SAILING NEWS
News 16
RS700 Winter
Works starts
Championships
at Oxford SC
13 years late
THIS was inland sailing at its massive gust on approach to the
best/worst depending on your mark. This let Jon through to
point of view. You can't avoid chase James, who was leading
the massive wind shifts and the the fleet. Mike recovered just
random gusts, so be happy there ahead of Chris in 4th and these
was lots of wind rather than positions were held until the fin-
none! ish.
12 Boats made the trip to The fleet then headed off into
Oxford SC and for two boats the the centre of town and had a
start of race 1 never quite came. very acceptable evening sam-
James Ross tried an interesting pling some of the local ales and
spinnaker set up and was seen making the best of the Bangers
fleeing for the shore in order to and Mash on offer, before retir-
save race 2. Oxford local Jamie ing for the night. Over night the
Fergusun was a touch unlucky as winds did howl and the rain did
he wound the power on for the fall leaving a number of sailors
start his clew tie down went for wondering if they should have
an early shower. tied there boats down more
One of the major talking points securely.
after the race was a moving Sunday proved to be a change
windward mark, enabling those of pace with a light and shifty
that spotted it to tack early mak- breeze along with miserable rain.
ing considerable gains. Most James Ross stuck with his pin
sailors managed to practice their end start and gambled the left
swim strokes at some point in side of the course with the best
this race., big gusts at seemingly of the rest taking the middle or
random angles making life excit- right. Ross just scraped round in
ing if not necessarily comforta- the lead but was soon rolled by
ble. Mike Dencher on the run. The
At the finish Nigel Walbank fleet split and the rapid Heissig
made the most of the conditions took breeze on the left to get to
with Jon Heissig closing fast for the leeward mark early. Jon kept
2nd. Rob Jones crept through for the lead with Mike Dencher in
YDSC: Better late than never - work starts on the new clubhouse.
3rd after swimming on the first second and some capsizes let
downwind leg and going for dis- Ross through to 3rd.
THE members, visitors and all of the people who are lot of hard work later they have finally achieved
cretion over valour; leaving the Unfortunately the stalwart Niigel
introduced to sailing and windsurfing by the their goal and work has now begun on the much
kite in the chute whilst those in Walbank was injured out with a
Yorkshire Dales Watersports Partnership now have anticipated building which will be situated right on
front went for a swim. bruised rib.
something to smile about. the waters edge to provide great spectator viewing.
For the second race the relative- The breeze had picked up for
Thirteen years ago Leeds Sailing Club (later chang- The £650k project is funded by a Sport England
ly small size of Farmoor reser- race 5 and with it the eagerness
ing its name to YDSC) moved from their home at grant of £245k which was generously donated last
voir coupled with the strong F4/ of the fleet. The OCS gun fired
Thruscross reservoir to sail on the much larger water year, hard earned club savings, a mortgage from the
F5 winds justified the race com- as Ross pushed Mike Dencher
at Grimwith set high on the hills in the heart of the Alliance & Leicester and other grants and loans.
mittee setting 6 laps of the wind- over the line. Most of the Pin
Yorkshire Dales. Expectation at the time was that it Sport England and the RYA recognised the commit-
ward leeward course. The com- end boats including Heissig
would not be too long until they would build new ment within the club and this combined with the
petitors viewed this with trepida- incorrectly thought they were
permanent club facilities with changing rooms, res- excellent water and the huge potential to attract new
tion, knowing how many times OCS and ducked back. Ross
cue boat storage, galley and a clubroom. people to the sport secured their support.
that meant they were going to rounded the windward mark first
Little did the club members and users of the water The club’s Commodore, Jonathan Lister started the
have to perform a direction again (with Tony Dencher on his
realise what an uphill struggle it would be to raise construction project by digging the ‘first cut’ in mid
change during the race! heels) but suffered kite issues at
the necessary funds, obtain planning permission and November and the build is now in full swing. Both
Left side seemed to pay off at the leeward mark and let the
cut through the red tape required to construct a he and the project management team running the
the start as there was a lift to the chasing pack through. Steve
building in the National Park. This has forced the project expect the building, which will be heated by
port lay line into the mark. Marshall was seen leading the
club to use a collection of portakabins and temporary an environmentally friendly ground source heating
Downwind was a matter of race but like Ross got caught out
'buildings' for over a decade, but despite this the club system to be completed and fully operational this
being in the right place at the with kite drops on the tight
has somehow continued to run high class racing, coming summer.
right time to stay in the best course. The patchy wind allowed
producing a good number of national champions as 'Watersports are an excellent way for people of all
winds. the ever persistent Heissig to get
well as providing entry level introductory sailing and ages to get fit and stay physically and mentally
Jon Heissig, James Ross, Mike back in and take first again.
windsurfing lessons. Last year the lack of a perma- active’, Jonathan commented. ‘The construction of
Dencher and Chris Allen were Race 6 saw a mix of boats in
nent building came to a head when the clubs right to these new facilities will allow many new people in
some of the first boats around the action with rapid perform-
use the water was threatened as their temporary plan- the area to take part in watersport as well as assist
the windward mark and jostled ances from Weston's Rob Jones
ning permission for the temporary buildings was the development of those already taking part.
for the lead throughout the race and Ian Nolan in the mix up the
about to expire and would not be renewed. Together with our partner organisations GYBE and
with much place changing. At beat. This regatta though was all
Keen to keep the right to sail, attract more people to Bewerly Park Outdoor Centre we are already experi-
the sixth and final rounding of about catching the gusts down
the water and to sport, a very dedicated core team encing a surge in newcomers to both sailing and
the leeward mark, Jon rounded wind. Gear failure from Jones let
with support from all of the other club members windsurfing and we expect the number of partici-
first and crossed the line. He the usual suspects of Heissig and
made it their mission to finally overcome these pants to significantly increase. This is the start of a
was followed by Mike approach- Dencher through whilst James
obstacles and construct a clubhouse which is fitting very exciting new era for the Yorkshire Dales
ing on the starboard lay line just Ross defended his third position
with the regional significance of the water. They Watersports Partnership'.
ahead of James on the port. counting the points.
were also now desperate to get some better changing Yorkshire Dales would like to thank everyone who
Mike dropped his kite and then Overall Jon Heissig was just too
facilities with showers! has been involved in getting this project to this stage,
capsized gibing around the mark, cool in the shifty breeze to make
Thirteen years (a long time without a shower) and a the results will be worth the wait!
letting James through into 2nd. many mistakes and took the
Mike recovered just in time to regatta. James Ross back on
take 3rd ahead of Steve form just squeezed 2nd on count
Marshall, Chris having also cap- back from Mike Dencher in 3rd.
Make the most of your RS by
sized on the downwind leg. Chris Wright kept 4th after his
The last race of the day followed slick starts on day1 to take the
joining the Class Association
a similar format to race 2 with Silver fleet prize from Gary
the same group jostling for the Austin, followed by a whole
Ra
cing
lead. Lying second on the stream of boats on similar Top class racing circuit and
Discover a wealth of RS information – visit
penultimate lap, Mike once points. D I B N Q J P O T I J Q T r D M B T T U S B J O J O H
again capsized at the leeward This Regatta shows what great
r U V O J O H B E W J D F r D I B U G P S V N r
www.rs-association.com or call the RS Of_f_ice
mark, this time with the kite up, 700 racing can be had on a tight
V O C F B U B C M F T P D J B M T r E J T D P V O U
after being overwhelmed by a
W P V D I F S T r O F X T M F U U F S T
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inland course.
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