Results / RS800 National Championship Eastbourne Sovereign SC - 05/09/2019

CONGRATULATIONS TO 2019 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

LUKE AND EMMA MCEWEN !!!!!

Weekend results and Reunion Regatta results at page bottom below full national championship results

Ben Daigneault has made fab daily videos here: Day one, Day two, Day three, Day four

ESSC have made an amazing gallery of all their photos and videos here

RS800 Volvo Noble Marine National Championship 2019 supported by Hyde Sails

Day One Report, Thursday 5 September

2019 is the 20th anniversary of the RS800 and we are celebrating in style at the Nationals!  This year’s Volvo Noble Marine RS800 20^th Anniversary National Championship supported by Hyde Sails is taking place at one of our favourite racing venues - Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club.

Plenty of boats were arriving yesterday for a sneaky last minute practice (but only the McEwens braved the breeze on welcome) and for registration and weigh in to set the racks and corrector weights up for the four day’s racing ahead.  With lots of last minute-dot-com entries we have a fantastic 44 boats.

The first day of the event is brought to you by Rooster Sailing who have been fantastic at supporting our UK National Tour for the last couple of years.  This year we are excited that they are not only giving prizes for the first two days’ racing but have also provided every competitor with one of their brand new Joey Bottle Holders.  Designed by one of the RS800 sailors, Rooster have turned the product into a reality in time for this event and we can be happy in the knowledge all our water bottles will stay securely in the boat while we’re out on the sea, regardless of just how epic the pitch-pole might be…

So onto the racing...those with heads still in Garda mode were in for a major shock. The simple one minded reach into the cliffs was quickly made a distant memory by the whacky Northerly making its way across Eastbourne Bay.  IT WAS REALLY SHIFTY and there were major changes in pressure across the course.  It might look like Eastbourne but today the bay caused more migraines than a Datchet day.  It really was a good test for helm/crew relations with most teams seeming to come through still capable of talking to each other by the end.

Consistency was tricky to come by in the testing conditions but Chris Catt and Chris Martin did the best job picking up a very impressive 1,2,8.  In discussing the day after Chris Martin highlighted that they never seemed to go the fastest but they had a good knack of sailing the shortest distance.  On joint points and seeing out the rest of the podium Rob Gullan and Callum Healy, and Rory Hunter and Steph Orton are sitting happy. 

Other highlights of the day included watching a RS700 stripping the committee boat of its flag system with their mast (which had only just recovered from our almost pitch pole over the anchor line), learning that Chris Feibusch once ate one of Paul Brotherton’s teeth in a baguette (mental) ,and Hannah saw a really big dead fish.  Pretty exciting.

Thank you to RS Sailing for providing some much appreciated beers when we came ashore – a great incentive to hand back your tally promptly!

Tonight’s social will encourage a bit of mingling as sailors meet with their buddy team mates at the bar.  Hopefully a few top tips can be shared between the crew pairs to help improve their team mates’ performance on the water tomorrow.

If beer and curry wasn’t enough of an incentive to make a beeline for the sailing club bar, they’ll also be the chance to win one of many raffle prizes kindly donated by our long term sponsors Noble Marine.  

Report by Hugh Shone

Day Two Report, Friday 5 September

Day two of the RS800 Volvo Noble Marine National Championship 2019 supported by Hyde Sails at Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club dawned with local hot shots Andy Jefferies  and Paul Jenkins suggesting it was “proper” windy  and could get worse if the sun came out (the 22-28knt Westerly breeze could be enhanced by some sea breeze).   Just the sort of encouragement that the fleet needed.  The start line was sufficiently close to the shore that the RS800s could wait to see what happened to the RS700s before their start and to watch last year’s champions Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore test their modified boat after yesterday’s running repairs.

Luckily there was no need to rush out of bed as racing wasn’t scheduled to start until after midday.

