RS400 season kicked off on a chilly March day at Queen Mary, forecast 6-12kts, NE. 25 boats lined up with 14 travellers desperate to enjoy the thrill of racing on a west London reservoir.  

Sailing on the eastern side of the reservoir did for any supposed local advantage, and a strong pin bias made the starts highly entertaining with multiple claims to a highly contested pin.  Luckily visitors Ben McGrane and Sam Parker decided they in fact owned it, making short work of the first beat, and a deeply unfair use of clear air to build a commanding lead. Meanwhile, back in the fleet, dice were being rolled to sort out the other places.  Jon and Nicky Heissig brought their own dice from Llangorse, and joined locals Richard Grey and Jon Dyas (1203), Howard Farbrother  and Dan Martin (1215) in a three way scuffle for the minor podium places. In the end 1215 just pipped 1203 on the line, and Llangorse took 4th.

Second race kicked off a couple of times, with ownership of the pin still firmly with messrs McGrane and Parker, with an annoyingly predictable result. In the ensuing laps, the wind came and went, with many an advantage being built and lost in the swiss cheese-like conditions. Caroline Downing and and Jason McDonnell were unlucky to find one of the many holes while competing for places, and Farbrother/Martin took 2nd from Paul and Mark Oakey and the ever present Steve Restall and Chris Stubbs in 1189.

Last race of the day, and the wind swung to create a fairly square course, and a less compelling frenzy for the pin. Despite this, Messrs McGrane and Parker yet again worked their way out of the patchy conditions to get that nice little air gap where they could watch the unseemly scuffling behind them. Downing/McDonnell made up for the injustice of the previous race, and shot off to nail 2nd by a convincing margin. The Oakeys took 3rd from Restall/Stubbs, and the fleet retired to the bar to cheer on England for a rugby grand slam that probably proved more fun for our celtic friends than the twitchy English.

The following day looked like being a repeat of the previous. Strong pin bias, patchy wind, shifts from 10-40 degrees, general recalls etc etc. However, the dice rolling threw Howard and Dan to the front for the first race, and their turn to spectate on the fleet podium shuffle. Restall & Stubbs nailed 2nd, with McGrane and Parker sheepishly taking 3rd with Jon and Nicki Llangorse 4th.

Race 5 and just for novelty, we had a committee boat bias, which lasted until five seconds before the gun, whereupon the wind decided to revert to form, leaving the fleet to shambolically exit the line as best they could. Paul Browning and Sel Shah of Queen Mary in the venerable 680, failed to notice this struggle and serenely took first around the windward, cruising off to a significant lead, which they held until some more dice-rolling allowed the fleet to catch them.  By lap 2 the small cluster of Ben & Sam, the Oakeys, and Howard and Dan had opened up a small gap, with Paul and Mark subjecting Messrs McGrane and Parker to their own special brand of overtaking, while Farbrother& Martin spectated from a private hole, allowing Jon and Nicki Hessig to sneak past using the unfair tactic of sailing better.  The Oakeys then got the bit between their teeth and shot off, followed by McGrane and Parker, with Jon and Nicki staying ahead of Farbrother/Martin, and Messrs Restall and Stubbs sneaking in front of Paul and Sel to take 5th and 6th respectively.

Last race of the day, and the naughty flag came out – plus 20% for early starting. This caught out the Oakeys and Bartley visitor Caroline Downing, but seemed to spur on QM fleet captain Chris Stanton and Louise Hosken, who rounded the beat clear ahead of the pack with 904 Grant Blake and Jessica Barker from Oxford second, Howard Farbrother and Dan Martin maintaining a respectful gap behind, with Sean Cleary and Andy Jarvis also from Oxford sniffing around the edges. Chris and Lou readily maintained their grinning lead for another lap and a half, until a wind shift inverted the fleet, catapulting Richard Gray into 1st from 20th, and that man McGrane on hand to take advantage of the ensuing confusion. Yet another wind flip undid some of the damage, but by then Ben and Sam had nailed their 4th first place of the champs, and their claim on the title.  Chris and Lou held their nerve to take a highly creditable 5th place, with Richard and Jon taking 2nd, Jon and Nicki Hessig 3rd, and Rickard and Brown from Weston 4th .

Overall this Howard Farbrother and Dan Martin managed a distant 2nd, with Paul and Mark Oakey 3rd, and Steve Restall and Chris Stubbs 4th overall. Special thanks for a really good event are due to the infinite patience of Paul Stainsby the RO, who managed to keep the fleets moving in some very testing conditions.  

Howard Farbrother