Results / Gul RS700 National Championships Eastbourne Sovereign SC - 03/06/2006

Day 4 The final day of the 2006 dawned once again with bright sunshine and a shifty force 1-2 blowing from the East and a slight sea running. Paul Bayliss had a commanding lead and looked certain to take the championship. However in theory there was a mathematical chance that either Andy White or Peter Purkiss could beat him. All he needed to do was achieve a top six finish to put the championship away. The fight for second place on the other hand was well and truly joined as Pete and Andy were tied on 25 points with similar discards. The racing started on time and it was Matt Humphreys who led off the line and built a comfortable lead in the shifty conditions to take his first win of the championship. Paul Bayliss was sailing conservatively in second place, trying hard to avoid any confrontations. This allowed Leigh Albrecht to blast through at the end of the second run to take second place with Paul coming in a championship winning third place, Andy White fourth and Andy Holland fifth. Pete Purkiss was struggling a little with the conditions and put in a ninth place leaving the advantage firmly with Andy White to take the runner up�s spot in the championship. The final race saw Jon Heissig win the start from the port end of the line from where he charged out to the left hand side of the course and was able to tack early and cross the fleet. He then benefited from a slight wind bend and the effect of the tide to be lifted up to the windward mark into a lead, which was never bettered. Just behind, local hero Alex Koukourakis and Andy Irons were enjoying a titanic struggle throughout the race, which Alex finally won, only to find he was OCS. However it was a fast charging Pete Purkiss recovering through the fleet who passed this duo to take second spot. Unfortunately for Pete, Andy White was not far enough behind, finishing fourth and taking the second place overall. A very tired but happy fleet retired to the shore to pack up and reflect on a great championship before enjoying a traditional sandwich and cake, tea before the Prizegiving by the Mayor of Eastbourne. The club were presented with a print from Day 1 of the championship signed by all of the competitors as a token of our thanks for running such a fantastic event, � In the Silver fleet a very popular winner was Stuart Riches who had found another gear for the championship and just took the title from a hard charging Alex Southon. � First Lady was Nicky Griffin, although we were all really impressed with how well Bonnie Moody had handled the boat her first event in the class. � First Junior - Ned McNulty � First Master - Pete Purkiss � The Merit Prize went to Mark Nicholson � Furthest traveller went to Achim Kreuzer from Hamburg The draw in support of the classes adopted charity Sail 4 Cancer was won by Griff Tanner who will receive a brand new spinnaker courtesy of Hyde. The class was able to raise over �800 which will be going directly to support this worthwhile cause. Our thanks go to Hyde, LDC, Fat Face and Dinghy Sailing Magazine for supporting us by donating prizes. So what is the formula for a great event? � A committed, friendly and well organised club in a great sailing location. � Professional and efficient race management and the best shore team in the business � Some real quality coaching from Paul Bayliss and our RYA judge Peter Fitt. � A record-breaking entry of 51 sailors determined to have a great time on and off the water sailing one of the most exciting and challenging boats around. � Fantastic support from the event sponsors, Gul, Hyde, Harken, RMW, LDC and Dinghy Sailing Magazine to whom we extend our thanks � On site technical support from LDC. � A well organised and full social program � Great weather and a variety of challenging conditions. I think everyone agreed that all the boxes were ticked and that this was one of the best championships ever. Definitely one for the scrapbook! The action now moves onto Lymington at the beginning of July for the next round of the Fat Face Circuit which is the last chance to practise before the �full on� challenge that is the European Championship in Garda. Day 3 Day 3 of the championship dawned with some clouds bringing a building Easterly breeze. The days activities started with a rules seminar by RYA Judge Peter Fitt which generated a lot of interesting discussion before the fleet took to the water. Race 1 started in 22-25 knots and a building sea providing a real challenge for the fleet. It quickly became clear that this was going to be a two horse race with Paul Bayliss and Andy White mastering the conditions with style. The two started at different ends of the line and split tacks up the first beat. Andy White showed slightly better speed upwind to cross Paul up the beat and lead at the first mark. Paul challenged strongly down the first run but couldn�t quite break through. Andy extended his lead on the next beat and the order didn�t change for the rest of the race. Anthony �Chunks� York pulled through from a mediocre start into third place just ahead of Neil Robinson. Race 2 saw a continuation of the master class with Andy White starting in the middle of the line just to leeward of Paul Bayliss. It was Andy who won the drag race allowing him to cross and lead into the windward mark by a short margin. However on the first run Andy misjudged his gybe and overstood the leeward mark handing the lead to Paul who