Sailing Today
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The RS200 associations e-Newsletter		July/August 2006 edition
RS200 Breaking News... The RS Ball 2006 dates are now set! The 2006 RS200 UK GUL National Championships is just over 1 month away! Just over a week to Garda! Next Fat Face event is Hayling Island in September!
Welcome Welcome to the second addition of RS200 Sailing Today, the new planned regular e-newsletter from the RS association. We plan to bring you the latest news, views and technical articles and anything else that maybe of interest to the RS200 sailor! To make this happen though we need your help with providing the material. So don't delay - Get writing and email me with your RS200 articles and don't forget those pictures! Thanks to Pete Vincent who has supplied all of the content for this edition. In this first issue we have: Nationals News Coaching The Gushy bit Events after the nationals Scores on the doors 2006 Fat Face Circuit Caption Comp An article on General Sail care from Hyde Sails Its been a busy start to the season for the RS200 fleet with 8 Fat Face circuit events already having taken place. The best turn out so far has been 61 at Bristol Corinthian YC followed by the recent meeting at Parkstone with 51. Have a great Nationals at Exe and enjoy Garda!! Enjoy the read! Duncan Ellis duncan.ellis@progressivetechnology.co.uk
Nationals news – ice creams on the beach Easier to pay, International flavour, cheap camping, top social scene, Heroes and villains theme night and some racing thrown in as well The Gul RS200 Nationals are rapidly approaching at Exe SC. You all should have received an entry form in the post; if you did not or lost it then you can print an entry form off the RS Association website under the RS200 owners club area under documents. A new feature we have introduced this year is you can make two stage payments for the Nationals entry to help spread cash flow. The late entry surcharge comes into play on July 24th so make sure you get your entry in before than to save yourself some beer money. International flavour. We are getting used to people travelling from the Shetland Islands and the Isle of Man; people jetting in from Amsterdam and Dublin for events. This years Nationals will have a real added International flavour with two boats having entered from Japan. There is now an RS dealer in Japan who is busily selling 700 and 800’s but there now is interest in 200’s so four Japanese sailors are coming over for the 200 Nationals and chartering two boats from LDC. I am sure they will really add to the event and that we will all give them a very warm welcome. Coming home The Nationals at Exe SC is the RS200 coming home. The design work, development and production of first prototype of the RS200 was literally done round the corner at Rowsell and Morrisons base in Camperdown Terrace. The prototype was launched at Exe SC and the great and the good of the then RS dealer team gathered there one breezy September day for what turned out to be important test day for the final features of the RS200. The design genius that is Phil Morrison, the man responsible for the classic boat we so enjoy sailing, will also be our Race Officer (hopefully he will miss me hitting the gate boat for that). Dinghy Park moved A significant change to arrangements since we first sent information out about the Nationals is that the site of the dinghy park has changed. The original plan was to have this on the main beach along the sea front but unfortunately work on sea defences has progressed much slower than expected and work will still be in progress during the Nationals. The dinghy park will now be at the sailing club. Although this will give us a longer sail out and in all except the first days sail out will be with the tide so it will only add 10-15 mins; the huge advantages of being on one site far out weigh this. There will be no car park at the sailing club that will now be full of boats. All the roads around the sailing club have very restricted parking, as Roger Gilbert found out to his cost when his car was clamped on a recent visit. So when you arrive be prepared to un hitch your boat quickly in the road outside, no cars will be allowed into the car park and take your car to the nearby public car park. Leave your car in the road for too long and it will be clamped; when this happens do not belly ache to club or Association. All trailers will have to be taken to rugby ground before sailing starts; none will be allowed to remain in berths. Cheap nearby camping For those wishing to camp Exe SC have played a blinder by organising Exmouth Rugby Club to be used for tents/caravans/campers. The club is a very easy walk, half a mile. The Rugby Club has toilets and showers and will cost only £7 a night for small tents and £12 a night for large tents/caravans. Space does not have to be booked in advance and can be paid for on arrival. Socials Exe SC has a lovely clubhouse with superb views of the estuary from the upstairs bar and makes a fine venue for a full social programme. Exmouth Town Council kick things off well with a civic reception incl drinks, buffet and a band on Sunday night. Monday night and there is a lot on; it’s the theme night, the West Country Boat Repairs buddy drinks reception and the Harken theme party plus disco. Many thanks to our generous sponsors, please support them especially as West Country Boat Repairs have promised not to give us strong real farm scrumpy this year. The theme this year is Heroes and Villains, prizes for best and funniest out fits. If all three boats in a buddy team come in outfits they will score bonus points towards their team score. Tuesday evening is sponsored by www.sailsport.com and is talent entertainment evening. Exe SC finest, Lees father Mike Sydenham and Mr Phil (don’t forget to laugh at all