Results / Gul RS Sprint Champs Rutland SC - 04/11/2006
Great photos on www.chunkypics.co.uk
Gul kindly sponsored the last large RS Association event of 2006, the RS
Sprint Championships at Rutland SC on 4th November. The event was a
departure from the standard two-day six-race format:
- fifty-one boats across six RS classes all racing on a single
course
- single-class flights of up to eight boats each
- crash-and-burn fifteen minute races
- high-points scoring with no discards
- a qualification series in the morning followed by class finals in
the afternoon
This was a challenging format for organisers and the sailors alike, not
least running 45 separate starts on one of the shortest days of the
year! The course consisted of beat-reach-run-reach-beat (in the shape of
an �S� on its side) with a separate start and finish. The RS800s
performed an additional beat-run in the middle to give everyone similar
length races. Rolling starts were at three minute intervals with the
slower boats starting first. Once the last fleet was away, a short
postponement permitted the race committee to reset before starting the
entire sequence over again.
This challenging format was a resounding success, due largely to the hard
work and enthusiasm of Rutland�s PRO Ralph Tingle and his team, and the
pre-event preparation and liaison led by Jon Lewis from the RS200 fleet.
A three-race qualification series took place before lunch and, while the
sailors enjoyed Rutland�s excellent hospitality, the fleets were re-
seeded for the afternoon three-race finals series.
The new format proved to be a great success and will surely be repeated
sometime next year. The top two boats in each flight of each fleet
received prize vouchers from sponsors Gul:
The Gul RS Sprint Championships was followed by the RS Ball at the
Barnsdale Lodge Hotel on the northern side of Rutland Water. This was a
great venue for the Ball which included a fine meal, prizegivings and
giveaways from circuit sponsor Fat Face, and dancing until the early
hours to a live band.
This successfully rounds off another fantastic year for the RS
Association, with record-breaking turnouts in many fleets, some great new
venues visited along with old favourites, a welcome resurgence in the
RS300 fleet, and the addition of the new RS500 to the RS Association
fold. With circuits and championships being finalised for next year (and
beyond) we look forward to a bumper 2007!
1. RS 800 1083 Spod Olive Jane Olive 800/7 1 3 3 3 9
2. RS 800 1076 Rob Watson James Holmes 800/7 2 1 2 2 5
3. RS 800 989 Ben Schooling Tim Hirst 800/7 3 2 0 0 2
4. RS 800 1001 Mike Hart Sally Kilpartick 800/7 4 0 1 1 2
5. RS 800 922 Ian Paterson Carol Paterson 800/7 5 DNC DNC DNC 0
6. RS 800 1055 Greg Liggins Dan Perry 800/7 5 0 0 DNC 0
7. RS 800 1084 Peter Clapton Thomas Clapton 800/7 5 0 0 0 0
8. RS 800 1087 Mick Whitmore Sarah Smith 800/7 5 0 0 0 0
9. RS 800 1114 Andy Jeffries Allyson Ody 800/7 5 0 0 0 0