had spotted his gybe perfectly. On the next beat Andy White split tacks and went left which proved to be a winning move as he led again at the windward mark. Unfortunately things went badly wrong for Andy at the gybe mark as he dropped the boat, handing the win back to Paul Bayliss. The rest of the fleet followed on behind with Neil Robinson taking third followed by Ian Swann The third race again brought the same two protagonists together on the start line and again it was Andy White who led by the shortest of margins at the top mark. Paul Bayliss had trouble with his hoist and gybed off. When the two met again near the leeward mark things were absolutely even and it was Andy White on port who was forced to gybe off leaving Paul in the lead. Andy again tried to go left up the next beat but this time without success as Paul was able to extend his lead at the windward mark. Unfortunately Paul poked the nose directly into a wave on the bear off and did a classic deathroll allowing Andy to sail on and take his second win of the day. Neil Robinson was leading the chasing pack but managed to pile into a wave going into the finish line leaving Jon Heissig to take second followed by a fast recovering Neil. A tired but happy fleet retired to the clubhouse to enjoy Hyde sponsored happy hour and some quality Lasagne courtesy of the galley Angels. Paul goes into the last day with a thirteen point lead and just needs to sail conservatively to take the win. The minor positions are still very much open with Andy White and Pete Purkiss even on 25 points. Day 2 Day 2 of the championship dawned with bright sunshine and lighter breezes than the previous day. The sailors emerged from their overnight slumber (no doubt helped by the LDC sponsored happy hour the previous evening) to enjoy a coaching seminar on heavy weather technique by Paul Bayliss. The overnight leaders of the Gold and Silver fleets were then presented with a their Gul rash vests before the fleet took to the water in a fluctuating force 1-2 breeze. Race 1 saw the first general recall of the event and the introduction of the black flag by the ever efficient race committee. The fleet got away cleanly on the second attempt and it was mark Nicholson sailing his first open event in the 700 who led at the windward mark. Downwind the established names showed their form and Steve Butcher soon blew through to take a commanding lead. Matt Humphries and Paul Bayliss fought it out for second, with Matt taking the place and Pete Purkiss coming in 4th. Race 2 saw Tim Dickinson leading the fleet at the windward mark. Pete Purkiss managed to tack inside a group which had overstood the layline, to round second and follow Tim to the right hand side of the run. The two leaders gybed simultaneously and Pete managed to roll Tim to take the lead which he held to the finish. Local hero, Alex Koukourakis fought off a strong challenge from Griff Tanner to take third. Race 3 was sailed in a lighter breeze. Paul Bayliss won the committee boat end of the line and was the first to tack to the favoured right hand side of the beat. He led at the windward mark and although closely challenged by Matt Humphries was never bettered. Alex Koukourakis again took third but had to work hard to stave off a strong challenge from Andy Irons. Once the sailing activities were completed, the daily winners in the Gold and Silver fleet were presented with bottles of Gul wine, the fleet took full advantage of the RMW sponsored happy hour before descending en masse on a local restaurant to enjoy the �Harken� Curry night. Day 1 A record Entry of 51 Entry boats makes this the largest ever event for the RS700 class. The event will consist of 10 races held over 4 days from 3rd to the 6th of June at Eastbourne Sovereign SC with entries from across the UK and with two welcome visitors from Germany. In a new move for the class, the charity Sail4 Cancer has been adopted and a number of events will be held in support of the charity both at this championship and over the coming season. Tickets are on sale throughout the event for a varierty of prizes kindly donated by Dinghy Sailing Magazine,Fat Face and LDC with the star prize of a new Spinnaker from Hyde. Race 1 started in a glorious force 3 and bright sunshine. Neil Rob inson won the start and immediately headed out to sea followed by half the fleet. It was Andy White who peeled off first and headed for the shore, a tactic which paid dividends as he led at the leeward mark followed by Steve Butcher and Dave Cummins. Andy held onto his lead down the first run but was overhauled on the next beat by a fast footing Steve Butcher. Dave Cummins took an unscheduled swim going down the next run allowing Pete Purkiss to move into third. Paul Bayliss recovered well through the fleet to fill out the top four. Race 2 started in a slightly lighter breeze. Paul Bayliss dominated the committee end of the start line and was the first to tack off and lead what was now an established charge to the shoreline. He continued to lead down the first run going left down the run with most of the fleet. Tim Dickinson led a small group out to see and blastred through into the lead by the first leeward mark with Paul Bayliss holding onto second. Tim went on to establish a convincing lead but sailed into a hole on the last run. Paul Bayliss spotted the danger early, gybed and went on to take the win with Anthony York third. Photos by Mike Rice/www.fotoboat.com - see the Fotoboat website for the rest.