Rope4Boats RS400 Southern Tour Finale at Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club

 

A mixture of varied conditions greeted those sailing at Island Barn on Saturday, there was sun and rain, zephyr sailing, light breezes and even a little bit of hiking. The fleet mix encompassed 20 somethings to Octogenarians, Olympic Medallists and beginners to performance dinghy racing. Breakfast, lunch and Island Barns' famous cream tea were welcomed.

Sailors were eager to get racing and a general recall was called and as billed the I flag was flown for all subsequent races. Top spots were taken by Fairbrother, Halhead and Pickering.

For race 2, the wind became zephyr on the final run, where skill, nerve and a modicum of luck were required. The Whitmore's had a good race with Fairbrother, Whitmore and Pickering taking top spots

After race two there was a civilised break ashore for lunch.

Race 3 was defined by a significant shift early on, that turned beats into fetches and runs into reaches, this left some smelling of roses and others not having their usual race positions. However the top spots played out as you might expect with Halhead, Fairbrother and Pickering in 1, 2, 3.

In the 4th and final race, top spots were Walker, Halhead and Ryder. The local boat had a good one here, I can attest it was somewhat stressful on board on the last lap, with the crew being asked many more complex questions than usual.

Thank you to Rope for Boats for sponsoring the 2023 Southern Tour. Plans are already afoot for next year's Southern Tour. Overall results for this season's tour and plans for next year to follow very shortly.

Overall Results:

Pos Sail No Helm Crew Club R1 R2 R3 R4 Pts

1st 1481 Howard Fairbrother Louise Hosken Lymington Town SC 1 1 2 ‑7 4

2nd 1535 Tom Halhead Paul Hilliar Llandegfedd 2 ‑4 1 2 5

3rd 1235 Sam Pickering Emily Heath Ichenor / Chase SC 3 3 3 ‑4 9

4th 1312 Ian Walker Anna Warren Warsash Sailing Club ‑6 5 4 1 10

5th 1548 Mick Whitmore Sarah Whitmore Eastbourne Sovereign SC 4 2 ‑6 5 11

6th 1447 Dave Ryder Michelle Ryder Island Barn 5 ‑6 5 3 13

7th 1435 Matthew Sheahan Ellie Sheahan Warsash ‑7 7 7 6 20

8th 675 Mike Jones Mike Barrett Island Barn 8 8 ‑10 10 26

9th 1470 Ian Peace Uta Grisenbach Island Barn (DSQ) 9 8 9 26

10th 1324 Richard Watney Grant Shoebridge Hayling Island (DSQ) 10 9 8 27

11th 1521 Mike Curtis Fiona McFadden Island Barn (DNC) DNC DNC DNC 42

11th 954 Katy Hanton tba Emsworth Slipper (DNC) DNC DNC DNC 42

11th 964 Kasra Daneshkhah Charisios Giraleas Island Barn (DNC) DNC DNC DNC 42