Results / RS Sailing 30th Anniversary Regatta, 00 fleet Masters, Noble Marine RS500 UK Nationals Hayling Island SC - 17/05/2024

Congratulations to John Booth, RS700 Winner at RS 30th Regatta and to Pete Purkiss, our RS700 Masters Champion 2024!
You have two fabulous reports to read: Masters report by Roland Smith here, and Regatta report by Rob Higgins here
Masters Results here
Photo Gallery from Digital Sailing here
Full RS 30th Anniversary Regatta Results here
The RS 30th final video is here
RS700 Masters and RS700 Rooster National Tour at RS 30th Anniversary Regatta, 17-19 May at Hayling Island Sailing Club
Four grandees of the RS700 fleet met at Hayling Island Sailing Club on 17th - 19th May 2024 for a RS700 Masters open as part of the RS 30th anniversary regatta.
Day One
Day one was sailed as a combined handicap race across RS200, RS400, RS600, RS700 and RS800 Masters fleets on a two lap sausage triangle course in Hayling Bay.
Race One (SE 5 knots): Whilst Pete Purkis showed strong upwind boat speed on the left side of the course, the first beat favoured the right side used by Matt Carter and Roland Smith. This resulted in Pete making the mark just ahead of Matt and Roland who rounded together. Matt demonstrated strong downwind speed closing the gap on Pete. Pete got a gap again upwind with Matt closing to 26 seconds on the two reaching legs. Stephen Carr finished this race in fourth place.
Race Two (SE 6 knots): Matt Carter continued with his tactic of going the wrong way on the beats in race two. So Pete rounded the windward mark in the lead followed by Roland and then Matt. Matt's downwind speed saw him draw level with Roland by the leeward gate, but lose ground upwind. By the wing mark, Pete had a lead, with Matt just behind Roland. Matt overtook Roland, but the leg was not quite long enough for him to catch Pete, who took line honours by 9 seconds.
Day Two
The forecast offered "changeable" conditions that started Westerly at 6am moved through NW, N, NE, E, SE before settling to at 4 knot Southerly for afternoon. The Masters were joined by the main RS700 fleet for windward leeward fleet racing. Two races were achieved in marginal 4 knot conditions where the RS700 struggled to thrive. Matt Carter wisely chose to stay ashore leaving the field clear for Pete Purkiss to secure two more Masters bullets and 3rd overall in the main fleet results.
Day Three
Day three dawned bright, clear and cloudless skies with an 8knt NE. Forecasts suggested the wind would switch to a Southerly sea breeze which arrived on schedule at 1230hrs and built slowly from 6 to 8 knts through the afternoon. The Race Officer was able to squeeze in three, 30-40 minute races allowing the series to be completed in full. Even conditions across the course resulted in some very close racing across the main fleet with little separating 2nd to 8th. In race one, Roland squeezed ahead of the gaggle taking 4th in the main fleet ahead of Pete and Matt, and in hindsight this was the only interruption in Pete’s clean sweep of Masters victories.
In races two and three, Pete came back strong taking 2nd in the main fleet to Matt’s 3rd and 5th.
Summary:
As RS700 Masters winner and 2nd in the RS700 main fleet Pete Purkiss clearly demonstrated that at 69, it is possible to both sail and RS700 and to be competitive.
RS Sailing and Hayling Island Sailing Club provided a great event and got maximum benefit from the conditions provided. Thanks to Rooster for sponsoring our RS700 National Tour.
By Roland Smith
Up on Y&Y here
RS700 Rooster National Tour at RS 30th Anniversary Regatta, 17-19 May at Hayling Island Sailing Club
Next stop on the Rooster National Tour was Hayling Island Sailing Club for the 30th anniversary of RS Sailing. The fleet were promised Sun, Sea and Wind. After a short postponement and to some amused faces the fleet were sent out into Hayling Bay for a scheduled three races.
Race one: Credit to the race team they didn’t hang around and set about putting the four fleets sharing the course into some racing. They may however may have been a bit optimistic about the length of the beat with the blue marks seeming a long way away. The RS700s started third after the RS21s and RS800s so clear air was going to be at a premium. The gun went and the fleet headed up wind in shroud hugging mode. The usual suspects went nicely about their work with ‘Pistol Pete’ Purkiss dominating the pin end and John Booth going quickly whichever way he went. The right-hand side came in slightly allowing the top seven boats to all round the top mark in a bunch. Matt Conner decided he would give the wing mark a cuddle to allow the rest of the fleet to battle it out. John as quick downwind as he was up took the win with the course being shortened. Rob Higgins used being the last of the close bunch to see most of the fleet had gybed off early and snuck in to take a very lucky second from Pete.
