Results / Gul RS400 National Championships Looe SC - 07/09/2003

The 2003 Gul RS 400 National Championship is one that will live long in the memory; five days of awesome sailing and partying in one of the country�s top sailing venues. Looe Sailing Club laid on fantastic hospitality and slick race management throughout the week to ensure that the fleet will be fighting their way back in the very near future. Any venue with a greasy spoon caf� and a night-club in the boat park is always going to keep the fleet happy. Due to the late timing of the event this year a slightly depleted fleet of 62 boats made the journey. Despite the lower number of entries there was no lack of quality, with many of the countries top dinghy sailors featuring in the fleet. Pre-event favourite had to be Roger Gilbert, hunting his fourth national title but with the likes of Nick Craig, Stuart Hudson and Craig Burlton also going well, there would be no easy races. After day one it was tough at the top with Gilbert/Dunn and Hudson/Heeley tied on 5 points each, after they both posted a 4th and a 1st. Craig Burlton earned an early Duckhams nomination; after leading the fleet to the first windward mark, they didn�t spot the stretcher mark, so as they headed off down the run it wasn�t long before expletives could be heard and they were again heading up back wind. Day 2 and after a short postponement due to the race officer oversleeping and missing the morning tide, the fleet got away in difficult conditions. The wind had swung from the previous days direction causing the unusual condition of surfing upwind and fighting over waves down wind. The day belonged to Nick Craig and Keith Bedborough though, as they put in an excellent performance and posted a first and second. Gilbert continued to sail consistently scoring a 3 and 4 but Hudson had a bad day at the office with a 9 and 10. Craig Burlton was back on a charge with a 4 and 1. Day 3 belonged to Gilbert and Dunn as they showed the fleet home in both races to take a pair of bullets while Craig/Bedborough managed a 3 and a 6. Hudson and Heeley were back to form with a 2 and 3. Jackson/Baron had showed good boat speed at times, arriving second at the windward mark in the first race before a few mistakes landed them back in the pack. Day 4 and in the first race it looked as though an ominous yet familiar pattern was starting to emerge. . Gilbert/Dunn sailed the beat of theirs lives to lead the fleet by over 50yrds at the first windward mark, then disappeared over horizon and took their 3rd bullet in row. Craig/Bedborough continued to hang in there taking second and then the bullet in the next race. Gilbert took third in the second race of the day with Burlton in second. Going into the final day and Gilbert had a three point cushion over Craig. RS 200 sailors John Lewis and Millie Parsons sailed well to take the bullet for race 9 with the Princes in second and Craig third. All Gilbert could manage was 12th so going into the final race Gilbert and Craig were tied on points. Gilbert�s better discard meant that to win Craig had to beat Gilbert and finish in the top 3. The pre-start that followed was awesome as the old Cambridge team mates battled hard even while under postponement. Craig had won the pre-start coming out of the line the better off but Gilbert had succeeded in ensuring both were in the mid fleet. With Craig ahead of him, Gilbert headed for shore where he could only watch to see if Craig could work his way up and take the championship. Going into final run Craig was 6th and in an all or nothing manoeuvre he gybed set and headed for the left corner. The whole event depended on the next wind shift but as Craig gybed it was clear it wasn�t to be his day. He crossed the line in 9th and handed Gilbert his 4th title in a row.