All-star cast

James Peters and Alan Roberts secure RS 200 National title

Friday August 26th 2011, Author: Debbie Darling, Location: United Kingdom

Day 1

The enormous 160 boat fleet that have descended on WPNSA to take part in the RS200 Nationals, sponsored by TridentUK, were treated to a sunny day and some rather light airs racing, the line-up including many sailors from Skandia Team GBR. With the forecast predicting only 4 knots of breeze, the fleet were sent to the other side of the world (otherwise known as the far side of Weymouth bay) and following a long sail were rewarded with two races in an increasing breeze, with both helms and crews hiking by the end.

Race one saw a rather eager pathfinder start a minute early and then on the restart a rather eager fleet cause a pile up, but at the third attempt everyone got away on the gate start. The wind speed and direction was fluctuating across the race course giving it the appearance of a game of snakes and ladders, but Robbie Burns & Vicki Simpson proved to be the superior sailing family by edging out Ian & Chris Martin for the win, with past nationals winners Lee Sydenham & Jane Gilbert in third.

Race two started with a better breeze than the first, allowing the boat to be fully powered up for the first time in the day. Those starting late out of the gate and going right came out smelling of roses and it was the UK’s second best Cherub sailors Andy and Jill Peters who led for the first lap. However, Broadstairs’ finest Tim Ellis/Lucy Preston stormed past and pulled away for the win. The Peters had to settle for third in the end as Stu Bithel/Kate McGregor nicked in at the final mark to steal third.

With such a huge fleet in such light winds, there are plenty of protests to be heard.

Forecast for tomorrow is more breeze and gallons of rain, which should be fun………

Day 2

Tuesday at the Trident Marine sponsored RS200 National Championship dawned with the wind howling and the rain falling- typical British summertime conditions! However, by the time the fleet started to launch the wind was already beginning to moderate (as predicted by the Met Office) and the sun was doing its best to try and peek out.

The first start of race 3 got away ok but was soon aborted as the wind swung to the left, lifting the pathfinder and leaving the fleet far behind his line. The second start was perfect however and the fleet shot away upwind. Even though the left was looking like the only option, the leaders at the top mark converged from both sides, John Pink & Sarah Hickman rounding just in front of Wayne& Deb Fletcher. It was Chris Catt and Ally Martin who sailed best though, working their way through the fleet into the lead, which they held to the end. Behind, the wind pressure was fluctuating across the course and gave plenty of opportunities for overtaking. Stephen Tiernan & Tim Goodhew with James Peters & Alan Roberts took best advantage of these to finish 2nd and 3rd.

The days second race never materialised unfortunately as the wind fell away completely, causing the fleet to be becalmed and most of them towed in.

Day 3 & 4

After two days of light air racing, the 200 fleet have been treated to two days of 12-20 knots, big waves and sunshine out in Weymouth Bay – the definition of 'champagne sailing'.

Wednesday saw races 4,5,6 sailed (catching up one race from Tuesday) in a breeze that started out at about 12knots and built steadily to a solid 20. James Peters and Alan Roberts showed great form to win the first two races while settling for a third in the last one, putting them firmly in control of the championship. The other podium positions during the day were shared around, with Ben Saxton/Sophie Ainsworth emerging as James’ biggest threat with an 11,3,1 scoreline, Tom Morris/Emma Porteous continuing their great week with a 2,4,7 and Dave Giles/Dave Hivey rolling back the years to take third in the first race. The Martins and Hamish Walker/Emma Clarke took 2nd in races 5 and 6 respectively.

Thursday dawned to a bright blue sky and fleet again enjoyed a delightful downwind sleigh ride out to the start area, blasting under spinnaker for about 45mins. Peters/Alan took out both races, winning the first by a healthy distance before taking the second 'one lapper' by a whisker. Saxton & Ainsworth were second with Lee Sydenham & Jane Gilbert in 3rd in race 7 whilst Morris & Porteous took 2nd & David Jessop/David Rolfe 3rd in race 8.

Tomorrow is looking light a return to light winds, so it’ll be a test of nerves for Peters/Roberts to see if they can conclude the championship and take the title. Leading the silver fleet is Mike Chapman & Lynne Ratcliffe with Thomas Goodey crewed by Richard Thomas leading the bronze.

Day 5

Day 5 of the championships was a funny old day. The fleet arrived at the dinghy park to find it lashing with rain and the wind howling – most at odds with the forecast of 5 knots and sunshine! However, the rain soon dispersed but also so did the wind, leading to sunbathing, cricket and football taking place instead of any sailing. However, by 2pm the breeze at filled in from the North West to a solid 14 knots and the fleet were released, in order to get one final race in before the 5pm cut off.

As it was likely that there would only be one more race, James Peters/Alan Roberts virtually had the title in the bag. That didn’t stop Ben Saxton/Sophie Ainsworth trying to take the fight to them and they eventually finished the race in 2nd with Peters/Roberts back in 8th – it wasn’t enough though and Peters/Roberts were champions after several years of having to the bridesmaid. Stu Bithell/Kate Mcgregor finished their week on a high by winning the final race as John Teague/Louise Fisher by taking 3rd.

Overall, Saxton/Ainsworth were 2nd and Tom Morris/Emma Porteous a brilliant third. Top silver fleet sailors were the silver fox Mike Chapman/Lynne Ratcliffe with Neil Barrett/Sophie Jones 2nd and Liz Teague/Mark Percival 3rd. Tom Gooday/Richard Thomas are definitely in line for promotion after winning the bronze fleet with a 45th overall whilst Chris Tiernan/Amy Yeoman were 2nd and Bart Bridgen/Alex Sothart 3rd.