The RS800 sailors all gathered for the class AGM and then prize giving for day one.  Every race winner gets lucky this week winning one of the daily sponsors’ prizes and also, adding some extra strategy to the finish line in the mid fleet, every 20^th place boat will also pick up a great prize too!  After all it is the 20^th anniversary championships.  Rooster are sponsoring day one and day two.

Day one’s race winners were Chris Catt and Chris Martin, Ben Palmer and Amy Seabright, and Peter Barton and Chris Feibusch.  The other lucky Rooster prize winners were Tim and Fin Dickinson, Martin and Alex Orton and would you believe it Mr Rooster himself Steve Cockerill and Dan Henderson!!  Getting a prize for what is currently his discard is taking pot hunting to a new level !!! Day 2 is also being sponsored by Rooster so thanks again to Steve and his team.

Once all the on shore activities were complete I would usually have reported that the fleet were keen to get out and get the scheduled three races completed but on this occasion as it was “proper” windy there was a certain amount of trepidation and the fleet slowly made their way to the start. One gust of 30 kts wiped out many of those afloat which was enough to persuade half a dozen boats to give the race a miss.

With the wind blowing with the tide the waves were not as bad as they can be at Eastbourne but the fleet was rather tentative on the first start. Was it the wind and conditions , or the fact that the fleet was described as being “uncouth “ yesterday (I think the  race team meant  “ too keen”) or the U flag or just some lethargy following the party the night before?

Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore, Rory Hunter and Steph Orton, and Stevie Wilson and Harvey Hillary all blasted off on a fairly long beat to Eastbourne pier.  Some of the fleet even got close enough to play the slot machines.

The leaders rounded and set their kites and went out to find the real waves out to sea.  Some over-cooked the layline as they were enjoying the blast in the direction of The Eastbourne Sovereign platform and then needed to drop early and come into the leeward marks under two sails.  Some place changes occurred with Tom and Guy breaking a mast, Rory and Steph going down the mine and Andy and Allyson Jeffries searching for the large jelly fish that have frequented our shores this Summer.

After two laps Luke and Emma McEwen triumphed in the epic conditions with Stevie and Harvey second and Peter and Chris third.  After a short wait to enable the race committee to assess the situation regarding boats with broken masts, broken rudders and a few torn sails the decision was taken to abandon the racing for the rest of the day.  This was made easier by the decision to hold an additional race yesterday on day one meaning that the fleet is only one race behind schedule.

So overall Luke and Emma lead into the second half of the event with the next four boats all separated by a point.

The evening (well early afternoon in reality)  kicked off early with another cool beverage waiting for us on the beach on our return – thanks again to RS Sailing for re-hydrating us!

Tonight could go many ways… we’ve been gearing up to “Party Like it’s 1999” for many months… some even want to go back… back to 1999… apparently!  So with a fancy dress theme, yes you’ve guessed it, ‘1999’ and live band Double Standards setting up in the club house now, hopefully even those of us that weren’t yet born in 1999 will wish they’d been there.   We’ve got RS Sailing to thank for bringing us the music; it’s in the company ethos to party; so we’re sure a few of the RS team will be making an appearance on the dance floor tonight.  Although after today’s carnage Stevie and the team may be busy helping mend boats tonight as well.

Whatever happens we still need to be standing at 9pm when the music stops (briefly) for the awesome prize-draw for a brand new crisp and crinkly spinnaker, generously donated by Hyde Sails in honour of the RS800’s 20^th birthday.  Mind you the lucky winner won’t be able to use it for the event unless they have torn their current one as being a strict one design we all have to use the same sails for the whole event.  Who’s going to be the lucky winner?.... You’ve got to be there to win… Thank you Hyde Sails!!

So onto tomorrow when the forecast looks a lot kinder and when we will be joined by those just taking advantage of the weekend discounted entry fee.  There are a few in that contingent that could get in amongst the leaders including Tim and Fiona hot foot from the J70 worlds at Torquay. The likelihood is that with a major wind direction change forecast on Sunday that the fleet may have a long day on the water with 4 races being a possibility.

