Photos by Jonathan and Beverley at © LPB Aerial Imagery, www.lpbaerial.com

 

Volvo End of Season Championship Datchet Water Sailing Club 8 – 9 Nov 14

 

Please click on the fleet report title and results headings here if you want to go straight to one fleet rather than reading all the smashing reports.

 

RS100 Report

 

RS200 Report

 

RS300 Report

 

RS400 Report

 

RS500 Report

 

RS800 Report

Results

As part of its support of RS Sailing and the RS Class Associations, Volvo Car UK had a strong presence at the End of Seasons, putting on a variety of shore side activities, including a colouring competition, remote controlled cars and the Sail for Gold Game.  Team Volvo sailor and London 2012 silver medallist Luke Patience competed at the event in the RS200 class and presented the prizes.

 

RS100 Fleet

 

With a feast and famine forecast of 18 knots gusting 40 and Saturday dying to 5 knots on Sunday, saw 9 RS100s arrive at Datchet, watching big lumps of wind dropping like grenades on to what was shortly become a battlefield.

 

Most of the fleet left the shore but only 5 started the first race with the others licking their wounds as they returned to the shore.  Mark Harrison led up the first beat followed by Giles Peckham, who then capsized down the first run letting Alistair Glen briefly into second before he too had a prolonged capsize. Mark led to the finish followed by Giles and Alistair, with the rest retiring.

 

Giles and Mark were the only two to start the other races, with Mark winning the second race by a fairly comfortable margin, but with the wind dropping a little in the last race of the day Giles managed to challenge Mark, ducking on the last cross of the beat, but his poor tack meant that Mark led to the finish.

 

Sunday arrived with a light fickle wind, a postponement and Giles flying overhead from Heathrow.

Eventually race four started in about 5 to 6 knots of shifty breeze. Clive Eplett’s unusual starting strategy of starting on port at the committee boat paid dividends with the right paying, and he held this commanding lead to the end. Behind him were Mike Adams, Paulius Jersovas and Martin Wilson swapping places, with Paulius making the decisive move up the second beat to secure second place from Mike. 

 

The fifth race started just before the cut off time, with Clive again going right up the first beat, but this time into last place at the windward mark. Martin, coming from the left, led the race followed by Nick Barnett, Mike and Paulius, but on the last beat Mark got a lucky shift and started the last leg just behind Martin, who sailed to the wrong side of the gate allowing Mark to snatch another win, with Nick just beating Paulius into third.

 

With just the two races on Sunday this meant that Giles took second overall, behind Mark, with Alistair taking third.

 

Thanks to DWSC race team for managing to get 5 races in such tricky conditions and to Volvo for sponsoring the event.

 

by Mark Harrison

 

Photos by Jonathan and Beverley at © LPB Aerial Imagery, www.lpbaerial.com

 

DWSC member Tristan Beckett also took photos of both days which you can see in two separate albums, one per day at:  http://www.tristanbeckettphotography.co.uk  His photos are for sale.

 

RS200 Report

 

26 200s arrived at Datchet on Saturday morning to a busy boat park and some decent breeze we haven't seen in a while!

 

The first race was breezy and favoured the more experienced teams who got to show off some impressive boat handling. It was a close race but Matt Mee/Emma Norris smashed it with Chris Catt/Roz McGrane and Nick & Jules Charles coming up behind.

 

The breeze built in the second race and opened up the competition, with Ally Martin/Simon Potts taking advantage of some wicked gusts downwind and pulling out an impressive lead. Mee/Norris and Catt/McGrane followed.

 

In the third race, there were some big gusts and bigger lulls, making the fleet close together by the top marks. Mee/Norris showed us all how to do it, with Ben Palmer/Fiona Hampshire and Josh Metcalfe/Ellie Gadd chasing them down.

 

Sunday could not have been more different. The reservoir was flat calm and there was some sun (something we didn't see the day before...). After an hour's postponement on shore, we all headed out but ended up waiting a bit longer whilst the race officer assured us there was a six knot breeze coming. Luckily he was right and the racing started.