Race two: The fleet had switched from shroud hugging to full mast hugging mode in a dying breeze. Richard Allen who had gone extremely quickly in race one again found his light wind mode and led at the top mark closely followed by John, Rob and Pete. The course was shortened to allow for two laps. Rich and John choosing the left gate and Rob and Pete the right. John made the decision to try and get through the vast wind shadows made by the RS21s make. This allowed Rich to take the lead followed by Rob. John then made an uncharacteristic mistake in trying to gybe off allowing the others to join in the party. Rich didn’t learn from the previous race and gybed early which allowed Rob and Pete to drift over the line in front of him. The fleet was glad that the race team put an end to the day and so everyone headed in to join in the RS party.
Race three: After some more postponing and drifting around the wind filled in and the flags went up. The fleet realised that we might need our harness mode and with this Matt Carter’s eyes lit up as he saw the opportunity to box Rob out at the committee boat end. However he enjoyed this so much he allowed James Clark to come up underneath him and undo all his good work. John again sailed nicely, and picked his way through everyone from the middle. John led and took the win followed by James and a charging Tom Porter.
Race four: Pistol Pete was back after a quiet race by his high 69 year old standards. He hit the pin end hard… again and flew out of the blocks. He led the fleet around until the last downwind where he was a sitting duck for the charging John. John took the win closely followed by Pete and Matt Carter.
Race five: This was the windiest race of the weekend and some straight legs were even seen. However the story didn’t change much. Pete led, got over taken by John on the last downwind to continue his impressive display. Rob limped over the line in third just holding off fellow Chew sailor James Clark.
Congratulations to John Booth who took home a powerful win. The ever impressive Pete Purkiss lived up to his nickname and showed that age is just a number, taking second and the crown of Master’s Champion.
Thanks to HISC and RS Sailing for a great regatta. Thank you to Rooster for sponsoring our RS700 National Tour. Next stop on the tour is Lymington Dinghy Regatta 1-2 June.
By Rob Higgins
RS700 Class
Rank | Class | Fleet | Country | Sail no | Helm Club | Helm Name | Crew Name | Rating | Helm Gender | Crew Gender(1) | Sat R1 | Sat R2 | Sun R1 | Sun R2 | Sun R3 | Total | Nett |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | RS700 | United Kingdom (GBR) | 1058 | Stokes Bay SC | John Booth | Male | 1.0 | (4.0) | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 4.0 | ||||
2 | RS700 | RS700 | 1042 | Brightlingsea | Peter Purkiss | 845 | Male | 3.0 | 2.0 | (6.0) | 2.0 | 2.0 | 15.0 | 9.0 | |||
3 | RS700 | United Kingdom (GBR) | 1029 | Chew Valley Lake Sailing Club | Rob Higgins | Male | 2.0 | 1.0 | (7.0) | 7.0 | 3.0 | 20.0 | 13.0 | ||||
4 | RS700 | United Kingdom (GBR) | 765 | CVLSC | James Clark | Male | 4.0 | (8.0) | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 22.0 | 14.0 | ||||
5 | RS700 | United Kingdom (GBR) | 1055 | HISC and ESC | Tom Porter | Male | 5.0 | (6.0) | 3.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 25.0 | 19.0 | ||||
6 | RS700 | United Kingdom (GBR) | 1073 | Carsington SC | Richard Allen | Male | 6.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | (8.0) | 28.0 | 20.0 | ||||
7 | RS700 | United Kingdom (GBR) | 1068 | HISC | Roland Smith | Male | 7.0 | 7.0 | 4.0 | (8.0) | 7.0 | 33.0 | 25.0 | ||||
8 | RS700 | United Kingdom (GBR) | 1062 | Lancing SC | Matt Carter | Male | (13.0 DNC) | 13.0 DNC | 8.0 | 3.0 | 5.0 | 42.0 | 29.0 | ||||
9 | RS700 | United Kingdom (GBR) | 1060 | Queen Mary SC | Matt Conner | Male | 8.0 | 5.0 | (9.0) | 9.0 | 9.0 | 40.0 | 31.0 | ||||
10 | RS700 | United Kingdom (GBR) | 1063 | CVLSC | Elliot Booley | Male | 9.0 | 9.0 | (10.0) | 10.0 | 10.0 | 48.0 | 38.0 | ||||
11 | RS700 | RS700 | 801 | Brightlingsea SC | Stephen Carr | 845 | Male | 10.0 | 10.0 | (12.0) | 12.0 | 12.0 | 56.0 | 44.0 | |||
12 | RS700 | United Kingdom (GBR) | 763 | CVLSC | Sam Simmonds | Male | (11.0) | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 55.0 | 44.0 |