#RS800sailing! #SailitLiveitLoveit #RoosterKit #InYourElement #RSsailing #HydeSails  @RoosterKit

Report by Ralph Singleton

Day 3 and 4 - Saturday 7^th & Sunday 8^th Sept – by Tom Partington & Emma McEwen

Day 3

Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club survived an invasion of Power Rangers for the “Back to 1999” party on Friday evening.  The Millennium Dome arrived with a cassette tape.  A toddler had to show his ID at the bar to get served.  Prince was rumoured to be signing autographs on the dance floor?!  But it was Neo from “The Matrix” aka new Class Chair Dan Goodman who triumphed by being the lucky winner of the Hyde Sails spinnaker raffle winning a brand new spinnaker.  Thank you Hyde Sails!

Day three of the RS800 Volvo Noble Marine UK National Championships was always going to be the day to win, as more teams joined us for today’s special 20^th Anniversary Reunion Regatta.

We are delighted that Harken UK have sponsored not only the daily prizes but also the RS800 Reunion Regatta.  Many people were very keen to get their mitts on a pair of the highly desirable Harken Red Carbo Ratchamatic blocks by clinching a race win today…

The Reunion Regatta was part of this year’s special 20^th Anniversary celebrations and consisted of today’s three championship races, creating a mini-series with two races to count.  As the intended purpose of the event was to entice some old RS800 sailors back into a boat again after a number of years’ absence, a handicap system was devised to mix things up a bit.  So each team must count up to 20 extra points, in addition to their two best race results, determined by how many years it’s been since they last raced in an RS800 UK National Championship.  Surely this must have levelled the playing field for those whose RS800 days were but a distant happy memory until today; true performance equalisation! 

To encourage sailors on more of a budget to come and join in the RS800 circuit racing, Spinlock approached the class at the Dinghy Show earlier this year and suggested they sponsor an award to go to the first original-style-deck boat sailing with a pin-top main. The fabulous Spinlock 1999 Award was for a pair of Aero Pro PFDs as worn by TEAM INEOS and was being awarded to the top boat in this category from today’s Reunion Regatta.

“With the awareness of plastic waste and pollution in the world, it’s important we do as much as possible to repair and reuse older sails and hulls.  We are really pleased to support the original RS800 hulls and pin top mainsails at the 2019 Nationals with the “Spinlock 1999 Award” during the Reunion Regatta. ” explained RS800 sailor Ash Holmes from Spinlock.

So a smattering of sore heads emerged for a three race day in an 8 – 15 knot North Easterly forecast.  After a serious case of over enthusiasm and then a significant shift delaying the first start, the 47 boat strong fleet got away cleanly for the first race an hour behind schedule under a black flag.

Stevie Wilson and Harvey Hillary, and Rory Hunter and Steph Orton powered out of the start, closely chased by Team Partington.  Change was afoot; at the windward mark Stevie was pulled for being over the line and Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore, who had robbed a Hayling Island Sailing Club RS800 for a mast last night, started to show their form from last year to lead.  By the leeward mark Luke and Emma McEwen had stormed into the lead followed by Fiona Hampshire and Tim Gratton then Rory and Steph.

In the second race Stevie and Harvey powered into the lead up the beat only to be overhauled by Rory and Steph on the first run.  Rory and Steph held on tight to take their first win of the regatta.

By the last race the breeze had built to a solid 15 knots.  Pete Barton and Chris Feibusch were leading until the last hoist when they somehow managed to hook the spreader mark with their spinnaker sheet!! Luke and Emma who made the best of this with their victory.  Tom and Guy closed out an impressively consistent day with a second place and James Penty and Eddie Grayson rediscovered their Garda boat speed to take third place.

Overall it was a cracking day of extremely close racing throughout the fleet with the 20th Anniversary Dinner to look forward to this evening. We are excited that Phil Morrison, designer of our awesome boat, is guest of honour. The Eastbourne SSC committee have put a huge effort and masses of enthusiasm into tonight’s event and it promises to be really special.

