Gul RS800 National Champs, Day 5

Overcast skies and a south-westerly force 4 gave true skiff conditions back to the RS 800 fleet, in which to decide their National title. Entering the last day there had been a lot of talk about the fact that if overnight leader Geoff Carveth could win, this would have given him the 200, 400 and 800 title over the years. Few people realised that Craig Davies his crew, was attempting to defend the RS 800 title, having won it the previous year with Mike Lennon. It was Carveth and Lennon who could still win this years title, with Steve Irish as an outside contender and needing two top two results to pose a threat. With the familiar black flag on the start, the fleet got away in twin trapeze conditions and fought for the favoured left hand side. Emerging from the leeward end of the line, Chris Haworth was first into the port lift, tacked, and cleared the fleet. He never looked back after rounding the windward mark and extended his lead throughout the race. However, the interest was further back in the fleet where the battle between, Carveth, Lennon and Irish was focused on 6th place. By the end Carveth had both Lennon and Irish just behind him, when a slip saw him fall out the back of the boat. He finally finished in 11th, which gave him a three point lead over Mike Lennon and Nicky Griffin, with Irish and Gotrel now out of the running and focused on keeping third. For the final race Carveth chose not to match race Lennon, who had an inferior discard, but simply to sail his own race. Punching out from the leeward end, he was first into the left hand side and never looked back. The fight was now on for the minor positions, with both Lennon and Irish in the top 4 or 5 boats. There were a few surprises yet in store, as Irish broke his rudder pintle while in second place. With Mike Lennon comfortably in third place the event was all but over with Carveth just needing to stay in the boat to take the title. Carveth crossed the line to take the title by five points from Lennon by recording his fifth race win of the week. James Date failed to capitalise on the bad fortune of Irish, but can be very pleased with his fourth place in his first RS 800 Nationals. Geoff Carveth has now won the 200 and 400 as well as the 800, but remember the crews as Craig Davies has successfully defended his title and must now be one of the most sought after crews in the fleet.