his jokes!) Morrison P.R.O are leading the talent entertainment evening promising something you won’t forget, will Lee give us a song? Wednesday night is games night and RS200 Class Owners Meeting. Thursday night is the GUL Championship prize giving and party, a lively evening is guaranteed with The Alliance. Chandlery support. Tony Blackmore of Sailsport will be in the dinghy park all week with his very well stocked chandlery van including all RS200 spares. Holts will also be at the sailing club for the weekend to run their very popular pit lane where they will do a mot check on the fittings and equipment in your boat. On top of all this there is a great seminar programme, the buddy system, this year you can bid for your buddy and duckhams with an out fit you don’t want to win. Each day throughout the week some of the RS200 fleets top coaches and sailors share their secrets and thoughts to make your week more enjoyable. This kicks off on Sunday evening when Jon Lewis explains the theory and practicalities of Gate Starting and continues each day with a different theme. Tuning, Rules, Crewing and last years very popular DIY boat repairs! For more details see the championship website on the RS200 owners clubs section of the RS Association website. Action from last years nationals     Coaching For last minute winning tips from top coach Harvey Hillary come along to the pre-nationals training day on 19th August from 11.00hrs to 17.00hrs, Harvey plans to cover upwind and downwind set up, gate starts and mark rounding. He will finish the day with a one hour video de-brief from 16.00hrs to 17.00hrs, this will be held in the club and is open to anyone who would like to attend. All of this for the bargain price of £22. To book a place on the course please contact Charlotte England on charlotte@rs-association.com  and send a cheque made payable to the RS Association to 15 Hazel Road, Pennington, Lymington, Hampshire. SO41 8GR
The Gushy bit There has been almost as much talk about engagements and babies in dinghy parks as about wind shifts and gybing angles. 200 Rep Trudie Danbury amazed us all by turning up in a white dress at some minor social occasion in June to become Mrs Simon Fell and what a lovely day it was. Regular 200 sailors Charlie Muir and Jane Sands are getting married in mid July and are then having their honeymoon racing in Garda with 300 other RS sailors; proper people! So the pressure is on Jubby and Pippa Williams to top that when they get married on News Year Eve. Huge congrats to current RS200 National Champion Craig Burlton and K6 National Champion Claire Upton Brown on the arrival of Gabriella; to former Nat Champ Lee Sydenham/Anne Vaudrey on the arrival of Max and to Martyn/Claire Jones for the birth of their baby.
Events after the Nationals. Gul Youth Championships Oxford SC was a very popular venue last year both for the sailing and ashore so the Gul Youth Championships are again at Oxford SC on Sept 9/10. All the signs are that there will be an excellent entry this year with Rick Newcombe already coordinating 6 entries from Exe SC. Following discussions with youth sailors this year all crews have to be 19 or under as well; no old crews this year. If you are a youth helm make sure you get yourself to Oxford; if you are a boat owner lend it to a junior member of the family or a good young sailor at your club. Club Championships The following weekend is the final of the club championships at Datchet on Sept 16/17. The top National sailors are excluded and you can only qualify by taking part in your clubs racing. Eleven clubs are running a qualifying series, if your club is not involved yet there is still time, just, to run a qualifying series. Seehttp://rsnationals.rs-association.com/index.asp?fleet=RS200&clselect=Club%20Champs for more info. There are some terrific prizes provided by GUL, LDC and the RS Association including a new jib, free entry to next years Nationals and there will be coaching during the event. Gul Inland Championships The Inlands are at Draycote on Oct 8/9. Following the huge turnout of boats at Grafham last year, 110 boats, we are planning to run this years Inlands in flights to make the start line manageable and less intimidating. The flights will not be gold/silver/bronze. Everyone will be split into four flights with the same number of gold/silver/bronze sailors in each. Two flights will start together at the same time so you will race against everyone twice. Draycote are put a lot of effort and planning into the event including Happy Hour, catering and top band. RS Ball and Sprint Championships. For 2006 .... A brand new event for the RS fleets! And a date for the 2006 RS Ball for those of you worrying that you'd heard nothing to date. Saturday November 4th - Rutland Sailing Club & Barnsdale Lodge Hotel The Sprint Champs will be a series of short (15-20 minute) races in flights of 10 boats in separate fleets, with a novel scoring system, finishing off with flight finals. Something very different, excellent racing and spectating, and great prizes, courtesy of GUL. The RS Racing Ball will be held 3 miles from Rutland SC at the Barnsdale Lodge, a beautiful 18th century privately owned hotel. There will be the normal revelry of band, disco, 4 course dinner, bar extension, and maybe even a few fireworks ... Dress will be black tie. The Sprint Champs will cost approximately £10/boat in advance, and will double for entries received after 14th October. The RS Ball is £25 per person, tickets must be booked by 14th October via the RS Office at East Hayes, Grove Road, Lymington, SO41 3RN. There is lovely, plush accommodation at the Barnsdale Lodge from £40/person., and dormitories at Rutland SC from £12/person, and lots in between. See the RS website under events for more details. Put it in your diary now! And don't forget to book in ...
