Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy welcomed a bumper turnout of 82 RS400s for their national championships, held this year with the rest of the RS family as part of the RS Games. Early rain cleared to leave 12-18 knots of great breeze out in Weymouth bay with a sizable swell. Those starting early out of the gate start benefited the most and it was Colin and Tony Prince who rolled back the years to lead around the first mark from James Downer/Jon Price. Downer/Price scorched down the first run to take a sizable lead, but, ominously, past champions Nick Craig/Fiona Clark pulled into second place. The second run saw Craig/Clark take the lead, which they held to the finish. Lee Sydenham/Gerrard Barron won a tight tussle for third place that went all the way to the wire. Peter Snowden/James Plenty won the Silver fleet, with Father and Son team Nick and Nick Zammit taking the bronze fleet.
After a couple of aborted starts while major shifts passed
through, the second race of the day got underway. Paul Hilliar/Sam Parker led, before temporary
gear failure saw Downer/Price and Craig/Clark pull through, with Paul
Bowen/Shaun Kellett. The leading group pulled
clear in the shifty and wavy conditions and Craig/Clark secured another win,
with Hilliar/Parker holding off Downer/Price.
Martin Cooper/Nick Hunt won the silver fleet, with Ivan and Chris taking
the bronze fleet prizes.
Three more days of racing await the RS400s, happily sharing sailing (and drinking) facilities with hundreds and hundreds of other RS sailors.
