Noble Marine Rooster RS400 National Championships at East Lothian Yacht Club - Day 1

Noble Marine Rooster RS 400 National Championships - Day 1 © Steve Fraser

It's a long way, they said, but it's worth it. To be honest it didn't even feel that far, but what a place and what a forecast. Sun and wind - for the next few days at least!

RS400s started drifting into the picturesque town of North Berwick from Wednesday onwards, as some crews took the opportunity to enjoy what the town has to offer before the serious business starts on Monday.

By Sunday afternoon most of the RS400 fleet was assembled in the dinghy park, with the hum of activity whilst sailors slowly went about their business of faffing and fettling (what could be better), whilst catching up with old friends, and meeting new ones. All this with a clear blue sky and the beautiful backdrop of the Firth of Forth.

Noble Marine Rooster RS400 National Championships - Day 1 - photo © Steve Fraser

Many crews gathered in the yacht club in the evening for an entertaining and informative tactics talk by ex-RS400 sailor and multiple championship OOD, Jim Sinclair, before a quick beer or two and complementary scotch pie before heading off for some dinner.

Monday morning saw more blue sky and a stiff westerly breeze. The fleet was released promptly from the beach at 12:15, ahead of the scheduled 13:00 start, as they sailed to the eastern bay with the imposing backdrop of Bass Rock.

It soon became apparent that there wasn't quite as much wind as people were expecting on the beach, but there was still a decent F4.

Noble Marine Rooster RS400 National Championships - Day 1 - photo © Steve Fraser

The first race started cleanly in almost perfect conditions as most of the fleet headed left, heeding the advice from the evening's tactics talk, with wind convergence and less tide towards the shore being too much to miss out on. Downwind was less prescriptive, with competitors taking their own decisions and position changes being more frequent.

Christopher Eames and Rachel Tilley from Queen Mary SC extended their lead on the last lap to take the win ahead of Sam Knight and Chris Bownes from Bartley SC. Behind them the scrap for positions was tight with Steve and Sarah Cockerill from Stokes Bay taking third place. Stewart and Sarah Robertson from Royal Forth Yacht club suffered for the chaos at the last mark, having to drop the kite and complete a penalty turn before crossing the line, losing a couple of places in the process.

The second race got off promptly and like clockwork the fleet headed left, with more confidence than in race one. Sam and Chris played a few shifts on the top half of the beat to round the windward mark in first place and extended their lead to take the win ahead of Christopher and Rachel. Neil McLellan and Hannah Robertson from Dalgety Bay SC recovered from a snapped wing-wang line in the first race to take third place ahead Phil Murray and Neil Schofield from Tynemouth SC.

Overnight Sam and Chris and Christopher and Rachel are tied on points, with the rest of the fleet with work to do to keep them in their sights.

Results after day 1: