Congratulations to Al Dickson, our new RS100 National Champion!

Day 1, 7 September 2017, by Clive Eplett

The format for the day was to be 6 'Sprint' races. Mo Farrah better look out because, our OOD Barrie Harding has massive confidence that 100 sailors can sprint for longer than Mo runs a 10,000m.

In reality, the result is lots of aching bones and muscles, even tho the 6th race had to be deferred as someone had pulled the bath plug and the water was disappearing.

Conditions were gusty, shifty, blowing across Southampton water in a breeze that grew over the day but always varied between sub and post planing. Lots of opportunities to make gains and losses, but no snakes or ladders were seen anywhere.

It comes as a relief for your correspondent to report that his runners and riders appraisal was not too far wide of the mark. Leading with a 3, 2, (10), 3, 2 is 2015 Champion Brett Aarrons, who showed great powers of recovery at times, particularly finding a personal lane of wind 50 yards above your correspondent and Greg Booth in the last race to nick that second.

Demonstrating the fleet's strength in depth, is last years champion Al Dickson in second overall, but with up-and-down results of (15), 1, 1, 6, 8.

Channelling his inner Geoff Hurst was Weston based Steven Lee, with a 2, 6, 5, (19),5, followed by European Champion and retiring class chairman Mark Harrison. He took a while to wake up, with a (14), 14, 3, 1, 7.

Cursing his trigger-finger is the Young Pretender Robert Richardson who found the early conditions much to his liking with a 1, 3, 1. Sadly, the second bullet was actually an OCS, becoming his discard and followed with a 16, 6. This is getting too much like hard work, he told me. Wait until you are as old as the rest of us Robert.

The inevitable dark-horse turned out to be Dutchman Pim van Vugt. Unlucky that his charter boat's main halyard went bang when in the top bunch, tipping him in, he calmly swam to the mast top, tied it up and sailed on, albeit to a 37. After that, he got better and better, scoring a 17, 4, 4, 1.

Chew boys Andy Jones and Chris Goldhawk, separated by one point in 9th and 10th, (just behind bidding-their-time-for-more-wind Huw Powell and Greg Booth) did actually manage to complete every race but seem more excited by the hot-tub at their accommodation, so have gone home early, bless them. We are sure they will be very happy together. Not sure where Andy's brother Steve fits in this cosy relationship. Watch this space.

Other highlights include Mostyn Evans forgetting to sail thru the leeward gate before the finish and Nils Joliffe jousting Netley club-mate Luke Goble with his kite pole. I was not going to mention your correspondent capsizing downwind in two successive races whilst endeavouring to pass behind boats on starboard, but there seems to be an insistence not to omit this.

Leading the Silver fleet in 16th overall is Ed Jones also of Chew Valley. His hot tub preferences are yet to be determined. Top of the bronze fleet is Frensham's Simon Lomas-Clarke in 30th.

After sailing, at the class AGM, stepping-down Chairman Mark Harrison was thanked by all for his three years sterling service and David Smart (after promising to actually come sailing next year and avoid the pathetic injury excuses) was unanimously elected New Chairman in his stead. Well done David.

Four races tomorrow and more wind. It's happy days in the RS100 fleet.

Day 2, 8 Sept 2017, by Al Dickson

The damp and squally conditions did their best to psyche out the fleet but the freshly brewed coffee and bacon sarnies did their trick and goaded the fleet into action.  After a short sail to the race area, Race 1 quickly came around and the fleet took off towards the windward mark in a shifty and gusty 15 knots.  Some of the kinder members of the fleet and well known bimblers (yes you Clive Eplett) were obviously far too informative to their allocated buddies as Pim van Vugt raced into the lead, having seemingly started to master the 100 after just a day! The usual faces, particularly the ever-consistent Brett Aarons chased his tail and kept things interesting (especially downwind) with frequent place changes and big splits across the race course.  Local sailor, Nils Joliffe had a great race and finished 3^rd ahead of Alistair Dickson and the charging Huw Powell who was revelling in the windier conditions.

