Neck and neck

Ian Sharps and Ellie Martin take the second round of the RS200's Gul Grand Prix series

50 RS200 crews arrived at Datchet Water SC on the weekend of 10–11 April for the first event of the nationwide Gul Grand Prix series. All week the forecast had been for light winds but warm sunshine. The competitors arrived to find that that only the latter part of the forecast was right, so sun cream was applied and the fleet launched into a building force 2 breeze.

The first race saw the left hand side of the course paying dividends, with Pete Vincent/Tess Nicholls leading for the majority of the race. That was until John Teague/Louise Fisher spotted a huge right hand shift on the final beat, sailed over to it and promptly went from sixth to first and took the race win. Behind, Vincent/Nicholls were left stranded on the left, leaving James Stewart/Tobytastic to take second and Matt Greenfield/Charlotte Savage third.

The next two races saw the breeze pick up to a decent force 4, but begin to shift and gust with increasing unpredictably. Done of this mattered to Ian Sharps/Ellie Martin though, as they hooked into nice left lifts on the first beat of both races to take comfortable bullets in both races. Behind, Stewart/Toby showed just as much composure, recording two seconds. Back in the pack, Teague/Fisher picked up a third in race two and Maria Stanley/Dyfrig Mon third in the final race of the day.

Saturday night saw the fleet enjoy an excellent curry supper and quiz night laid on by the club, before retiring to rest for another hectic day on the water.

First race Sunday morning saw both an increased breeze and the appearance of the black flag which caught out overnight leaders Stewart/Toby in race four. A big wind shift saw the race turn into a single tack beat/gybe procession, with Stanley/Mon showing the fleet a clean pair of heels to take the bullet. James Boyce/Sam Tozer settled for second, with Steven Greaves/Helen Farr third.

Following a long delay, race 5 started on a reset course, using most of the lake. The beats were long and tiring, but the downwind exhilarating and the shifts still, to say the least, interesting! Boyce/Tozer made no mistake this time and took the race win, with newbies Dan Holman/Sarah Hornby second and Teague/Fisher third. The final race started with three or four boats still in contention for the overall win. Boyce/Tozer looked like they had it sewn up, leading the race until disaster struck and their rudder stock fell to pieces. This left Teague/Fisher to take the win, with Sharps/Martin second and Stewart/Toby third.

The final race win wasn’t enough for Teague/Fisher though, with Sharps/Martin sneaking first place on countback, their last race second swaying it in their favour. Stewart/Toby rounded out the top three.

Overall, a great weekend and start to the season. Many thanks to DWSC for being such good hosts, setting good courses in difficult conditions and for feeding everyone so well. Thanks also go to Gul for sponsoring the event and providing some excellent prizes.

Next RS200 event is the second round of SEAS at Bough Beech on Saturday 24 April, with the Gul national circuit reconvening at Parkestone YC on 8/9 May 2010.

Results