 

In the fourth race of the series, Emma Norris, helmed by special guest star Niki Birrell, snuck up to the front managing to take advantage of the conditions, with Luke Patience/Lisa Tait and Ben Palmer/Fiona Hampshire in second and third, respectively.

 

In the final race, the breeze was dropping rapidly and Catt/Mcgrane, Alan Roberts/Holly Scott and Will Taylor/Fiona Mulcahy figured it out and nailed the last race.

 

Thank you to Datchet for running a great weekend of racing and to all of the competitors for coming. We had a fantastic weekend's sailing and the race committee did an awesome job of getting all of the fleets out and racing in the conditions!

 

Thank you also to Volvo for supporting the classes this year!

 

See you all next year!

 

by Lucy Preston

 

RS300 Fleet

 

As the curtain was closing on the 2014 season Tim Keen, Harry McVicar and James Carnague would fight it out for the final bragging rights of the year. 

 

With the wind blowing it would be a close battle to lead in race 1 between McVicar, Keen and Carnague.  Synchronised capsizes by McVicar and Keen resulted in McVicar’s trusty sail track de-laminating itself from the mast.   Later Carague aggravated an old shoulder injury in a capsize leaving Keen to be the sole survivor and winner of race 1.  With a quick change of helm on RS300 509 (the Carnague craft) it was match racing for Keen and McVicar.  McVicar took early leads in both races 2 and 3 with his exceptional ability to point, but Keen managed to sneak through for 2 more wins.

 

Sunday saw the fleet held ashore for at least 1 hour before being launched.  Once afloat we were postponed for about another 1.5 hours while the wind made up its mind on where it wanted to blow from.  Once the racing was under way the McVicar boat with a Carnague mast was too quick for Keen to keep up in both of the races.

 

Final positions: Tim Keen first, Harry McVicar second and James Carnague third.  Thank you James for lending Harry your mast. 

 

by Tim Keen

 

RS400 Fleet

 

18 RS400s arrived at Datchet Water Sailing Club on Saturday morning for the conclusion of the Championship and Southern tours. They were met with an overcast, windy but dry reservoir and 3 races planned on both days.

 

The first race got underway with the gusty breeze around 20 knots. Nick Craig, sailing with Toby Lewis, and James Downer with Jon Price, both started towards the pin and lead the fleet away. They match raced for the lead throughout the race with Nick and Toby looking good on the last run; only for confusion about the location of the last mark before the finish to allow James and Jon through for the win. Paul and Mark Oakey managed to sneak past Jon Heissig and Nicky Griffin for 3^rd, while both boats were searching for the final mark.

 

The breeze built slightly for the second race with a close battle throughout between Craig/Lewis, Downer/ Price and the Oakeys. With all still to play for on the final run Nick and Toby won in a photo finish with the Oakeys.  Downer/ Price were caught out in a big gust gybing at the gate and capsized to let team Heissig/Griffin complete a fantastic recovery from a poor start and claim 3^rd.

 

For the third race the breeze started dropping, making for slightly less frantic sailing. Nick and Toby recorded another win with James Downer and Jon Price in 2^nd and the Oakeys completing a solid day in 3^rd.

 

Sunday morning dawned, in stark contrast to the 29 knot gusts of the first day, with glassy calm waters.  After an hour’s delay on the shore the sun came out and a few zephyrs of breeze started to appear. The fleet launched and had a small wait while the wind settled before the super slick DWSC race crew squeezed 2 races in.

 

The first race was won comfortably, in fickle conditions, by Howard Farbrother and Louise Hosken. Nick and Toby were 2^nd with the Oakeys recovering from being over at the start to finish 3^rd.

 

Howard and Louise were again flying in the final race but Nick and Toby just got the better of them to take the win.  Roger Bennett and Lesley Sarjantson, sailed a fantastic race in the light conditions to finish 3^rd.

 

Overall Nick Craig and Toby Lewis took the title.  Paul and Mark Oakey were 2^nd with Howard Farbrother and David Rued/ Louise Hosken in 3^rd.  

