Felixstowe Ferry SC laid on an epic weekend of racing in top-of-the-range conditions for the inaugural RS200 East and South East Area (EaSEA) Championships, presented by Sailing Chandlery. Apprehension in the boat park on Saturday morning soon turned into massive grins as the fleet got to grips with ripping down the steep east coast waves in gusts of up to 28 knots.
On Saturday streaks of white water and the wind reading on the committee boat confirmed it was indeed now a force 7 so after six laps (and as many capsizes for some) we headed in.
The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent sharing stories and technique tips over several shandies and a great curry in the club while the rain lashed the windows and the campers secured alternative accommodation.
Sunday saw the fleet launch and head to a different racing area in front of Bawdsey Manor in the hope of a more protected racing area. But being another breeze on day and with wind against tide, there were still large waves to contend with but today it was set to be two slightly longer laps.
After two exciting races in the final race of the day, following the huge shift and slight wind increase once again, the race committee called it a day after a weekend of battling wind and waves. I believe we can all agree that this race committee and safety team was the best we could have asked for, with their super fast turnarounds and pretty spot on courses - a massive thank you to all those involved in making it such great and safe racing.
The fleet returned to shore for a final pack up and prize-giving in the clubhouse with the overall results leaving Will Taylor & Bethan Matthew in top spot and being crowned EaSEA champions 2023!
Huge thank yous must go out to all at Felixstowe for the warm welcome and great racing, as well as tour sponsor Sailing Chandlery for the fab prizes, and not forgetting Andrew Wishart and Cameron Harris for organising such a great event.
With two events remaining on the tour, there's still lots to play for throughout the fleet in the overall tour results!
Round 7: Saturday 2nd September at Shoreham SC
Round 8: 30 September - 1 October at Grafham Water SC
Overall Results:
Place Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Net
1 1747 Will Taylor Bethan Matthew Lymington Town SC 1 1 (4) 2 2 6
2 439 Paris Thomas Marta Uncio Ribera Royal Thames YC 3 3 (9) 3 1 10
3 1700 Ben Whaley Lorna Glen Parkstone YC (DNC) 2 5 1 3 11
4 1564 David Jessop Alex Ling Grafham Water SC (DNF) 5 2 4 4 15
5 740 Ben Harden Lucy Ellery Burnham SC 4 6 3 5 (7) 18
6 785 Andrew Wishart Nina Luckmann Queen Mary SC 2 4 7 (DNF) 5 18
7 1350 Thomas Stewart Robert Stewart Waldringfield SC 5 8 1 7 6 19
8 433 Adam Fuller Aaron Wolf Orwell YC 7 (OCS) 6 6 8 27
9 1021 Cameron Harris Max Stennet Howard Waldringfield SC 6 (DNF) 10 8 9 33
10 985 Chris Jones Jenny Allen Waldringfield SC 7 9 8 (DNF) 10 34
11 1017 Matthew Riley Miranda Cook Eastbourne Sovereign SC 8 (DNF) DNS DNS DNS 50
12 909 James Hobson Kate Macadorey Warsash SC (DNS) DNS DNS DNS DNS 56
13 1142 Ben Alexander Tom Alexander Deben YC (DNS) DNS DNS DNS DNS 56
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