Results / Lyme Regis Regatta Lyme Regis SC - 05/08/2017

Photo: Jess Douglas

Round 5 Magic Marine RS800 Grand Prix – Lyme Regis

The 5^th round of the Magic Marine Grand Prix was held at Lyme Regis as part of their annual regatta. The format for the event was a little different as a consequence. On Saturday 3 races were scheduled with 2 on Sunday. The second race on Sunday was to be an all in handicap race that was non discardable with the 800s competing against a number of top Fireball helms practicing for their European championships to be held later in the month. As a consequence of this the 800s unusually were not allowed to touch the marks (without penalty) and had to accept 720 turns rather than a 360 turns for infringements.

On arrival we were greeted with bright sunshine and a brisk breeze coming in over the west of Lyme Bay. As a consequence the wind was exceptionally variable which made for some very exciting sailing. Before the first race the fleet was treated to a shower (normally taken after the racing) which dumped the best part of an inch of rain on the competitors in about 10 minutes. The squall which came with it capsized half the fleet as well.

The first race got away under the I flag and saw a couple of boats having to return to restart. This did not make too much difference as the boats with best start ended up toward the back round the first windward mark. Luke and Emma McEwen managed to sort the shifts out taking the first bullet of the day, with Ralph and Sophie Singleton taking second (despite thinking  they may have been OCS) and Andrew Blundell and Maddie Fenner taking 3^rd. Race 2 saw a material increase in the wind strength which became on the verge of being described as “survival conditions”. Luke and Emma led most of the way round but with the wind increase came a direction change requiring a quick gybe after the last windward mark. Fortunately for the Singletons who were hot on their heels Luke and Emma went into submarine mode allowing the Singletons to gybe set blast and away across Lyme Bay to the leeward mark and take the win. Luke and Emma recovered to finish second with Andy and Allyson Jeffries taking 3^rd. The last race saw a return to more manageable conditions. Andy and Allyson who have recently returned from the Moth Worlds (the first race was my first sail in a foiling Month was the quote form Andy!!) put the foils on the 800 and showed the fleet a clean pair of heels. Luke and Emma took 2^nd and Ella & James Moreland took third.  So after day one we had three different race winners, a close fight at the top, one broken pintle and one damaged crew. Debbie Clark was a casualty of race two and will being nursing black eye this week. We all wish her well.

After much partying and a fantastic Bar B Que organised by the great team at Lyme Regis Sailing club the crews retired for a much needed sleep. Sophie Singleton travelled back to Bristol for a wedding reception, got back at 2am and still managed to make to the start on Sunday morning. The sun was out and with the wind now having more south in it the fleet was set for 2 cracking races. Race 1 started off in choppy conditions making power important for the first couple of laps before the wind picked up again. Luke and Emma lead the fleet around again with Andy and Allyson in hot pursuit, taking second and Ella and James sailing consistently to take another 3^rd. The next 4 boats were involved in a photo finish with Ralph and Sophie being to windward and perhaps attracting the eyes of the recorders first, taking 4^th from Joe and Will, Chris and Nick and the Moss duo.  Now for the all in handicap race with the other fleets which included 7 top Fireballs, 4 Merlin Rockets including class legends Jon Turner and Mike Calvert)  and half dozen cruisers so the start line was an interesting place to be. Several of the 800s got a clean start as the wind started to build to a force 4-5. The second  leg of the “P” course was too tight for the 800s but it was relatively short meaning that the course and the wind was just about perfect for the 800s. Andy and Allyson lead for a couple of laps with Luke and Emma trying everything to get past them. Ralph and Sophie  (had woken up by now) were admiring the battle  a little further back. A gybing dual at 20 knots as they went through the start/ finish line (with Fireballs coming the other way) saw Luke and Emma finally take the lead which they held until the end. Andy and Allyson took 2^nd with the Singletons 3^rd.  On handicap the first 3 800s took the Regatta with Matt Burge and Dan Scheiber taking 4^th, Our hosts for the weekend , Cameron and Darrol Moss taking 5^th in their 800 and Derian (the country’s leading lady fireball helm) and Andy Scott taking 6^th. Six out of the top 10 were 800s with the Commodore commenting that the 800s looked magnificent as they blasted downwind across the bay in front of 1000’s of tourists enjoying the Lyme Regis carnival which will also host the Red Arrows this week.

So overall another convincing win for the McEwans, with the Jefferies in second and the Singletons in 3^rd. The top 5 boats were all male / female partnerships with a variety of set ups regarding the centre main sheeting which now allows for crew sheeting. A big thank you to the race team which set some great courses and to the club for the great hospitality.  We wish them well for what should be a great Fireball European Championships.

The next event is the national championships which start on the 21^st of September at Stokes Bay. Local whizz kid Steve Cockerill (current RS Aero world champion!!) will be joining us. Steve is currently at the 2000 nationals which must mean he has done more championships this year than the rest of the fleet put together. At least he won’t need to lean out this time !!! It looks like being a great event combined with the RS700s so look forward to seeing everyone there.

Ralph Singleton

Final Results below: