Results / Bloody Mary Pursuit Race Queen Mary SC - 07/01/2012

RS 500’s @ Datchet Winter Warm-Up - February 2009

A total of 12 RS 500’s signed on for at least one race of the 2009 edition of the Datchet Winter Warm-Up Series held over the four Sundays of February.  Unfortunately the weather was not kind and only two boats did not count at least one DNC in their final results.  The competition was tough though with six 500’s out for many races in a start combined with as many as 19 other asymmetric boats.

The first Sunday dawned with an Easterly Force 6 and wind chill factors down to -7 C.  Of the 8 boats that were at the previous days training only three got on to the water.  Of these only one got to the start line and completed the first race of the series.  Alex Taylor and Bryan Mobbs came second of the four boats who completed the course on the Asymmetric start.  They were only just beaten on handicap by a 505!

After a week where the BBC reported the country closed down by snow the second Sunday saw the six boats that made it back to the club greeted by a total lack of wind.  Fortunately it started filling in after an hour’s postponement and by the end of the second race there was sometimes enough to trapeze.   Race 2 saw the biggest upset of the series with Datchet newcomers Ivo and Piran Tedbury taking the lead over circuit regulars Jeni and Kate Tod.  They managed to hold on to the finish leaving Michael Clapp and Mark Bond a distant third with the Surrey University boat of Peter and Elena Stroia-Williams close behind.  Some rig adjustments before Race 3 seemed to almost reverse the order.  The Tod sisters stormed away to gain first place setting the pattern for the rest of the series.  There was a close battle between the next three boats ending up with Clapp and Bond in second place.

The third Sunday was a little warmer with a force 2-3 from the first start.  Races 4 and 5 saw the return of Pete Mallaband and Lesley Bolton from the snow drifts of Gloucestershire and it was their turn to challenge the dominance of the Tod sisters.   Unfortunately they did not make it but they did secure second place in both races.  The standard pecking order in the results sheets from both races disguises the amount of place changes that were going on between third, fourth and fifth.  In Race 5 Clapp and Bond grabbed third place in the last 100 metres after languishing in fifth for most of the race.

The final weekend promised to provide the wind we were all after to improve our handicap standings.  Unfortunately it did not really arrive until the final race and then it was a little too gusty to be that useful.  Race 6 saw a windshift of forty degrees between the fast handicap and asymmetric starts which left the beats looking more like fetches.  Clapp and Bond managed to find the right position to keep out of the pack on the first lap and managed to keep ahead of the Tod sisters until the last run.  Then a mistaken decision to go right down the last half of the run and a spinnaker tear on the retrieval let the Tod sisters and Mallaband/Bolton through.

The final race was sailed in a very gusty force 4.  Clapp and Bond looked like they might be ready to challenge the leaders but a capsize to windward near the first mark ended that dream.   The Tod sisters again took the lead followed by Mallaband and Bolton.   So the final series scores gave Jeni and Kate Tod a glass for first place in the RS 500 fleet and one for fourth overall in the Asymmetric handicap fleet.

Our thanks go to Peter Short, the race officer, and his team for run a great set of races in some occasionally very tricky conditions.

Michael Clapp

RS 500 Fleet Rep DWSC.

Winter Warm Up Series 2009

RS 500 Class