Before then we will be treated to a glass or two of lovely wine from Sea Change Wines who we are delighted are sponsoring this party.

Day 4

The final day of the 20^th Anniversary RS800 UK National Championship: more sunshine, lighter breeze and a slightly earlier start to try to beat the afternoon forecast drop in wind.

A few might have woken up this morning and been quickly reminded that today’s racing was generously sponsored by Sea Change Wine… certainly everyone enjoyed sampling their fine products happily before last night’s Anniversary Dinner!

The fleet did an amazing job of transforming themselves from salty neoprene-clad dinghy sailors to glamorous diners for the black tie dinner at the neighbouring Beach Deck restaurant last night.  Perhaps a few were regretting packing a short dress but it did make it easier to compare number of bruises acquired on Friday…

Phil Morrison charmed us all with his reminiscing on the days of the RS800 design and development and even penned us a poem. Sadly Nick Peters couldn’t be at the event but luckily his daughter Frances was and she read out his words to us; it was great to find out more about his vision and how the RS800 came to be, 20 years ago.

The prize giving for yesterday’s Reunion Regatta was held at the dinner and the hotly contested day’s prizes from Harken UK and Spinlock were dished out…

The three race winner prizes (a pair of highly desirable Harken Red Carbo Ratchamatic blocks) went to:

• Race 1: Luke & Emma McEwen
• Race 2: Rory Hunter & Steph Orton
• Race 3: Tom Morris & Guy Fillmore

The strategically finishing 20^th place winners collecting Harken vouchers were:

• Race 1: Dan Goodman & Debbie Clark
• Race 2: Tim Gratton & Fiona Hampshire
• Race 3: Ben Palmer & Amy Seabright

Special mention and Harken prizes went to:

• The oldest boat racing: 834 sailed by Chris Matthews & Ali Hinds
• The most veteran team: Roger & Chris Plail with an impressive combined age of 126
• The sailor who has competed in the most Nationals: Andy Jeffries with a staggering 16!
• The sailor who attended the earliest Nationals: Paul Jenkins in 1999

Once the handicap Reunion points had been added to the scores, the winners of yesterday’s Reunion Regatta were:

• 1^st: Luke & Emma McEwen
• 2^nd: Rory Hunter & Steph Orton
• 3^rd: Tom Morris & Guy Fillmore

And the first original-deck boat sailing with a pin head main, receiving the Spinlock 1999 award, was 925 sailed by Simon Jenkins and James Arnott, incidentally runners-up in the Most Veteran Team award, making a comeback in the boat they’ve had from new after a 9-year break.

It was great to see so many sailors back to join the party and some seemed surprisingly reluctant to leave as the boom of doom made its appearance in the club for the third night in a row, keeping the bar buzzing until 2am!

Departure from the beach was fairly leisurely as many rightly predicted a tricky day of offshore breeze with some brain-frying shifts and holes in the wind. The scheduled two races had been upped to three in the hope to recover the one lost on Friday.

Based on Thursday’s racing in similar conditions, the smart money might have been on the left side of the beat but that was never going to be a given.  The race committee faced the challenge of setting the line square and the windward mark approximately to windward as some big shifts came through.  The black flag was ominously hoisted.

The first race started in a fresh force four but up the second beat it began to drop.  Keeping the boat moving in the variable breeze and sea chop was imperative and keeping your head while stuck in a hole was challenging!  The win was taken by Rob Gullan and Callum Healey, with Dan Goodman and Debbie Clark close on their heels sailing a fantastic race to get their best result of the championship.  Overnight leaders Luke and Emma McEwen were very happy to follow them in third while keeping an eye on where challengers Rory Hunter and Steph Orton were on the race course.  James Date and James Green showed their old skills were returning as they secured 4^th place.