Its been a great week in Weymouth, with a real mix of conditions and some really great sailing – just seeing 160 boats on one course was amazing in itself. Many thanks to all the sponsors TridentUK, Harken, Mount Gay and WPNSA for making it possible.

Top 50 results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	Tot	Net
1	James Peters	Alan Roberts	-11	-8	3	1	1	3	1	1	8	37	18
2	Ben Saxton	Sophie Ainsworth	8	-26	4	-11	3	1	2	2	2	59	22
3	Thomas Morris	Emma Porteous	13	-14	-46	2	4	7	4	3	6	99	39
4	Stuart Bithell	Kate MacGregor	-29	2	10	14	-15	10	6	10	1	97	53
5	Ian Martin	Chris Martin	2	-33	-18	5	2	16	7	9	12	104	53
6	Hamish Walker	Emma Clarke	4	-54	31	-40	9	2	15	7	5	167	73
7	Dicken Maclean	Hannah Young	12	9	12	-30	14	15	-29	4	9	134	75
8	Mark Heather	Edward Cowell	6	-34	29	-38	10	8	16	11	4	156	84
9	Ben Palmer	Amy Seabright	-31	7	19	13	19	4	-58	17	13	181	92
10	Christian Birrell	Matt Johnson	-67	17	15	-31	6	6	9	30	15	196	98
11	Chris Catt	Ally Martin	30	-68	1	8	18	30	-42	8	18	223	113
12	Lee Sydenham	Jane Gilbert	3	-32	17	26	29	24	3	-47	11	192	113
13	Edd Whitehead	Katy Nichol	25	4	7	16	-26	21	26	14	-46	185	113
14	Nicholas Charles	Roz Allen	20	-48	5	-53	30	11	24	12	14	217	116
15	Andrew Peters	Jeraldine Peters	-56	3	26	4	-41	41	13	22	10	216	119
16	David Giles	Jane Hivey	38	-56	23	3	25	12	17	6	-40	220	124
17	Robbie Burns	Vicki Simpson	1	21	22	37	-64	32	14	5	RAF	356	132
18	Charlotte Savage	Michael-John Gifford	18	-96	-35	22	13	20	12	27	24	267	136
19	Martin Boatman	Samantha Boatman	23	-117	-84	34	7	5	22	20	29	341	140
20	Jonny McGovern	Sarah Williams	-43	35	8	-64	31	9	34	24	7	255	148
21	Ian Sharps	Ellie Martin	16	-61	16	19	-82	13	47	15	34	303	160
22	Tim Ellis	Lucy Preston	-68	1	45	10	17	22	27	-75	47	312	169
23	Andrew Walsh	Nicky Macgregor	-69	22	-73	15	50	37	10	13	22	311	169
24	Matt Mee	Emma Norris	33	-69	24	35	20	17	23	DSQ	17	398	169
25	Tim Saxton	Claire Lasko	37	11	34	-51	22	27	-40	26	16	264	173
26	John Pink	Sarah Hickman	45	-67	6	21	23	14	28	38	-70	312	175
27	Stephen Tiernan	Tim Goodhew	14	-66	2	6	36	55	38	-61	27	305	178
28	Frances Peters	Eilidh McIntyre	9	23	32	-50	35	23	18	40	-60	290	180
29	James Stewart	Eluned Stewart	34	38	-41	33	8	-48	30	21	20	273	184
30	Ben Ainsworth	Rachel Williamson	15	-51	20	39	27	34	31	29	DNC	406	195
31	Mike Chapman	Lynne Ratcliffe	22	6	-67	12	54	25	DNC	46	32	424	197
32	Steve Davis	Kate Davis	10	-79	42	7	45	-50	32	44	23	332	203
33	John Teague	Louise Fisher	36	-78	-59	46	16	31	56	16	3	341	204
34	Josh Flack	Tom Brophy	61	-77	57	18	5	18	11	DSQ	35	442	205
35	James Ellis	Rory Caird	17	-93	21	49	32	26	-68	43	19	368	207
36	Ian Pickard	Lucy Matthews	52	18	-85	28	33	-75	5	49	30	375	215
37	Mike Saul	Meg Fletcher	27	41	11	23	-65	DNC	65	23	36	451	226
38	Sophie weguelin	Marry Rook	26	66.0 RDG	9	-82	-81	28	39	31	42	404	241
39	Steve Janering	Renata Sapazinskaite	57	-107	39	-86	11	33	54	18	31	436	243
40	Robert Style	Eddie Glennie	19	-80	44	29	51	43	21	-56	37	380	244
41	Caroline Martin	Nick Martin	60	19	-107	24	12	64	19	DNC	58	523	256
42	Dave Evans	Lucy Macgregor	50	10	53	27	DSQ	-93	25	53	41	512	259
43	David Steed	Katherine Lovering	35	28	30	43	39	-56	-62	34	53	380	262
44	Pete Vincent	Trudie Fell	24	25	55	17	70	-94	55	DNC	45	545	291
45	Thomas Goodey	Richard Thomas	-97	-83	72	55	53	19	44	28	21	472	292
46	Christian Humphrey	Noelle Vidal	65	-85	-119	42	55	29	8	48	54	505	301
47	Neil Barrett	Sophie Jones	-88	44	37	32	44	39	57	55	-63	459	308
48	Thomas Wright	Helen Wightman	41	-99	76	20	42	-83	53	51	26	491	309
49	David Jessop	David Rolfe	-114	-122	86	45	21	58	43	25	33	547	311
50	Liz Teague	Mark Percival	21	-111	36	69	28	-79	60.5	52	50	506.5	316.5