RS Elite National Championship 2014 RBYC

13 July 2014

It is hard to imagine two better days sailing at the RBYC.  A steady Easterly breeze enabled the Race Officer to get seven races into the first two days. With windward - leeward courses giving the competitors a series of tough decisions about the optimum beats and runs, racing was ultra competitive. On day one he first two races were won by current National Champion Jono Brown, in Aeolus, who dominated from start to finish, but the third race was won by local virgin Elite helm Chip Cole in Outlaw, who sailed away from the fleet using an old set of Batt sails. The first race on Thursday, was sailed in fresher winds and John Patterson in Momentary Lapse lead the entire race only to find himself OCS and giving Jono Brown a narrow win from Paul Fisk, sailing Kiss. Race 5 went to Jono again, who managed some outrageous shifts after being buried at the start. By this stage, a pattern was developing with Brown, Cole and Fisk, challenging at the front, so race 6 went to Cole and race 7 to Fisk. At the end of Friday's racing, The Brown Family in Aeolus lying first with Chip Cole and Paul Fisk 2nd & 3rd, with just 4 points between the tree of them them.The next three places are equally well contested between Dave Wood in Oinksqueal(to whom, many thanks for a great band performance on Friday night), Mark Fletcher in T'nT and Angus Bates on Flo, for whom the burden of organising the week seems not to slow him up, as his beats are "super-fast". Friday night was dominated by some tremendous thunderstorms and Saturday starts with a gentle breeze. Race Report Day 3 Races 8 & 9 were sailed on Saturday with the weather still looking stormy, following a night of intense thunder, with a good breeze moving through 90 degrees. Laying the windward mark was difficult, but finally the fleet set off on the second attempt, on a long beat to the North side of the Crouch. Paul Fisk in Kiss established a good lead by going left up the beat, but was chased all the way to the finish by Chippy Cole in Outlaw.  Jono Brown in Aeolus, shook off a poor first beat, to finally finish third and keeping his championship hopes alive. Race 9 was postponed whilst the wind settled in direction, but the fates conspired against the Race Officer, and a big shift at the one minute gun, made the boats starting at the Committee Boat end of the line, almost lay the windward buoy in one tack. The run turned into a close spinnaker reach, and the inevitable procession was led to the finish, after two laps, by Jono Brown, followed by Dave Wood, Oinksqueal, in second place and Paul Fisk third. Overall, the Browns are lying first, with 1 point between Chippy Cole and Paul Fisk. Tomorrow will be very interesting Final Day Race Report The final race of the 2014 RS Elite National Championships was sailed in a light and shifty breeze that frustrated the Race Officer and competitors alike. With the Championship already won by Jono Brown, the real competition was for 2nd and 3rd places between Paul Fisk and Chippy Cole and with a small handful of points between places five and nine, the rivalry was fierce. In the event, Jono Brown, Paul Fisk and Donald MacClean sailed away from the fleet, making the most of the wicked shifts and eventually finished in that order. Chippy Cole was buried at the start and although he worked his way up to fifth, it wasn't enough to secure second place. A massive vote of thanks to the RBYC, Angus Bates and his team of helpers, the Race Officer and all other members of the race team. A superb 4 days racing.

Update cookies preferences