The Rooster Elite One Design UK National Championships kicked off in Hayling Bay with dark clouds looming over the Isle of Wight.
After two races, defending National Champions; Russell Peters, Greg Wells and Zeb Elliot (1, 5) have a 2 point lead ahead of Mike McIntyre, Andre and Rob (2, 9).
In third are David Nicholls, David Watson and Nik Williams (2, 7) tied on 11 pts with Adrian Williams, Tim Peters and Andrew Jameson (3, 8).
During the racing winds flicked 30 degrees depending on which side of the course the rain clouds rolled and for the first race the wind swung right with the squall so the start line was re-laid.
Race one was a tussle between Russell Peters and David Nicholls off the line and remained that way for the leaders, with Williams, Peters and Jameson coming through to take third ahead of Ossie Stewart, Mr Baldrick and Jubby.
Race 2 saw different ‘faces’ at the front with Tom Hewitson, Jo Hewitson and Mike Saul leading from Joe Llwellyn, Matt Alvarado and Jerry Vigus second, just ahead of Eddie Warden-Owen crewed by Martin Hughes and Andy Gray.
While it looked like Tom Hewitson had the race in the bag, Joe Llwellyn pulled an aggressive move at the final leeward mark to blanket Hewitson’s wind and; sail over the top to win by a boat length.
Mike McIntyre moved into third ahead of James Yearsley, John Costard and Anna Wells, and held it to the finish.
Thursday’s forecast is looking very lively & very rainy so racing has been brought forward one hour to see if we can beat the blast.
Rooster Elite One Design UK Nationals after 2 races
1st 20 Russell Peters RTYC HISC – – 1 5 – – 6 pts
2nd 46 Mike McIntyre HISC – – 5 3 – – 8 pts
3rd 69 David Nicholls HISC – – 2 9 – – 11 pts
4th 76 Adrian Williams HISC – – 3 8 – – 11 pts
5th 7 Joe Llewellyn HISC – – 15 1 – – 16 pts
6th 67 Ossie Stewart HISC – – 4 12 – – 16 pts
7th 33 Edward Warden Owen Trearddur Bay SC – – 12 6 – – 18 pts
8th 15 Simon Childs HISC – – 11 7 – – 18 pts
9th 116 Tom Hewitson HISC – – 17 2 – – 19 pts
10th 66 Andy Partington Hisc – – 9 10 – – 19 pts
11th 92 James Yearsley Hisc – – 16 4 – – 20 pts
12th 65 Toby Strauss Hisc – – 7 15 – – 22 pts
13th 61 Matt Abbiss HISC – – 6 19 – – 25 pts
14th 44 Elliot Caldwell Hisc – – 8 18 – – 26 pts
15th 113 Martin Jones Itchenor – – 10 16 – – 26 pts
16th 83 Bill Blank RBYC – – 13 14 – – 27 pts
17th 107 Neil Fulcher Stone SC – – 20 11 – – 31 pts
18th 6 Adrian Ward HISC – – 19 13 – – 32 pts
19th 84 David Hitchcock HISC – – 14 20 – – 34 pts
20th 13 Graham Dale-Jones RBYC – – 18 17 – – 35 pts
21st 93 Simon Radford HISC – – 21 21 – – 42 pts
