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

Noble Marine Rooster RS400 Nationals day 5 © Anne Ainsworth

Sam Knight and Chris Bownes win the Noble Marine Rooster RS400 Nationals © Steve Fraser

Thursday Evening ended with an excellent championship dinner and a traditional Scottish knees up to follow. This may have left a few weary heads on Friday morning!

Going into the final day of the national championships Christopher Eames and Rachel Tilley were sat in the hot seat, however with the prospect of the crucial eighth race bringing in the second discard meant a number of teams were still in with a shout of taking the title.

Sailors were greeted on Friday morning to the Haar (sea fret) which led to a postponement. Many whispers around the dinghy park suggested that we may not be going sailing today, or was that more down to the fact that the committee boat was left moored high and dry on the hard with the tide out... The standout duckhams nomination of the week!

After around an hour postponement the haar lifted and we were given the green light to launch into a light North easterly breeze. The first race got under way first time and as sailors progressed up the first beat, those sailors who favored the left hand side were rewarded with a large left hand shift lifting them to the windward mark in a ripping flood tide making it somewhat difficult to lay the mark from the starboard lay line as it felt like you were constantly getting sucked down to leeward.

Angus Marshall and Ellen Clark led for the final two laps of the race whilst being cheered on their fellow sailors only to have it cruelly snatched from them on the final gybe to the line by the Robertsons! Angus and Ellen took second place followed by an excellent third by Ronald Millar and Fraser Mulford.

Race 9 got under way under a black flag after a general recall and it again seemed to pay to go left up the beat which created a hectic game of chicken sailing down the port hand lay line against the boats coming the other way down towards the spreader mark.

After three laps in a shifty and puffy wind it was Sam Knight and Chris Bownes who took the bullet from Jon Gay and Amanda Henderson with Jamie Calder and Keith Bedborough coming through in third.

This then left Sam and Chris 5 points behind Chris and Rachel with the potential of one race remaining in the series, however only 15 minutes from the cut off time for the final race... DRAMA!

Noble Marine Rooster RS400 Nationals day 5 - photo © Anne Ainsworth

As the final race went into sequence, there was a 20 degree right hand shift which led to the start being postponed as the course was frantically re-layed. The race eventually got under way with only 3 minutes left before the cut off.

As with the previous two races, there were some big shifts and pressure differential across the course making for what I imagine would be quite a stressful race if you were challenging for the top.

Sam and Chris did all they could by winning the race, as they looked back to count positions between themselves and Christopher and Rachel, they had done enough to snatch victory! The Robertsons crossed in second followed by Jamie Calder and Keith Bedborough who both had a solid day of results.

After a challenging day on the water, Christopher and Rachel came through to take a well-earned second overall in one of the tightest finishes to a Nationals that we have seen in many years. Jamie Calder and Keith Bedborough finished an impressive third overall in what was their first RS400 nationals together.

At the prize-giving Sam thanked all the volunteers at East Lothian Yacht club who have put on an outstanding Nationals on and off the water whilst also thanking his crew Chris and his family for allowing him to devote so much time to their sailing this year.

It's safe to say that Sam and Chris are worthy winners this year as they showed consistent form right through the wind range. See you at Mount's Bay next year (31st July-4th August)!

Overall Results:

First Silver Fleet: Roo Purves & Callum Gibb, Largo Bay SC
First Bronze Fleet: Rory Ferrier & Ben, East Lothian YC
First Lady Helm: Hester Robertson
First Lady Crew: Rachel Tilley
First Youth: Roo Purves
First Grand Master and First Master: Stewart & Sarah Robertson
Winner of Loving Cup: Christopher Eames & Rachel Tilley
Endeavour prize: Mike Grant & Alan Birse

Noble Marine Rooster RS400 Nationals day 5 - photo © Steve Fraser