Notts County were the hosts of the last in the Gul RS400 Grand Prix circuit events for 2011 & the final venue for the popular “Northern Tour”. The prospect of an exciting 6 race weekend at this friendly club based near Nottingham attracted 28 competitors and has made it the most well attended event outside the recent “RS Games”.  The visitors were greeted by sunshine and a favourable force 3-4 south westerly wind on the Saturday. Dave Exley / Richard Brown mastered the challenging trapezoidal course and won the first race from local Tom Jeffcoate / Mark Hogan .  In the second race, Dave & Richard kept their nose ahead from Caroline Whitehouse / Guy Mason by picking out the favourable gusts and securing their second win. The strong contingent of competitors made for exciting viewing as boats and helms screamed into a tight leeward turning mark. The third race saw Wayne & Deb Fletcher, this season’s leaders in the Northern Tour, getting their act together and stealing the third race from Dave & Richard. Following an evening of midlands entertainment, the slight morning drizzle was soon blow away by a fresh Southerly breeze that built to force 5 .  Tom Jeffcoate took two wins in these slighter stronger conditions from the overnight leaders Dave & & Richard. This set-up nicely for a deciding final race as competitors checked scores over tea & home baked pastries.  In the final race, Dave & Richard got caught at the port-end of the start-line which was the favoured end following a slight swing before the start. This put them at a disadvantage as Tom & Mark staved off the challenges of Wayne & Deb in the exciting planning conditions, to lift the top prize for the event.  

In all, a thoroughly enjoyable, well run open event with many happy faces and lots of talk amongst competitors about close quarter racing and of course what might have been…. Look at the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLmgX3SEYPk) for a sample of some of the action or visit the club website for a selection of great photo’s , http://www.ncsc.org.uk/2011/rs400open11.html .