As the second discard came in to play, a bit of mental maths was required to work out the standings and what was left to gain or lose …

The second race took a number of attempts to get away, during which a few boats were lost to the dreaded black flag. The wind was getting flakier by now and the third race of the day potentially unlikely, so all was to play for with this one.  Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore showed their true form after a disappointing start to the championship (involving a collision and holing and then a broken mast) by leading at the windward mark after a slow and difficult beat. They then managed to impressively defend against all comers on the downwind as the fleet split; banging right and left lay-lines to everywhere in between.  James Penty and Eddie Grayson had another good start but suffered on the run and Luke and Emma focussed on staying between Rory and Steph and the leeward mark.  As the wind dropped, the race team shortened the race to just one lap and as boats converged at the leeward mark there were opportunities to scramble a place or two back in the final gybes to the finish line.

With Tom and Guy finishing on a high in first, Ralph and Sophie Singleton used their superior pond skills wisely to move up to take 2nd with Ben Palmer and Amy Seabright in 3^rd.  Behind them both Paddy Gamble and Fiona Collins and Alex Benfield and Nick Ireland sailed a great race to get their best results of the championship.

The wind fizzled to sub-five knots as the final boats finished and it didn’t take long for the race committee to fly N over A and send us all (very slowly) home.  Plenty of time to reflect on a fantastic championship, sailed in not typical Eastbourne conditions but each day providing different and challenging racing from light and shifty to invigoratingly boisterous and some perfect nip-and-tuck adrenalin-fuelled racing in between.

So at the end of the day, Luke & Emma did enough to maintain their position at the top and regained the National Champions title they previously held in 2016, to their utter astonishment.  They had come to the event solely with the hope that Emma would be able to sail after sustaining an injury back in June, with the one wish to be on the water and enjoying the sailing.  A test sail on Wednesday had been terrifying for Emma but, when survived; reassuring that it was possible to race.  Perhaps zero self-pressure and happy vibes were the magic required for a winning formula.  And nice to know when you reach the ‘master’ category milestone that there is still all to play for!

Rory and Steph sailed fast and intelligently to improve on last year’s third place, finishing in second – undoubtedly ones to watch for the title next year. And Rob and Callum sailed consistently to complete the podium showing their improvement event on event.

Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club put on a fantastic championship with such attention to detail.  The members volunteering in the galley, on the beach, in the rescue boats, on the committee boat and behind the bar (250 G&Ts served at latest estimate!) were always smiling and welcoming.  The drone footage and photographs all taken by members captured some epic (and comedy) moments on the water.  From the awesome socials to the hard-fought and well run racing; their effort, enthusiasm and energy all paid off. The RS800 sailors have been treated to a very special event – thank you everyone at ESSC!

The class would also like to thank Clare Sargent, our wonderful secretary, for her massive amount of hard work in the lead up to this event and for enabling us to go out racing while she masterminds everything on shore.  We are very lucky to have her!

A HUGE thanks from the RS800 fleet to our headline long-term sponsors who keep our wonderful class association ticking year on year – Volvo and Noble Marine.  We couldn’t do it without you!

And to this year’s amazing daily sponsors for their generous donations of prizes for all race winners and 20^th place finishers – Rooster Sailing (days one and two) and Harken UK (day three) – there have been a lot of very happy sailors collecting their prizes each day.

Thank you to both Harken UK and Spinlock for your enthusiastic support of Saturday’s celebratory Reunion Regatta.

And thank you to Hyde Sails for their awesome giveaway of a new RS800 spinnaker to super-lucky prize-draw winner, our new Class Chairman, Dan Goodman.  The rest of the fleet will have to watch out as they’re now going to be whizzing past us downwind!

Massive thumbs up to Rooster for developing the cool Joey Bottle Holders we all now have securely strapped to our RS800s ensuring our water bottles remain with us and never, unintentionally end up in the sea.  Friday’s sailing certainly put them through rigorous product testing!

And to RS Sailing for really helping us party like it’s 1999 with free beers when we hit the beach after racing and giving us all the tunes from the band on Friday night.

