Results : RS400 Open Draycote SC

GUL RS400 Racing Circuit at Draycote 6TH 7TH MAY 2000



Draycote welcomed the RS400 fleet to round 3 of the Gul Racing Circuit with
sunny weather and very shifty winds.  Both days racing were similar with the
wind picking up during the day to force 3-4 from the north east. The racing
was extremely close as was demonstrated by the fact that there were 5
possible event winners going into the last race.



In Race 1 Craig Burlton/Andy Bonsey did a demolition job on the fleet
pulling out a huge lead. Behind Geoff Carveth/Craig Davies and Pete
Vincent/Jane Norris had a close tussle for second until Nick Craig/Keith
Bedborough sneaked in right at the final mark blasting in from the left hand
corner. Race 2 was dominated by Steve Venables/Richard Brown with Carveth
second Burlton third. Endeavour Champions Geoff Carveth/Craig Davies and
winners of the last Circuit event Craig Burlton/Andy Bonsey spoiled a
potentially great scoreline with an OCS in the final race  on Saturday.
Nick Craig/Keith Bedborough won that race to move into an overnight lead
just ahead of Steve Venables/Richard Brown and newcomers to the fleet Phil
Jackson/Gerrard Barron sailing very well to claim 5th in every race putting
them 3rd overall...consistency was key on this day!



Saturday evening featured the RS Ball sponsored by sailsail.com featuring
free wine, a live band and the RS's amazing ability to enjoy themselves plus
some very sore heads the next day!



Carveth/Davies made a perfect start in race 4 to win from Venables/Brown and
Burlton/Bonsey to make the overall scorelines very tight. Craig/Bedbourough
appeared to have race 5 sewn up as they moved into a comfortable lead.
Venables/Brown were having none of this and eroded the gap to eventually
take the lead. Both boats though finished to silence, more OCSs!  This
allowed Carveth/Davies to win, moving them into a strong overall lead.  Jon
Gorringe/Simon Flack sailed very well into 2nd.



Craig/Bedborough covered Venables/Brown hard in the final race to win from
Burlton/Bonsey and Carveth/Davies, meaning Carveth/Davies had won overall.
However, events continued in the protest room.  Greg O'Brien won a claim for
redress in race 5 - he was OCS, but the pin end buoy had been dragged
downwind by another boat resulting in an unexpected shift in the starting
line in the last ten seconds. Venables and Craig then lodged claims protests
for redress which they won, resulting in Venables moving up to event winner,
with a huge cheesy grin!



The overall GUL Circuit is very close and wide open, with no-one able to
dominate this competitive fleet.  Venables/Brown, Craig/Bedbourough,
Burlton/Bonsey and Roger Gilbert/James Stewart all have a couple of top 4
results.  Next round is at Dalgety Bay, Scotland in mid-June.