 

Thank you to DWSC for running a fantastic weekend’s sailing and for being very slick getting so many fleets away.  Thank you also to Volvo for sponsoring the event.

 

by Mark Oakey

 

Photos by Jonathan and Beverley at © LPB Aerial Imagery, www.lpbaerial.com 

 

DWSC member Tristan Beckett took photos of both days which you can see in two separate albums, one per day at:  http://www.tristanbeckettphotography.co.uk The photos are for sale.

 

RS500 Fleet

 

The opportunity to meet travelling friends one last time this season, to participate in a big multi-class event, to experience the Thames Water method of invasive species control; what more could one ask?  Unfortunately, these weren't enough inducements for the vast majority of RS500 sailors.  It could be said that at least there were as many visitors as paying locals (I don't think Max ever officially entered, despite joining in on Saturday), but neither team was impressed that there were just the pair of us.  But I did at least catch up with a number of travelling friends from other RS classes.

 

The forecast had been for wet and windy on day one and no wind on day two from early in the week, and so it proved.  Saturday gave us gusts and squalls in the high 20s, although the average was probably high teens, and it was very unstable.  The RS500s started with the RS400s, who had a decent fleet, so it was important to start with enough space to leeward to cope with the much lower angle that we sail on a windy beat.  Peter Curtis and Sophie Jones had a flyer in race 1 and despite trying to keep out of the RS400s way, so they could enjoy their race, ended the first beat with only three RS400s ahead of them.  They then chose to go the opposite way from the RS400s down the run, missed a big puff and didn't see the front of the fleet again.  Mike Clapp and Tim Williams, meanwhile, discovered they had rigged the kite wrong and went to shore to sort it out.  In race 2 Peter and Sophie were starting to get the measure of the RS400s and got up to 2^nd on the water, before an incident with a stray RS800 barging through our downwind gate forced a diversion past the gate to miss a collision, and once again the front of the fleet disappeared.  What was I saying about multi-class events?  In race 3 Mike and Tim rejoined the fray, only to discover they still hadn't sorted the kite!  The wind was a bit lighter in this race and the RS400s had a bit more of an edge over Peter and Sophie, as their handicap would suggest they should.

 

Sunday was a complete contrast to Saturday, being still and sunny.  The racing was postponed an hour, but when we went afloat there was a reasonable 3-4 knots across the lake.  Unfortunately, by the time the whole fleet was in the racing area it was getting a bit unstable, and then died completely.  The RO set a limit of 1230hrs, by which time there needed to be something happening or we would be going home early.  The wind came in with about 30secs to spare and the RO was able to squeeze in two races before our Cinderella time of 1345hrs.  In both races Mike and Tim hit a big hole close to the top mark and were not therefore close enough to Peter and Sophie to make their correctly rigged kite (!) pay on the downwind legs.  The wind actually filled in enough to have a trapezing kite reach in to the finish, so it wasn't all bad.  In the much lighter conditions Peter and Sophie were coming in about half way down the RS400 fleet, which we thought was quite respectable.

 

So the boat was packed away and we joined the queue for the Quagga Mussel wash, which is a gentle chemical spray, rather than the killer shrimp high pressure jet that you get at Grafham.  And so endeth another travelling season...

 

by Peter Curtis

 

RS800 Fleet

 

For the last weekend fixture of the year, the RS800s were greeted by a grey and blustery Datchet. Low water levels combined with the high winds and two race courses led to a bit of a squeeze in terms of space. Dealing with the massive gusts, huge wind shifts and minefields of slower classes was the key to success on the Saturday.

Race 1 saw Hugh & Hannah ping it off the pin to reach the windward mark with a good lead over Phil & John and James & Toby. However, as the race progressed, it was Tim & Sam who put the pedal down and missioned their way to the front. Tim & Sam took the win after James & Toby's challenge evaporated with a bit of a boat handling nightmare at the final gate. 2nd went to Roger & Will with Hugh & Hannah in 3rd.