Race 2

The wind had started to drop as Race 1 finished but picked back up just before the start of Race 2 and kept the fleet on their toes and guessing.  The edges of the course were evidently paying – right or left, layline or above the layline, it didn’t really seem to matter as the fleet all piled into the windward mark at the same time.  Shouting and gel coat fired out from the middle of the pile up which seemed to swallow up boats as they made their way into the mark.  Steven Lee, Brett Aarons and Alistair Dickson managed to get away and went onto tussle with each other downwind.  Brett took the bullet just ahead of Al who managed to get Steven on the last downwind.  Clive briefly snuck past Pim near the end of the last run, but the Dutchman better judged the final layline to re-take 4^th. Elsewhere, people were punished severely for mistakes, especially downwind, as the fleet had hardly anything between them as they made their way to the finish.  Good results for Ian Gregory and Ed Jones who finished well in 6^th and 9^th respectively.  Ed’s masseur and hot tub the night before were obviously helping although it was going to take another race before the effects were going to have an impact on his father (Andrew)!

Race 3

The wind seemed to settle at 9-13 knots for Race 3 although it remained just as shifty and gusty across the race course.  The fleet all racked up but a shift to the left with 20 seconds to go meant all were left standing apart from Pim and Brett who fired off on port from the pin-end.  Local legend, Steven Lee, knew better than the rest and rang the bell out on the right-hand side and snuck into the lead.  Brett and Pim chased and eventually overcame Steven just before the finish, much to the frustration of Steven.  Huw Powell had another good race in 4^th who was head of Alistair Dickson in 5^th.   Another good race for Nils who finished 6^th and also for Ian Gregory who finished 8^th, just ahead of the Lord Giles Peckham who had managed to correct all of the faulty rigging from the day before and was back in the running, no thanks to his butler Mark Harrison who had such a good day that this will be his only mention.

Race 4

The final race for the day started in more of the same – a shift and gusty 9-13 knots.  Another big left shift just before the start meant boats struggled to sneak past the pin and were on the port layline before they had managed to get any space to tack.  Pim, Alistair and Greg Booth were first to the windward mark and took off downwind ahead of Huw Powell and Steven Lee.  Pim, Alistair and Greg continued to swap places until the finish but Pim managed to hold off a late charge from Greg to take another bullet.  Huw and Steven followed ahead of Brett and Chris Goldhawk, who was also obviously feeling the benefits of the hot tub, massage and manicure courtesy of Andrew Jones.

So, overall a fantastic day of racing in just the changeable conditions the 100’s love.  The rapid racing courtesy of RO Barry (who has now learnt the difference between Mo Farrah and Linford Christie) meant the fleet had plenty of time relaxing in the bar before a trip to Southampton for dinner.  Pim has rocketed up the leader board to 2^nd, just behind Brett in first.  A gag has now been attached to Pim’s gold fleet buddy (Clive) overnight and before day 3. Someone even suggested Clive should write a book!  Elsewhere in the silver fleet, Ed Jones is still looking good, with Luke Goble moving up the charts after putting in a good day.  Nick Griffin now leads the bronze fleet ahead of Simon Lomas-Clarke.

Day 3, Sat Sept 10th, by Cllive Eplett

Well, if Day 2 was good conditions for RS100’s, Day 3 was sublime. Overnight, the sky cleared and left a sunny, slightly chilly 12 – 17 knot NW which we soon learned is one of the best directions for racing in Southampton Water.

Yesterdays’s Prize giving
Day 1 Duckhams holder Giles awarded the honour of wearing the extremely attractive dress to none other than Mark Harrison for multiple infractions, capped by being blatantly and knowingly over the line at the Committee Boat but expecting wife Liz, calling the line on the Committee Boat, to let him get away with it. The consensus is that, having made such a horlicks of putting the dress on (it took about five minutes) he needs more practice and should have to wear it for the rest of the weekend. The fact he’s just been caught, beer in hand without it, reaffirms this theory.

Race 1
After a bit of gentle encouragement, the fleet launched and quickly made their way across the 50m or so to the start line and into the race area.

The excitement of the fleet to start racing soon became evident and a big bunch at the port end caused the one and only general recall for the day. ‘Big Bad’ Barry knew what to do and kept the fleet under control with the black flag and a more hesitant 100 fleet eventually made their way across the start line and up the race course.

A left shift meant that boat speed on port tack became the priority and our Dutch guest started today where he left off yesterday and led around the windward mark. Adam Knight from Guernsey had a great upwind leg and was hot on Pim’s heels. Al Dickson was close behind and eventually overcame Adam at the leeward mark and took off after Pim.

