Seven 500s arrived at Lymington town Sailing Club for the RS500 Grand Prix, the 5^th of 2011, including Kevin and William who deserved a medal for driving the 5hrs from Norfolk. (either they hadn�t seen the forecast, or they knew somehow that there would be wind!)  

The Race Officials managed to find enough wind to overcome the Solent tide, and so the racing was on.

The course was set to the East of Lymington and shared with the 800's and 600's, with 8knots of wind from the  South West and a strong tide.  

The first race started with a few late arrivals, who misjudged how long it takes to sail from Lymington to the Isle of Wight, a bit of confusion about the start sequence and the tide pulling boats over the start line.  Simon and Hope, and Richard and Sue had to go �around the ends�, and the end in question happened to be a fairly large yacht with an anchor rope, which took quite a while to get round.

The newly-weds James and Lucinda (Mr & Mrs Blain according to Lucinda) -  managed to get in front and keep there followed by Michael and Gareth from Pembrokeshire, and Mike and Sue from Datchet.   The second race started with a very strong tide and there were a few choices about which side of the course to go to maximise the benefits of the current.  But James and Lucinda again got another bullet with Richard and Sue from Burghfield very close on their transom.  On the third race Sue and Richard managed to scrape by to get a first.

On the Sunday everyone turned up to a bright Sunny Day with no wind.  The UK Met office predicted a variable 3 to 4 and Wind Guru predicted 2 -3 knots!   So it was a battle of the US and UK weather forecast models.  Luckily the UK weather model proved more reliable and there was a decent 12 knots from the South West, sunshine and some great sailing.  Certainly enough wind to  overcome the 3 knot tide!

The fourth race saw James and Lucinda again out in front but they were overtaken by Michael and Gareth and Sue and Richard.   At the first windward mark.  The ever observant Richard and Sue spotted the S flag raised on the committee boat and headed for the line so managed to get in front of Michael and Gareth, who opted for an extra lap.  James and Lucinda also went for the extra bit of sailing option, and this meant a first for Richard and Sue, second for Mike and Sue, and a third for Simon and Hope.  

Race five involved a large pile up at the leeward mark as people under predicted the tide and over predicted the wind and also the coming together of RS500 , 600 and 800s which caused a few places to be traded.  The race was won by Richard and Sue, with Michael and Gareth in second , and a third for locals Rebecca and Justin.

For the last race Richard and Sue had a commanding lead over the fleet but they still managed to keep their cool once again got their 4th bullet of the weekend.  Giving them overall first for the event.