Results / Gul Scottish Grand Slam East Lothian YC - 04/05/2002

The five event GUL RS GRAND SLAM Circuit which includes Torbay, Stokes Bay/Lee on Solent, the Nationals and the Inlands kicked off in some style at East Lothian Y.C, North Berwick on May 4/5th. For the second year in a row the weather gods really liked the idea of an RS event in North Berwick on a Bank Holiday and supplied glorious sunshine, almost total clear blue skies and decent winds. In such weather the sailing area of North Berwick has to be one of the most scenic in the country with sandy beach, Bass Rock, hills, gannets and puffins. On top of all this East Lothian YC are so friendly and keen to lay on a good event which included top race management from Race Officers Ted Hill and Jim Sinclair. After having had three quality races on Saturday in a good force 3-4 in bright sunshine with rapid turn arounds and the club gives every competitor an ice cream as you pull the boat up the slip you know you have arrived on planet happy. Watersports photographer Nick Kirk also had a very happy event; with his waterproof digital camera he took some fantastic shots which he displayed on a big screen in the evening. He then kept the fleet entertained with his unusual antics including wearing a survival suit on Sunday and swimming around the leeward mark to get the best action shots from different angles as the 400 fleet descended on mass!! A man dedicated indeed. Hopefully he got the shot of Nick Craig getting his pole stuck in the netting over the leeward mark and having to send his crew onto the foredeck to break free, entertainment of the highest order. The Scottish leg of the Gul RS400 Grand Slam Series brought 29 boats to East Lothian Sailing Club, with people travelling from as far as London to reach a highly recommended venue. Sunny skies and a healthy sea breeze of about 14knots saw everyone on the start line for the (slightly changed) schedule of three races after some early morning training from Nick Craig. A short windward/leeward course was set and the first race saw Nick Craig/Dan Sanders and Tom Hewitson/Andy Bonsey establishing a rather sizeable lead over the rest of the fleet, with some excellent down wind speed, Craig/Sanders held off Hewitson/Bonsey to take the gun, with Robbie and Jenny Wilson leading the rest of the fleet home. The second race saw much of the same scenario developing, with Craig/Sanders winning again from Hewitson/Bonsey. This time the chasing pack was led by Derek Gibb and Keith Milroy. The third race saw Craig/Sanders' grip on the event broken, with Hewitson/Bonsey taking the winner's gun, and the Wilsons storming through in second, Craig/Sanders' third took them into an overnight lead on countback. Chris and Mark Bailey showed some excellent speed to finish fourth, leading the chasing pack home. Free ice-cream (handed to you the moment you reached the top of the slipway!), free dinner and lots of good beer saw all happy on the Saturday night, after an excellent day's racing. Sunday dawned with a rather light and patchy breeze from the North West. The race officer, with excellent foresight postponed until the breeze began to fill from the sea breeze (Easterly) direction. On arrival at the racing area the breeze had built to a steady 10-12 knots. Two races were sailed on a short windward leeward course, with some good shifts coming off the shore on the right of the beat. Race Four was led by Craig/ Sanders for a while, but Hewitson/Bonsey caught and overtook down the second run to take the winning gun. Mark Fearnley and Chris Spicer held on to third place from John Hookway and Dan Wood in fourth. Race five, and the deciding race for first overall, with the fleet off to a clean start under a black flag, following a general recall with the whole fleet over the line. Craig/Sanders had to beat Hewitson/Bonsey to take the event, and set out to do it in style, leading throughout the entire race. Greg O'Brien and Colin Statte roared round to an excellent second place, with Fearnley/Spicer in third. Hewitson/Bonsey failed to make ground after a disappointing start had to settle for fourth, their only result out of the top two, and second overall. Craig and Sanders won by a point, counting three firsts and a second. Overall an excellent weekend's racing, superb race officering meant that everyone was out on the water for the minimum time with maximum racing. Quick turn-arounds and some excellent judgement and communication with the competitors saw everyone praising the race officer and his committee for a most enjoyable weekend, well worth the long drive!