RS Elite UK National Championship and International Invitational Grand Slam Event

Date: 09 June 2022 - 12 June 2022
Club: The Royal Yacht Squadron

Olympic medallist Ossie Stewart has won the Brewin Dolphin RS Elite International Grand Prix, beating rival Russell Peters by just one point after a cliff-hanger final race of the series. Stewart, sailing More T Vicar, was crewed in the regatta by his son Tom and renowned sailor Geoff Carveth.

The most consistent sailor of the event, Ossie Stewart went into the final showdown two points behind Russell Peters, having to either beat Peters by three places or have his rival finish 17th or worse. In the end it was the second option that won him the event, with Peters finishing 17th and Stewart scoring 18th that he was able to discard from his final total.

For Ossie Stewart, who is 68, this is his first national championship win as a helmsman. In the past he has won more than 30 championships as a crew, and finished second 12 times as a helm, including three times in the RS Elite. "It makes me feel quite young", he commented, "this is a big win for me".

The final race was won by class newcomer and member of the host club, the Royal Yacht Squadron, Martin Jones sailing Candida, but this was not quite enough to get him onto the podium, with defending national champion Tom Hewitson finishing the race in second place, and thereby holding onto third place overall by a slender one point margin.

The Solent laid on slightly less robust conditions than for the first three days of the series, with a west, south westerly breeze of 10 to 12 knots, against a strong west going ebb tide. While the rest of the fleet sailed a tight and exciting race, Stewart and Peters engaged in a tactical match race, both well back in the fleet at the first mark. Though Peters managed to beat Stewart across the finishing line by one place, he was not far enough up the pecking order to take the overall win