The 2016 RS800 Magic Marine Inland Championships were sailed at Grafham Water Sailing Club over the weekend of 8th and 9th October.
A puffy North Easterly breeze ranging in strength from 12 to 17 knots greeted the fleet of 18 boats on Saturday morning as Race Officer, Peter Saxton, got the first of three races under way bang on schedule. With the ‘U’ flag deployed from the outset, it was clear he wasn’t in the mood for any nonsense either from the RS800s or from the RS400s, also contesting their Inland Championships and sharing the same course. First victims of the no-nonsense approach were Andrew Blundell and Jane Turner in race one. The warning must have been effective as there were to be no more DSQs or recalls for the RS800s for the rest of the weekend.
Avoiding the slower moving and higher pointing RS400s in the shifty and gusty conditions would provide an additional challenge for the RS800s. With guest rock star, Roz McGrane, at the front, James “Uzi” Hughes led most of the first race only to make a mistake right at the end, allowing the boats of Tim Saxton / Fiona Hampshire and the recently returned, Ella & James Moreland through to take first and second respectively.
A nasty incident in the second race saw ‘Uzi’ (now known as Captain Calamity) and Roz collide heavily with an unsighted RS400 putting James in hospital with some cracked ribs, a damaged lung and bruised liver and ego. Credit to Roz, whose quick thinking and calm conduct prevented what could have been an even worse situation. Their abandoned and upturned boat in the middle of the race course left another obstacle to avoid.
Races 2 and 3 were won by Tim Saxton and Fiona Hampshire whose ability to continually apply pressure, then capitalise on the resulting mistakes to snatch race wins was beginning to become a pattern. Ella and James were second in race 2, having seemingly lost none of their skills during their year-long sabbatical from the RS800 while Ella recovered from a knee operation. Second in race 3 were the on-form team of Ralph and Sophie Singleton, also fully recovered from their incident-packed day 2 of the Nationals in August.
After an evening of re-fuelling on the excellent food provided by the club and a few beers, Sunday dawned bright and sunny and with a slightly stronger breeze gusting from 13 to 20 knots from the North.
Enjoying the slightly fresher conditions, race 4 was won by the hard-charging Andy and Ally Jeffries followed home by Chris “Wolfgang” Feibusch and Nick “Fritz” Jerkins (their sail has a German flag on it rather than the Union flag!) with Tim and Fiona in third. It was all about heads out of the boat to spot the breeze downwind and to navigate through and around the RS400s. Race 5 saw the same three boats at the front, this time with Tim and Fiona taking the win and with it the Championship, followed by Chris Feibusch and Nick Jerkins once again in second, and Andy and Ally in third..
Race 6 would see four boats battle it out for the final two places on the podium. Andy and Ally had a comfortable lead on the final run meaning overall second was all but sewn up, which left a scrap behind between Chris/Nick, Ella/James and Ralph/Sophie for third. Tim and Fiona rounded the final windward mark in second and next round would be Ralph/Sophie closely followed by Ella/James and Chris/Nick a short distance behind. With the breeze now a little softer and single wiring downwind, Chris and Nick opted to roll the dice and gybe-set away from the other two. They sailed into increasing pressure and gybed late to find themselves trapezing on the knots with main inside out to lay the final leeward mark. As they approached they were just able to call starboard on Ralph and Sophie who were wallowing in a band of lighter pressure, gybe inside and cross the line third in dramatic style to take that final spot on the podium.
Notably absent at the event and giving someone else a chance this year, were 2016 National and European Champions, Luke and Emma McEwen, who were busy representing the class at the Endeavour Trophy, Champion of Champions event. Contested in RS200s for the second year, they were last heard asking round if anyone had any idea what “toestraps” were for as they look nothing like the toe loops on the RS800 and for some reason mounted inside the boat. All very curious. They eventually discovered they were for something known as “hiking”, but apparently this left them still none the wiser.
Big thanks to Race Officer Peter Saxton and all the team at Grafham Water Sailing Club for an excellent and impeccably organised weekend and of course, to Clare Sargent, our incredible and effervescent RS Association Secretary. Thanks to the Old Salt Loft for their great customised event prizes of boat bit bags and wine bags. You can order your own personalised RS800 kit at the RS800 Class Association shop here: http://www.rs800.org/index.asp?Fleet=RS800&selection=Shop
Thank you also to everyone involved in getting Captain Calamity safely and quickly off to hospital. Best wishes from the fleet to Uzi for a quick recovery and we look forward to seeing him back on the water and in the bar soon.
Next up is the final event of the RS800 Magic Marine Grand Prix: the End of Seasons at Rutland SC 5-6 November. Online entry will be opening shortly.
By Chris Feibusch
Photos by Tim Olin