Results / Easter Grand Slam Weston SC - 06/04/2012

It was to be a testing championship which saw a variety of conditions, some disruption as a result of warship activity (nothing to do with us!), and no clear cut winner until the National Champion asserted his authority on the last day. Day one saw a gentle start to the championship with the wind only getting up to a force two, but at least the sun was shining. Race one and the fleet got off to a clean start with the leaders quickly pulling away. Today was definitely a good day if you did not eat all the pies, as the heavier sailors soon started to struggle to keep up with the leaders. Age was proven not to be an issue as sailing master Ian Marshall won the first race ahead of the National Champion Matt Humphreys with Jamie Mawson, new to the 600s, coming in third. Race two started under the black flag as it was easier to say who was not over the line at the start than who was. With the wind dying all the time, the race was to become very tactical with the fleet keeping a weather eye open for the slightest shift to their favour. Matt came first followed by Griff Tanner. The Duckhams prize went to Christian Reynolds for taking the entire fleet to the reach mark instead of the windward mark. During the evening the fleet was split into gold and silver fleet which was allowed for even more competition. This resulted in a battle for top silver taking place between Adrian White, Dave Nunn and Matt Conner as the week progressed. Day two and the fleet woke up to completely different weather conditions. The forecast for the area was not in our favour, unless you did eat all the pies. The wind did not come in as strong as forecast, but it did remain very tricky as the fleet launched in a force 3 to 4 but with sharp gusts almost touching a 6 at times, and 30 degree wind shifts, it was to make a very interesting day. Race three got off cleanly and the leaders again quickly established themselves. By the time the fleet got to the windward mark it was split into three groups, and this was to prove the entertaining but frustrating part of the day. Going down on the reach the entire third group were bought to a standstill by the MOD Police to allow HMS Montrose to carve through the middle of the fleet. This upset the leaders of that group as they lost their advantage and were never able to recover from it. The day's Duckhams went to Fred Lord - during the Montrose interruption he almost wiped out a RIB full of MOD police by capsizing on top of them. In the meantime the race was won by Nigel King followed by Paul Smalley. With the conditions becoming shifty a new course was laid. Again the Montrose created havoc separating the fleet from the Committee boat. Race four got off under a black flag with some boats being pushed onto the committee boat. During the race the wind shifted regularly and sharply. Making some surprise moves was Fred Lord, who over the morning had received some tips from his nominated sailing buddy Ian 'master' Marshall. During the race Fred overtook his buddy to sit in fourth for a time only to give the position back to Ian a little later. First was Christian followed by Griff; and Fred in fifth. Race five was postponed due to light and shifty winds and was re-scheduled to be sailed on the final day of racing. Day three with a good wind forecast it was decided that the fleet was to race outside the breakwater. When the fleet got to the race area they were not disappointed with the conditions. The wind was blowing a force 4 to 5 and with an occasional 6. Race 6 saw the usual suspects making a quick getaway with Matt and Griff leading the fleet. Ian struggled and by lap two was hotly pursued by the back competitors but somehow managed to keep them away. The conditions made for a quick race and lots of excitement at the windward mark. Race 7 again had Matt duelling with Griff, and Paul Smalley not too far behind them. Rob Chaplin provided a comedy moment when he capsized on the windward mark and had the entire fleet pass him, but somehow he managed to claw his way back to finish 10th. Race 8 proved that the Nationals were providing some real competition for Matt this year. He finished 4th with Christian winning the race and Griff second, leaving only 2 points separating Matt and Griff. The final day started with doom and gloom. Where has all the wind gone? Fleet members were walking listlessly around the dinghy park thinking things were going downhill fast. Matt looked at the results to see what he had to do to ensure victory. It was all touch and go for the Champion 2004 laurels. We had to get 3 races in to make up for the one lost earlier, but it was not going to happen not in these conditions. Race 9 started in a force 2 which was struggling to hold out. It became almost a case of follow my leader. The race finished with Matt first, after luffing Christian hard towards the finish line almost allowing Ian to catch up. Paul got successfully hooked out of the race by a passing yacht who took him on a sight-seeing tour of Plymouth. By time he got back into the race he had lost five places to finish ninth. There was also a battle going on further back in the fleet with Graham Cooper and Damon Bower duelling and still getting past one or two other boats, Damon was holding his own against Graham right up until the line when Graham got a good lift and sailed over Damon to beat him by about a foot. Race 10 and despite the wind dying the fleet got off well. Some tried a port tack flier which got some shouting going but no collisions and no protests resulted. Matt was keeping an eye on everything as he could still lose his tender lead. However, no one took him out and the battle was kept very clean. As it turned out Matt came second and was again crowned National Champion. Top probationer Charles Roome came in 7th. The postponed race 5 was cancelled due to the dying wind. In conclusion, the week was well attended with a lot of new faces joining the fleet. The standard of the sailing was excellent and there were some good battles both at the front and the back of the fleet. Credit must go to the RS600 Race officer for setting the courses that we liked. The prize giving saw all the serious silverware go out, but being 600s we love our spoof prizes too. The Ditchers' trophy went to Mark Haine for losing his dagger board through the bottom of the hull and having to swim upwind after it before righting his boat. Thanks must go to Mayflower Sailing Club, its Commodore Dave Curno, and all those who helped to organise the 2004 GUL RS 600 National Championships. Here's looking forward to next year when we hope to see even more new faces in the fleet, as well as all of the 'old' ones too. National Champion Matt Humphreys Second Christian Reynolds Third Griff Tanner Fourth Jamie Mawson Fifth Andy Heissig Gold Winner Matt Humphries Top Silver Adrian White Second Silver Dave Nunn Third Silver Matt Conner Fourth Silver Fred Lord Master Ian Marshall Youth Fred Lord Probationer Charles Roome