Pim kept Al at bay and led Al into the finish. Huw ‘the bull’ Powell charged up the race course into third ahead of Steven ‘left, left and more left’ Lee and Andrew ‘hot tub and G&T’ Jones.

Race 2
The hangover from Big Bad Barry’s black flag treatment from the race before was still very much evident at the start of Race 2 and a line-shy fleet slowly edged across a pin bias start-line. The wind flicked left and the fleet tacked and drag raced into the windward mark. Pim once again led, closely followed by Andrew Jones, Steven Lee, and the rest of the fleet close behind. The gusty conditions meant picking when to gybe the critical decision downwind and Steven Lee did a great job to sneak into the lead whilst Pim, Alistair and Andrew played the well known 100 game ‘who can gybe the most’. Steven covered on the next upwind and consolidated his lead on the, yes you guessed it, left-hand side. Al Dickson managed to pull ahead from Andrew Jones and Pim and caught Steven on the final downhill. Al managed to manoeuvre himself into the controlling position to the leeward position of Steven, but a broach on the gybe allowed Steven through to the finish. Al just managed to keep Pim and Andrew behind and the fleet finished in that order.

Race 3
Another pin end bias start, left shift and gust meant for one thing – yet another drag race into the windward mark on port tack. Al Dickson did the best job of getting over the fleet and led around the windward mark closely followed by Pim and Steven Lee. Greg Booth deserves a mention for struggling to get around the spreader and causing mayhem by tacking onto port into the chasing fleet.

Huw Powell was also in the chasing pack along with Clive Eplett and the new rising 100 ‘hot-shot nipper’ Ed Jones.

The fleet converged at the leeward mark a little too hastily and shouts for turns could be heard across the race course. Pim tacked, Al covered and let Steven do his turns and head out to his safe haven on the left hand side. Steven was so confident the left was going to pay, he decided to do an extra turn and quickly slipped back into the lead. A pack of Vareos slowed down the remainder and Steve led around the windward mark and into the finish. Al came in second ahead of Pim, with Clive double gybing left between gate and line to sneak past a chuckling Huw and moaning Greg to pinch 4th.

Race 4
A big black cloud on the right, a repositioned windward mark and a brief postponement kept the fleet guessing before the start of Race 4. The fleet took off and the race followed the theme of the previous three with the leaders coming out from the left. Greg Booth led around the top mark closely followed by Al Dickson, Huw Powell and Chris Goldhawk. This bunch tussled with each other all the way up to the top of the second beat. Al Dickson managed to get the final shift right and led around the final windward mark. To gybe or not to gybe, that was the question. Al gambled and gybed – it looked great, then not so great and then great again. In the end, it didn’t seem to make a difference as Al crossed the finished line the same distance ahead as he was at the windward mark. Chris (perhaps-I-don’t-hate-sailing) Goldhawk had a great race and finished second closely followed by Huw Powell who had made another charge and Brett Aarons who was slowly recovering from an otherwise difficult day.

Overall, Al Dickson had a storming day (Clive’s words) and now leads the fleet by one point, closely followed by Pim just one point behind. Brett Aarons drops down to third, just ahead of Steven Lee.

In the Silver Fleet, Ed Jones consolidated his lead, out-performing his old man Andy on the day with a consistent 9-8-7-9. Luke Goble remains in second with Adam Knight moving into third after a strong day.

The Bronze Fleet remains unchanged, with Nick Griffin leading from Simon Lomas-Clarke and Jeremy Gilbert

It’s all to play for tomorrow, with two more races scheduled. The forecast has moderated from probably not-sailable to yee-ha. Fingers crossed for more great racing. Whoever wins this will have earned it. (obviously Clive wrote this bit too)

Addendum to yesterday's report

 At the day's prize-giving, Duckhams holder Mark Harrison made an extremely poorly researched, trumped-up prosecution case, firstly aimed at Robert Richardson, then Nick Shuttleworth. This proposal was universally rejected and an alternative case, that Mark's infraction of failing to wear the dress and his ineptitude in putting the thing on was far more worthy. Accordingly, he was awarded the Duckhams for a further day.

Photos  thanks to and copyright, Segel Spass and Liz Harrison