Results / GUL RS RACING CIRCUIT MUMBLES YC - 14/07/2001

GUL RS700 Racing Circuit at Mumbles - July 14/15 The second GUL RS700 Racing Circuit event at Mumbles YC saw an impressive boat handling display from the eleven RS700's. The 700 has already shown that it has attracted a high calibre of sailor and will follow the lead of the other RS classes and produce quality competitive racing. In the bursts of strong winds on Saturday there was very little capsizing and in reality the big shifts of Sunday were a bigger problem tot he 700's Race 1 and the battle was on with Gareth Morgan and Carl Vinning fighting for 1st with Andy White in 3rd There was place changing between Morgan and Vinning but Morgan took the honours with Vinning 2nd and Neil Robinson, who passed White on the last beat, 3rd, pushing White to 4th and Stubbs 5th.. Race 2 saw the Welsh trio of Morgan, Steve Stubbs and Paul Lewis dominate from start to finish with Morgan leading until the last beat when he took a nice swim in the shifty conditions to let Stubbs & Lewis through for the last run. Lewis showed sound pace off wind to take Stubbs at the leeward mark and the lead only to lose it when Stubbs & Morgan took him on the final leg. Stubbs took the honours with Morgan 2nd, Lewis 3rd, Vinning 4th and Paul Bartlett 5th. The Welsh were to the fore again in race 3 the Welsh duo of Morgan and Stubbs lead from start to finish never to be challenged leaving Bartlett & Lewis battling for 3rd with Bartlett taking 3rd with Lewis 4th & White 5th. Sunday was not as breezy as the Saturday but the wind was nowhere near as consistent. Carl Vinning, fresh from an early night sailed much better then Saturdays racing when he took a commanding lead in race 4 with Robinson & White in hot pursuit. White eventually took the honours with Robinson 2nd, Vinning 3rd, Stubbs 4th & Lewis 5th. At the start of race 5 Lewis took an early lead only to go for the wrong windward mark and found himself reaching back. Morgan and Vinning battled for the top spot with Morgan taking the honours with Vinning 2nd, Robinson 3rd, Lewis 4th & White 5th. Current RS600 National Champion, Gareth Morgan looked to have a good lead going into the final race but had a did not finish on Saturday and hence had to count the final race. This still gave Carl Vining and Andy White a chance of overall victory. Vinning held an early comfortable lead but with White & Morgan chasing he soon got toppled for White to take the gun with Vinning 2nd, Morgan 3rd, Stubbs 4th & Bartlett 5th. This was more than enough to see Morgan take overall victory by 5 points. Vining has now scored a first and a second overall at the first two RS700 events and appears to start marginal favourite for the RS700 Nationals at Mounts Bay SC in three weeks time. There are though plenty of good sailors who are getting to grips with these flying machines and the Nationals promise's to be very open. Mumbles overall 1. Gareth Morgan Tenby SC 8pts 2. Carl Vinning Datchet 13pts 3. Andy White Stokes Bay 16pts 4. Steve Stubbs Tenby SC 16pts 5. Paul Lewis British Steel 23pts 6. Paul Bartlett Starcross 25pts