TridentUK RS400 Northern Tour at Tynemouth Sailing Club
by Neil Schofield 19 Jun 2023 23:25 NZST
17-18 June 2023
RS400 open meeting at Tynemouth © Francesco Ferretti
Thirteen boats had entered this years Tynemouth RS400 Open sailed over the 17th and 18th June: four visitors and eight local boats. Conditions looked light but the sun was shining and we were joined by a pod of dolphins swimming through the fleet on at least one occasion.
The first race was in 5/7 knots from the SE, with a strong tide running to the south the key was to get left of the start to maximise the tidal effect, although Carl Whitehead & Carol Milner had a brilliant first beat rounding the windward mark in third having gone hard right up the beat.
Ollie Groves & Esther Parkhurst were leading the fleet round followed closely by Phil Murray & Neil Schofield, with a tight battle in the midfleet going on with Andy & Alex Brown pushing ahead of the pack to sit in third which is how the results stayed after two laps.
Race 2 was more of the same but with a fading breeze on the last lap all was to play for, with Groves & Parkhurst sneaking the win from Murray/Schofield then a gap behind as the wind veered and died making the run to the finish line very difficult against the tide. Brown & Brown took third again.
With little sign of more breeze our PRO Howard Stevenson sent the fleet back ashore to enjoy a few beers and a chilli from the club.
Sunday brought four races, this time in the South Bay.
Race 3 started in a fickle 5 knot breeze. The fleet was tightly compact over the first two legs until Jacob Ainsworth & Kayleigh Roberts emerged ahead on the second lap which they took to the finish. They were followed by the pack lead by Murray & Schofield and Alex Oyston & Catherine Hide sailing well downwind for third.
The wind started to build and race 4 was started in 8 knots. The tide was less apparent than day 1 but the previous order was resorted. Groves & Parkhurst led from lap two to the finish, Murray & Schofield close behind in second with Brown & Brown coming in third.
Race 5 brought a steady and strengthening breeze and some hiking was had. The wind was up to 11 knots for races 5 and 6 making the sailors work hard upwind but they were not rewarded with any downwind planing. Groves & Parkhurst stole a march on field and led from mark 1 to the finish. Mark Powell & Elspeth Keating showed strong improvement over the weekend to take second place in the race with Brown & Brown in third.
Race 6 was similar to race 5: hard upwind racing with small gaps coming from speed rather than tide or shifts. Groves & Parkhurst not having it all their own way with Murray & Schofield leading for 1.5 laps, but succumbed to the pressure of Groves & Parkhurst who slipped by at the top mark.
Brown & Brown and Powell & Keating had a close race for third decided on the final leg with team Brown & Brown coming out on top.
As this was the Northern Tour, sponsored by Trident UK, there were vouchers won by:
£20 Alex Oyston
£15 Phil Murray
£10 Richard Fahey
A great weekend's racing with a full series of six races completed. Congratulations to Ollie & Esther who sailed great all weekend and came first overall.
Overall Results:
Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts |
1 | 1362 | Ollie Groves | Esther Parkhurst | Beaver SC | 1 | 1 | ‑6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
2 | 1398 | Philip Murray | Neil Schofield | Tynemouth SC | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑4 | 2 | 10 |
3 | 1032 | Andrew Brown | Alex Sutcliffe | Tynemouth SC | 3 | 3 | ‑4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
4 | 1410 | Jacob Ainsworth | Kayleigh Roberts | Tynemouth SC | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | ‑6 | 5 | 19 |
5 | 1370 | Mark Powell | Elspeth Keating | Helensborough SC | ‑6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 21 |
6 | 1414 | Alex Oyston | Catherine Hide | Tynemouth SC | 4 | 6 | 3 | ‑8 | 5 | 7 | 25 |
7 | 1427 | Carl Whitehead | Carol Milner | Filey SC | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | ‑9 | 8 | 37 |
8 | 1513 | Neil Parkhurst | Ian Parkhurst | Beaver SC | 8 | 8 | (RET) | 9 | 7 | 6 | 38 |
9 | 1437 | Justin Smith | Sarah Batchelor | Tynemouth SC | (DNS) | DNS | 7 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 44 |
10 | 1003 | Phil Cowans | Lynne Murray | Tynemouth SC | 12 | (DNF) | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 52 |
11 | 519 | Sam Heaney | Andrew Nel | Tynemouth SC | 11 | (DNF) | 9 | 11 | 11 | DNS | 56 |
12 | 1207 | Rob Holmes | John Pitkethley | Tynemouth SC | 9 | (DNF) | DNF | DNS | DNS | DNS | 65 |
13 | 810 | Richard Fahey | Jonny Holliday | Tynemouth SC | 10 | (DNF) | DNC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 66 |