716	Ollie Evans	Zoe Nieveen	HISC	‑13	7	8	3	4	3	25
6th	1439	Jamie Harris	Ellen Main	Hayling Island	7	10	‑17	4	6	2	29
7th	1729	Scott Wallis	Annie Hammett	HISC	3	9	2	6	‑10	10	30
8th	629	Rob Henderson	Alice Markham	HISC	5	5	9	7	‑11	9	35
9th	1634	Cam Stewart	Chris O'neill	HISC	‑15	6	12	8	8	14	48
10th	598	Aidan Mitchell	Ella Mitchell	HISC	10	8	7	10	15	(DNC)	50
11th	1029	Geoff Camm	Amelia Camm	HISC	(UFD)	11	6	14	9	17	57
12th	1415	Chris Witty	Clare Whitehill	HISC	9	13	10	9	‑19	16	57
13th	1617	Alex Curtis	Raffi Gracie	HISC	14	‑16	14	13	14	4	59
14th	297	Mark Thomas	Alex ling	HISC	11	18	13	‑19	7	12	61
15th	1687	Theo Williams	Eloise Nieveen	WPNSA	18	14	‑20	11	16	8	67
16th	1235	Mike Calvert	Sophie Harris	HISC	12	15	15	12	‑21	19	73
17th	1301	Shaun Barber	Laurie Callaghan	HISC	6	19	16	‑20	18	15	74
18th	573	Joe Armstrong Rowland	Lucy Armstrong	HISC	17	‑24	11	17	12	18	75
19th	997	Ella Jones	Sophie Watson	HISC	‑20	20	18	16	17	11	82
20th	1304	Charlie Whitaker	Lucy Gates		‑21	17	19	21	13	13	83
21st	1218	Kai Miller	Cori Miller	HISC	19	12	‑23	18	22	20	91
22nd	344	Jameel Hussein	Pat	HISC	16	21	22	(OCS)	23	21	103
23rd	1533	Mark Thurlow	Harry Thurlow	HISC	22	22	21	22	20	(DNC)	107
24th	1544	Max Riley‑Gould	Fraje Watson	HISC	23	23	24	23	(DNC)	DNC	118