Race 2 saw a front pack of four contend for the lead. By the finale Tim & Sam once again took the bullet with impressive speed and cornering. Second went to Laurie and Dan, with the McEwens in third.

The last race of the day saw an excellent first beat from Steven Greaves and Caroline Edwards who led round the windward mark closely followed by Hugh and Hannah. By lap 3 it was James & Toby and Tim & Sam battling at the front. On the last beat Hugh & Hannah took a bit of a gamble and banged the opposite side of the course, gaining about 150 metres on the leaders in the process to lead at the top mark for the final time. Their good fortune was slightly balanced out by a poor last downwind letting James and Toby through for the bullet.

Sunday dawned millpond-esque with mist hanging over the lake. The forecasts were less optimistic than the race officer who set forth towards the racecourse with much more gusto than the bewildered competitors who were ready to pack boats up.

So began a drifting exercise as we waited for wind. This led to a number of casualties who aborted having lost all hope. Racing eventually kicked off and top marks must go to Tim and Sam who ditched both a Jesters induced hangover nap and a steaming bowl of chips to make the start just in time. However, it was Ralph & Sophie who did a port flyer on the fleet to lead all the way to the finish...a lap early. Luckily for them, most of the fleet only fancied doing two laps as well. This was apart from the McEwens who were the only boat to head around the cans for the third time. Due to everyone being generally very confused due to finishing hooters for the two lappers, an act of diplomacy followed with the McEwens being given the win followed by the two lappers in the original order. 

 

This tightened things up heading into the final race. Ralph & Sophie once again disappeared followed by the McEwens with Hugh & Hannah in 3rd. 4th place for Jesters' number one fan (Tim) and Sam was enough to secure the title after a stellar performance on Saturday. 2nd overall went to the McEwens with James & Toby and Hugh & Hannah tied for 3rd. The tight point scenario sums up the whole season which has seen fierce competition throughout the whole Grand Prix. In terms of final standings in the Grand Prix, James & Toby took the win followed by Tim & Sam in 2nd and Hugh & Hannah in 3rd.

 

Special thanks must go towards Clare who helped turn carnage into controlled chaos. We must also pay our respects to two teams who have until the 2014 EOS graced many an RS800 podium and dance floor but are sadly moving on. For me, both James & Toby and Laurie & Dan have contributed a lot to the fleet in terms of top-notch sailing and laughs - so hurry up and change your minds!

 

by Hugh Shone

 

Initial Report from Sun 9 Nov pm

 

Two great days of racing at the Volvo End of Season Championships at Datchet Water SC this weekend.   

The 73 boats of the main fleet of RS100s, RS200s, RS300s, RS400s, RS500s and RS800s raced on the far side of the lake while the 42 RS Fevas and 43 RS Teras, pro and sport rigs, raced closer to shore in full view of the eager shoreside audience.

It was a truly inspiring sight to see so many different shape and size RS dinghies being handled so well by different age and stature sailors across pretty much the whole range of sailable weather the UK has to offer.  The weekend's conditions ranged from 29 knots on Saturday to zero knots on Sunday keeping everyone concentrating throughout.  The DWSC race team worked really hard to make sure everyone was given top class racing on the water.

We were superbly looked after by the Volvo team who hosted a colouring competition and remote controlled car driving for the young shoreside supporters and real car test driving for the adults.   Team Volvo sailor and London 2012 Olympic silver medallist, Luke Patience competed in the RS200 fleet and presented all the prizes.

See the results at the Datchet Water Sailing Club website here.  Results with great thanks to Neil, Mike and Daniella.

The photos used here were taken by Jonathan and Beverley at © LPB Aerial Imagery, www.lpbaerial.com  
I am looking forward to being able to share their full shoot with you.

DWSC member Tristan Beckett took photos of both days which you can see in two separate albums, one per day at:  http://www.tristanbeckettphotography.co.uk 

I am eagerly awaiting reports and will post when received.

Thank you to everyone involved for making it such a great big RS family racing weekend!

 

by Clare Sargent