Rutand SC Open - 25 - 26 March

Sailing Photos from Martin Hollingshead, final shot from Paul Manning

The MPS season started with a great weekend of racing at Rutand on the 25 & 26th.

The Saturday started in medium breezes with the first race won by current national champion Ian Trotter, followed home by Gold Cup holder Richard Stenhouse and Tim Chapman who sneaked passed Rick Perkins as he capsized on the final gybe. The second race was won by Stenhouse, followed by Trotter and Perkins; race three was a repeat of race two. The final race of the day was sailed in slightly lighter breeze with the windward mark close into the clubhouse leading to some interesting shifts running into the mark. A classic "lock up" between Stenhouse and Dave Poston gave the rest of the fleet a good laugh. During the day most sailors showed at the font of the fleet at some point but the performance of ex-RS600 sailor Gareth Davies was very impressive scoring a 2nd and two 4ths; one to watch.

In the evening the fleet gathered to watch video of the day taken by Paul Manning; the top sailors gave their opinions and advice. Paul then hosted a Q&A session were the overnight leaders fielded questions from the fleet. This will be a regular feature where time allows as the fleet is very open at offering advice to help all improve their standard.

The fleet then all enjoyed a meal together before a few beers followed by bed.

The next morning was an early start due to the clocks going forward; the brisk breeze soon had every one awake as the fleet sped towards the start at warp factor 9.

The racing was delayed a little to allow the 49er fleet to get it's self sorted; eventually four 49er's started then the Musto fleet was able to get away.

The Sundays racing was characterized by a fine showing from Stenhouse and some rusty antics from those who has spent their winters dreaming of sunshine.

Despite the strong conditions again new faces found the front to the fleet with Neil Ashby clocking up a 2nd and a 3rd and Gareth Davies a 2nd in the last race.

Some of the old hands also showed good form is patches; of particular note was Tim Chapman's storming performance in race 6 where he pushed Sten hard for the lead until he decided to check for weed on the final gybe; a well set example that Perkins followed to conceed the lead in the 7th race.

All in all the fleet enjoyed a good event with 8 races sailed over two days. Rutland SC ran a great event with minimal waiting between races - thanks from the MPSCA to Rutland.

Overall Results.

1 - Richard Stenhouse
2 - Ian Trotter
3 - Rick Perkins
4 - Ant Chapman
5 - Dave Poston
6 - Gareth Davies

Full Results >>>