Sailing Chandlery EaSEA Tour Round 1 Report

Sunday 12^th March, Queen Mary SC

By Paris Thomas

17 RS 200s gathered at Queen Mary Sailing Club to dust off the cobwebs at the first event of the season and Round 1 of the newly formed Sailing Chandlery East and South East Area (EaSEA) Tour. The crews that enjoyed an excellent day of coaching on Saturday with David Jessop and Will Taylor were no doubt excited to test their newly improved technique against several top crews who joined us for the racing. The boats rigged and launched down the rather steep slipways to a lovely 13kts, if slightly grey day. The course was a windward-leeward which we were sharing with the 400s.

Race 1 saw a pin bias line with the wind slowly decreasing down to 7 kts by the end. Locals Matt and Bethan got off to a good start leading the pack to mark 1. Despite some quite big shifts they maintained their lead for the 3 laps to the finish first followed by Ben Whaley and Lorna Glen in second, which proved to be the start of a trend, and Andrew Barnett and Lynne Ratcliffe in third.

Race two got underway during a very light patch, leaving the competitors wondering where the promised 10-20knts had disappeared to.  The wind in a left phase saw another pin bias line, but a shift back right saw Andrew Wishart and Amy Sanderson on the right-hand side have a good first beat to round mark one in first.  The breeze came back in over the course of the race, with large gusts and shifts making it a game of snakes and ladders. Will Taylor and Richard Thomas sailed a quick race to finish first followed by Ben Whaley and Lorna Glen then Paris Thomas and Marta Uncio Ribera.

Race 3 saw the RS400s general recalled and put to the back of the starting order. The 200s got off to a clean start albeit with a shift just before the start pushing some boats onto the pin. With little to differentiate the fleet, everyone rounded the first mark very close together. As high planning mode on the downwind started to come into play providing opportunities for big gains (and losses). Lap two saw the late starting fleet of 400s trying to sail through. The wind continued to build throughout the race with Will Taylor and Richard Thomas showing off their downwind speed and taking the win. The end of the race saw the wind pick up to 20kts causing four boats to capsize. Ben Whaley and Lorna Glen picked up the second (again), with Arthur Henderson and Callum Farnden taking third.  

With the wind now at a steady 17 kts and only the final race of the day left, the fleet was keen to get going, unfortunately a little too keen and this time it was the RS 200s turn for a general recall. The second start got away cleanly and the fleet set off for a tiring 4 lap race. Ben and Lorna proved their upwind speed and rounded the first mark in the lead followed by Will and Richard. A well-timed gust saw the top three boats take off on the first downwind and by the leeward mark there was almost half a leg between second and fourth. The battle for first was fierce between the front two coming down to the fourth lap where Will and Richard got ahead of Ben and Lorna.

Congratulations to Will Taylor and Richard Thomas for winning the event. Their downwind speed edge saw them through against tough competition from reigning inland champions Ben and Lorna who were probably the fastest upwind. It is good to see we had the best in the business for the Saturday coaching! Thanks go to Queen Mary sailing club and Race Officer Paul Stainsby for laying on a fantastic day of racing and Sailing Chandlery for providing the prizes.

The Sailing Chandlery EaSEA tour has big Easter plans. Round 2 is at Netley SC on Good Friday 7^th April and for Round 3 we join the Waldringfield 200 fleet for the Easter Egg on 9-10^th April. Entry for both events is open and you can find all the details via the calendar here

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