RS200 and RS400 Open Meeting – variable winds, both in direction and strength

The forecast had been a little downbeat for Saturday when 10 visitors joined 17 LLSC members to compete in the 2014 Open Meeting for RS200’s and RS400’s. The only thing disturbing the surface of the lake as competitors arrived was the ripples created by the Open Water swimmers! However, true to the forecast, zephyrs started appearing on the surface of the water around 10.00am and by the time the fleets launched, the wind vanes were indicating about 6knots. Due to the SSW direction of the wind at that point, the course was set around some of the club marks to provide two beats and two runs rather than a single windward/leeward course. The wind was swinging around 20⁰ at times and despite a reasonable start line, within a few minutes of the first fleet away, the beat had turned into a fetch and the runs into reaches. This change in wind direction coupled with wild fluctuations in strength (the average for the race being 6 knots but with a maximum gust of 14.2 knots) created erratic changes in fortunes throughout the race for both fleets. The RS400’s were led at the end of the first lap by Chris Pickles and Matt Sharman (Delph SC) chased by Joshua and Patrick Metcalfe (Y Felinheli/LLSC) and Wayne and Debbie Fletcher of Scaling Dam. At the end of the second lap the Metcalfe’s had taken the lead, the Fletcher’s were second and Dave Exley and Nigel Hall from the home club had climbed from fifth to third. At end of the final lap, the Metcalfe’s held on to their lead with the Fletchers taking second and Exley/Hall third. In the RS200’s similar changes occurred during the race with newcomers to the fleet Gareth Williams and Jen Turner (LLSC) leading at the end of the first lap with Matt and Andrea Bromley in second place and Martin and Sian Joelsbury (LLSC) in third. At the end of the second lap, the top three had reversed positions and the race ended with the Joelsbury’s in first, the Bromley’s in second and Jon and Heather Ward from Budworth in third, Williams and Turner being squeezed out into fourth.

For the second race, the course was initially set to be the same and the ever eager RS400’s were so keen to get going that the OD had no option but to signal a General Recall. In the re-start for the RS400’s a wind shift just before the start created a situation and with the majority of the fleet over the line, the OD took the opportunity to signal a General Recall, postpone the restart and change the course. The new wind direction allowed a true windward/leeward course to be set which caused some confusion in the fleet when they arrived at the leeward mark with at least one helm trying to round it to starboard to much shouting from the rest of the fleet. In this race Richard Catchpole (once a regular in the RS400 but now usually seen in his RS300) sailing a borrowed boat with Mark Atherton crewing, held the lead at the end of the first lap chased by the Metcalfe’s and Exley and Hall. With the wind strength ebbing and flowing like the tide and sometimes even going around in a circular manner, the second lap found Catchpole/Atherton relegated to eighth with the Metcalfe’s holding the top slot. They held this to the end, with Exley/Hall in second and Hamish Gledhill and Simon Dowse of West Riding fighting from ninth place at the end of the first lap to finish third. The RS200 fleet showed similar changes in misfortunes as Keith Escritt and Andrea Clough from Yorkshire Dales led at the beginning with Cathy Partington and Sally Haslewood from LLSC in second and the Joelsbury’s in third. A the end of the race, Partington and Haslewood had dropped to fifth with Escritt/Clough holding their first place, the Joelsbury’s second and Williams/Turner climbing from last position at the end of the first lap to third place at the finish.

After a trying morning on the water, the crews returned to shore for a welcome and deserved break with the LLSC galley serving their usual high standard of fare. Returning to the lake after lunch, the wind had swung around towards the west which allowed a much longer course length and a longer windward/leeward race. The RS400’s remained on black flag starts which on this race caught out Catchpole/Atherton whose bow appeared over the line a few seconds before the start. The wind strength was once again variable with an average of 8 knots and a gust of almost 19 knots recorded during the race. This increase in wind strength allowed the Allen brothers, Paul and Mike (LLSC), to show that they hadn’t really lost their form, taking the lead at the end of the third lap and holding it to the end of the race. The Fletchers, who had initially been at the front took the second place with Gledhill/Dowse climbing through the fleet to take third place again. In the RS200 fleet the Joelsbury’s and the Wards battled through most of the race until a tangle around the last windward mark threw a spanner in several boat’s works pushing the Wards down to fourth and the Joelsbury’s down to sixth, leaving Escritt/Clough to take the winner’s position with Tony Wilcock from Budworth in second and Williams/Turner in third.

For the start of the last race, the wind had obligingly swung around even more towards the west allowing a true windward/leeward course down the length of the lake. The fleets got away cleanly and this time Chris Pickles and Matt Sharman took the lead in the RS400’s during the second lap and never let it go, followed by the Fletchers and the Allens. This result gave the Fletchers the overall win with the Metcalfes (who had retired from the last race with a broken tiller extension) in second place and Pickles/Sharman in third. The RS200’s were dominated in the last race by the Joelsbury’s, taking the lead from the first lap and never letting go. Escritt/Clough took second place after battling around the course with Partington/Haslewood who finished in third place. The result gave the Joelsbury the first place on countback with Escritt/Clough in second and Williams/Turner in third place. For the gallery go to https://picasaweb.google.com/104536170099821426208/RS200_RS400OpenMay2014?authkey=Gv1sRgCOewuvKxjb6oZw#