Report - Weirwood Open, 29/30 Sep 01

Weir Wood sailing club held its annual RS 400 open meeting on the 29th. And 30th. September. The forecast of increasing wind and heavy rain for the Sunday may have put some visitors off but of the 15 entries, three were placed in the top ten of the recent RS 400 national championships and included the double RS 400 national champions Roger Gilbert and James Stewart. The event started with a pursuit race, which included the RS 200�s, and 800�s who were also competing over the same weekend. In the light shifty breeze the race was always likely to be a RS 400 benefit race, and indeed RS 400�s took 8 of the first 10 places. Enjoying a considerable jump on the rest of the fleet, Roger Gilbert and David Giles, the latter crewed by Fiona Clark, scrapped it out for the lead. First place changed hands several times and it looked like Giles had it sewn up when he had a comfortable lead with just five minutes to go. Gilbert however had other ideas and managed to sail a lower course on the last downwind leg to gain an inside berth at the buoy and an simple up wind cover saw him in first place as the time limit expired. The first of the points races saw Gilbert and Giles again in a close tussle but joined this time by Jon Ching, crewed by Claire Phethean, and Hywel Roberts, crewed by Melissa Storey. Ching sailed a particularly good upwind leg to break clear of the other three and was never caught again. Giles, Roberts and Gilbert filled the next three places. Points race two saw a similar pattern emerge with a closely fought first beat. Down wind, however, Giles found some breeze that missed the others, pulled out a huge lead and was not troubled again. Second was Gilbert with Ching third. Weir Wood laid on one of its legendry Saturday night socials with live band �Tarbabys� and cheap local beer. If the sailing during the day had not been too physically demanding, then the dancing in the evening certainly was. Sunday dawned grey and overcast with a fresh Southwesterly breeze. With three more races programmed, there was all to sail for. Points race three saw another tight start and first beat, Giles had a narrow lead around the first buoy but was quickly passed by Gilbert and Robin Kenyon, crewed by Andrew Palmer. Peter Stratton, crewed by Paul Newton, also joined this group and an intense battle ensued. Gilbert broke clear leaving the others to fight it out. Giles eventually claimed second place with Kenyon and Stratton next. Race four again saw Giles lead around the first buoy followed by Gilbert. The next leg was a tight reach and in the gusty wind only the Prince brothers was bold enough to fly their spinnaker, blasting through into the lead. Gilbert sailed into the lead on the next run and disappeared over the horizon. Giles eventually took second place from the Colin and Tony, who were passed on the last downwind leg by Stratton and Ching. With only the last race to go, Gilbert had 1, 1, 2 and 4 while Giles had 1, 2, 2, and 2. This meant that Giles could still win if he won the last race. The wind blew and the rain lashed down. Giles started on the outer distance end of the start line while Gilbert opted for the committee boat end. Giles just squeaked around the windward buoy ahead of the Prince brothers with Gilbert back in fourth place. Giles sensed that this was his chance and sailed fast in clear air while Gilbert was slowed in his battle through the fleet. It took Gilbert until the last leg of the race to break through to second by which Giles had a large lead and took the winners gun comfortably, so giving him overall victory. Prizes for the event were kindly donated by Holt�s who sponsored the event. A free tea was also laid on with the remainder of the beer from the previous nights social being sold off at a discount. Roger Gilbert on behalf of the visitors thanked race officer Dave Binding and his team who ran a superb series of races.