Also, we have been very lucky to have been supported by Nairns Oat Cakes this week – keeping all the competitors and volunteers on the water fuelled with tasty savoury oat cakes and their delicious stem ginger biscuits.  Both are seriously moreish but healthy and nutritious – perfect sailing snacks and absolute biscuit-y winners!  Thank you Nairns!

And thank you to our own Maddie Fenner (unable to sail this week due to the recent arrival of new small crew) but who’s not only introduced us to Sea Change Wine and their delicious products but who’s own company, Wine Gift Centre, has also provided every competitor with a sustainably sourced cotton goody bag, a quirky Drop Stop® drip free wine pourer and an on-line discount voucher.  The Wine Gift Centre are the UK wine lovers’ leading provider of inspiring wine gifts and gadgetry.  We’ll look forward to seeing Maddie and Andy back on the water soon and meeting the new team member.

The 2020 RS800 UK Nationals will be at Exe Sailing Club from 10^th to 13^th September, book your holiday now!

Report by Tom Partington and Emma McEwen

RS800 Prize Winner List:

Hyde spinnaker draw won by Daniel Goodman

RS800 Volvo Noble Marine National Championship:

Top ESSC team:                                 Paul and Peter Jenkins from Eastbourne Sovereign SC

Top buddy team:                             Ben Palmer and Amy Seabright with Steve Cockerill and Dan Henderson

Top parent and child team:          Paul and Peter Jenkins from Eastbourne Sovereign SC

Endeavour Trophy:         (highest score completed all races) Richard and Ellie Smith from Wilsonian SC

1^st Silver team:                                  Alex Benfield and Nick Ireland from Stokes Bay SC

20^th overall:                                         Alex Benfield and Nick Ireland from Stokes Bay SC

1^st Youth Boat:                                   George Richards and Greg Brown from Lymington Town SC

1^st Youth Helm (under 22):           Cameron Moss from Lyme Regis SC

1^st Youth Crew (under 22):           Peter Jenkins from Eastbourne Sovereign SC

1^st Master Helm (over 44):           Luke McEwen from Royal Lymington YC

1^st Master Crew (over 44):           Emma McEwen from Royal Lymington YC

1^st Lady Helm:                                    Frances Partington from Hayling Island SC

1^st Lady Crew:                                    Emma McEwen from Royal Lymington YC

6^th place:                                              James Penty and Eddie Grayson from Beaver SC

5^th place:                                              Stevie Wilson and Harvey Hillary

4^th place:                                              Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore from Hayling Island SC

3^rd place:                                              Rob Gullan and Callum Healey from Hayling Island SC

2^nd place:                                             Rory Hunter and Steph Orton from Chichester YC

National Champions:                      Luke and Emma McEwen from Royal Lymington YC

RS800 Weekend:

1^st youth boat weekend:              George Richards and Greg Brown from Lymington Town SC

3^rd weekend:                                     Rory Hunter and Steph Orton from Chichester YC

2^nd weekend:                                     Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore from Hayling Island SC

1^st weekend:                                      Luke and Emma McEwen from Royal Lymington YC

Reunion Regatta sponsored by Harken:

Sailor at most Nationals:               Andy Jeffries from Eastbourne Sovereign SC with 16 Nationals

Sailor from earliest Nationals:     Paul Jenkins from Eastbourne Sovereign SC with 1999 the first Nationals

Most veteran team:                  Roger and Chris Plail from Eastbourne Sovereign SC with 126 years

Most vintage boat:                          RS800 834 Chris Matthews and Ali Hinds from Brightlingsea SC

1^st old deck and pin head mainsail “Spinlock 1999 Prize”:                  Simon Jenkins and James Neil Arnott from Newhaven and Seaford SC

20^th place:                                            Alex Benfield and Nick Ireland from Stokes Bay SC

3^rd place:                                   Tom Morris and Guy Fillmore from Hayling Island SC

2^nd place:                                             Rory Hunter and Steph Orton from Chichester YC

Winner:                                                Luke and Emma McEwen from Royal Lymington YC