Results / NEW DATE Inland Championships Grafham Water SC - 24/07/2021

Congratulations to George Smith your 2021 RS600 Inland Champion!

Rooster RS600 Inland Championship at Grafham Water Sailing Club 24-25 July 2021

The Rooster RS600 Inlands was an absolutely amazing weekend of racing.  The competitors had the great  joy of picking up one wind shift quickly followed by the deep despair of missing out on the next one.  The quality of the top seven competitors was such that the smallest mistake guaranteed that places would be lost.  Unless of course your name was George Smith.  George was in a different class in terms of boat speed and had what appeared to be magical powers in determining when and where the shifts would hit.

In the first race George took the starboard side of the course and left everyone for dead as he powered round into a massive lead, with Jamie Mawson in hot pursuit.  Near the finish of a very long race Jamie fell foul of a hole in the wind allowing Ian Marshall and Mike Iszatt through.  In an amazing attempt to make up lost ground Jamie tacked for the finish line very early, was given the 2^nd place gun but then unluckily clipped the finish mark with his rack meaning he had to carry out penalty turns before finishing correctly in 5^th place.

In a battling second race start George hit the line too early and was forced to turn back, starting from last place, so it looked like it would be a win for Jamie.  The rest of the fleet fought up the beat swapping tacks and covering each other assuming that was the last they would see of George.  Then out of nowhere George appeared, suddenly not just up with the leaders but powering through them.  A tight battle came down to the last tack for the finish with George able to tack inside for the line leaving Jamie just second and Alex Piggot, showing good upwind speed, in the 3^rd spot.  The ever-present Mike had a close battle with Ian and Matt Potter. 

Race three was a more simple affair for George.  Once again he got speed and shifts spot on and Jamie was unable to catch him.  Yet again Alex showed great upwind speed securing 3^rd place in the race and leaving him in third place overall from the first day’s racing.  Scott Holland, at his first event in the RS600 showed time in the boat was paying off and finished with his best result of the day, getting one better with each race.  A few sailors suffered boat breakages in the breezier conditions. 

The social for Saturday night took a few of the fleet to the pub.  However, some were feeling the looming risk of test and trace and so safely headed home for a good night’s sleep.  An early start and a race team that were true to their word about starting on time meant no-one was hanging around to launch come Sunday morning. The lightweight helms were rubbing their hands with the anticipated forecast of lighter winds for the second day of racing.  The wind was lighter but not by much and if they thought this would stop George they were wrong. 

A great start and an amazing first beat gave us a similar tale.  There is no stopping George when he is in the groove. Alex was starting to close with the leaders, after a poor start, when his trapeze line snapped resulting in him breaking his tiller extension as he crashed in dramatic style into the water, ruling out his race and also his participation in the rest of the competition.  Unfortunately, Jamie became tangled with ‘the pack’ who would not let him through whatever manoeuvre he attempted with Mike and Ian covering him in ruthless fashion.  The local fleet were consistent and had a good battle with newcomer Jake who had recovered from yesterday’s breakages to post a 7^th.  As is often said the best way to get better in the RS600 is to sail it with others and those that were less familiar with the boat were able to watch the front runners and garner tips along the way. 

The penultimate race followed a similar pattern.  George got away.   Jamie managed to not get tangled with other boats and so led the pursuit.  Further down the fleet places changed as regular as clockwork.  Ian got the wind pattern wrong this time and allowed Mike through.  Alastair Farman after threatening so many times, but always falling at the last, finally managed to gain a top 5 spot.

With the regatta won George made it clear he wanted a clean sweep, but as had happened with Jamie in previous races George got to know what it felt like to have boats all around him.  Fighting tooth and nail to get through the fleet George managed to pass Mike on the final beat but it was far too late to catch a super-fast Jamie who felt the benefit of some sail adjustments.  The ever-present Ian came in 4^th place after a tight tussle with Matt Potter, who had also found some extra speed with some rig changes over night. 

It was great to see another ex-Moth sailor Scott Holland.  He showed great commitment travelling down from Crosby to sail against other RS600s for the first time.

Special thanks to Rooster who sponsor our RS600 National Tour.  Rooster National Tour prize caps were presented as special category prizes to Jake Willars, Alistair Farman (mid-fleet hero) and Graham Timms (endeavour).

Report by Michael Iszatt  

Photos by Paul Sanwell/OPP