Results / RS700 Europeas Fraglia della Vela Riva - 24/07/2006

Another record entry of 36 RS700�s gathered at Riva for the inaugural 2006 European Championship. Hot favourite for the title after his win at the Nationals was Paul Bayliss. The real question was whether the classes other heavy weather experts could really put together a significant challenge. The fleet launched excitedly for the practise race on Sunday as the Ora built on schedule. Unfortunately a thunder cloud marched menacingly down the west side of the lake forcing an abandonment as most of the fleet were flattened by the westerly squalls which had completely overridden the southerly Ora. Day 1 of the racing promised to be a classic Garda day. The legendary Matt Stark started his championship well by port tacking the fleet and leading the charge to the windward mark. Alex Southon lead around the top mark followed by Andy White and Paul Bayliss, Bayliss took the lead as Southon and White capsized on the first gybe and sailed on to a convincing win. Andy held second place until rounding the wrong hook mark which let Alex in to take second with Jerry Wales third and Andy fourth. The second race of the day resulted in a much larger contingent trying the port tack starts, preferring to take some sterns in order to get right to the cliffs as soon as possible. Bayliss lead from the start followed by Southon and White. The day finished with a classic RS meal and disco at the club along with the other RS fleets. Day 2 started with a seminar by Paul Bayliss where he shared his 6 tips for success even before the race starts. Once again Garda served up a classic Ora breeze which allowed Dave Geal to monster the first beat and lead at the first mark. Unfortunately he had to slow down to avoid some 800�s on the first run which allowed Paul Bayliss to take the lead which he held to the finish followed by Steve Butcher who sailed a convincing race with Southon 3rd followed very closely by Jerry Wales. Race four Bayliss took the lead and had a convincing win, with White and Alex Koukourakis battling for second, Andy got 2nd on the line Koukourakis was 3rd and Leigh Albrecht 4th. The day ended with an excellent RS700n fleet meal at the Grand Hotel with a great turnout of friends and families. Day 3 saw the fleet out on the water early waiting for the breeze. The Ora kicked in late and there were further delays as some of the other fleets decided to play general recall with the race committee. The race posed some different questions for the fleet as we were on the middle race course rather than the cliff side. Do you gybe immediately or does it pay to go down the lake first. Classically cliffs paid once again as Bayliss dominated the race from start to finish with White 2nd and Wales 3rd. Andrew Peake worked through the fleet to secure a well deserved 4th. The Carabinieri launch rolled up and advised the race committee of some impending bad weather which saw the second race of the day cancelled. This resulted in the spectacular sight of more than 200 RS boats of various types hoisting their kites and sending it down the lake in the rising wind. Memorable! Thursday started with an excellent seminar on reading the weather by Mark Littlejohn. Paul Bayliss now looked to be in an unassailable position for the championship barring some disaster. The real question was whether anyone could finish ahead of him on the water and break his string of first places. Racing started in classic Garda conditions. Bayliss once again lead around the top mark followed by Butcher and southon. Southon spectacularly collided with an upwind RS800 which took him out of the running for the race. This let Koukourakis battle with Steve Butcher for second. Butcher capsized on the last gybe letting White through to 3rd. Friday�s seminar was insightful talk on boat preparation and maintenance by RS guru Alex Southon. Paul Bayliss did not actually need to sail the last day but went out anyway. This is Garda after all and sailing these high performamce boats here is always a pleasure. The race for the positions was still definitely on with Andy White, Alex Southon and Jerry Wales all in with a shout. Paul Bayliss led the charge to the cliffs but it was Andy White sailing higher who was able to tack onto his hip and lead at the first mark. Having taken the lead Andy immediately tried to throw the race by losing sight of the leeward mark, over standing it by some distance and letting Paul through to lead up the second beat. However Andy was not so easily beaten, breaking through again to take a well deserved race win with Andy Peake coming through to take second. Alex Southon recovered from a mediocre start to take fourth in the race and third overall as Jerry Wales had an unusually bad day at the office. The final race of the day was cancelled as thunder clouds gathered over Riva cancelling out the Ora. Paul Bayliss took home the spectacular new European Championship trophy having completed the double this year. The next event for the RS700�s on the Fat Face circuit is Weston on 12th August. See you there! 1st Paul Bayliss 2nd Andy White 3rd Alex Southon 4th Jerry Wales Silver fleet 1st Tim Polglase 2nd Matthew Conner 3rd Matt Stark Special awards went to Mike Dencher and Peter O�Nions fior chosing Garda as their first ever open event in the RS700. Ian Nolan