Scores on the doors. With two events left, this weekend at Parkstone and Hayling, the Fat Face Circuit is building up to a tense finish. At the top David Giles/Kita Carpenter is one point ahead of Tom/Jo Hewitson, they are counting a 10th and a 16th respectively at the moment so that is going down to the wire. Martin Penty/Jeremy Collins from Beaver have been travelling far and wide this year with a hugely impressive return of 5 top ten overall results (guess what fleet they are in next year) and look as if they have all but won the silver division. The even further travelled Georgie Hill/Roger Tait are second at the moment but face a real struggle to hold on with Will Storey/Kate Havill showing top mid season form and Fiona/Steven Hall in close contention. In the bronze Paul Goodwin has fought a textbook campaign using five different crews in five events so far to lead by 26 points from Martin Fear/ Chris Georyiou. Both need to keep an eye though on Rosie Sands sneaking up on the rails.
RS200 Fat Face Circuit 2006
Date	Venue	No of Entries	Results
25-26 March	Bristol Corinthian YC	61	1st David Giles/Kit Carpenter 2nd Nick Charles/Juliet Kingsworth 3rd Roger Gilbert/Jane Willan
8-9 April	Burton SC	36	1st Nick Charles/Juliet Kingsworth 2nd Trudy Danbury/Karen Barker 3rd Mark Littlejohn/Emma Clarke
29-30 April	Abersoch	33	1st Tom Hewitson/Jo Hewitson 2nd Jonathan Lewis/K Nichol 3rd Pete Vincent/Er Indoors
13-14 May	Filey SC	30	1st  Tom Hewitson/Jo Hewitson 2nd Mile Saul/Sophie Hartley 3rd Pete Vincent/Tessa Nicholls
27-28 May	Derwent SC	24	1st Tom Hewitson/Jo Hewitson 2nd Matt Jenkins/Emma Jenkins 3rd Keith Escritt/Sophie Hartley
10-11 June	Weymouth SC	50	1st Steve Dunn/Noelle Vidal 2nd Tom Hewitson/Fiona Clark 3rd Ian Picard/Loopie Lucy
24-25 June	Brixham YC	29	1st David Giles/Kita Carpenter 2nd Mark Littlejohn/Emma Clarke 3rd Dave Derby/Emma Derby
8-9 July	Parkstone YC	51	1st Roger Gilbert/Katrina Gilbert 2nd Ian Pickard/Loopie Lucy 3rd Jonathan Lewis/KT Nichol
23-24 September	Hayling Island SC
Caption comp Winners from last edition of the picture of Lee Sydenham just after his skiing accident was Phil Sowden for his two captions If only I could use my arms I could get this stupid hat off! (picking raffle tickets from red bag…) Please, if I win, I hope it’s a sailing holiday next time! This edition there are two photos our chairman in an interesting sailing position and one of our top helms/ coaches showing the Larks a new sailing position.
TH laughing from the Committee Boat
General Sail Care Although this article is not specific to RS200 sailors you may find some points of interest. With Thanks to Hyde Sails for allowing the RS Association to re use this article During the Season At the end of any sail, may it be a three week cruise or a round the cans race, you have to decide how to store your sails until the next time. We are lucky that modern materials are resistant to moisture and salt crystals, and they can be left on the boat for the duration of the season without incurring unnecessary wear and tear. But if you do have the opportunity to rinse them in this period you should always take it. Salt holds moisture into the cloth, and the crystals will chafe the fibres. Also, glued sails degrade quickly when left wet in the bottom of the boat. Sails made from any cloth are best rolled, as this does less damage to the cloth finish than the creasing that is inevitably involved in folding or flaking sails. Roller furler systems have this advantage, although it does mean the sail is left to the battering of the elements while it is up there, particularly sunlight. That's the importance of the sunstrip. If you leave the sail on the furler make sure you ease the halyard tension, otherwise you can permanently stretch the sail. You should never leave a sail on the furler unless it has a sunstrip fitted, even for one night. If you take your sails off the spars, roll them if at all possible, and get bags big enough that they don't need any further folding. If they are stored down below, politely ask your crew and guests to avoid sitting or standing on them as much as possible! The one sailcloth material that is badly affected by moisture is nylon; it loses strength and changes shape when wet. Because sails take longer to dry when salty, the best treatment for a nylon spinnaker is to take it home each time and rinse it on the drive or lawn. Alternatively, leaving the sail loose out of the bag in the forepeak is the next best thing. Don't hang sails in the rigging to dry them, unless it is completely calm - the flogging does more damage than leaving them wet! Incidentally, none of the materials like excessive heat, so avoid leaving them in a car in the middle of the summer. At the end of the year Although sails can mostly be left to their own devices during the summer season, it is well worth storing them properly for the winter lay-up, as even hard wearing modern materials will not take kindly to being left damp, salty, dirty and creased for six months. The main rules are to rinse and dry the sails, then leave them loosely rolled. Wash them if possible - some dirt, like rust, can be corrosive. Once clean store them somewhere dry, cool and out of the sun. Hyde Sails offer a winter valet service that will take these jobs off your hands. In addition they will check for routine maintenance, which is outlined in the following section, and do any necessary repairs. Maintenance At the end of any season's sailing you should have a good look at your sails to see if there are any areas that need work. And it's a good idea to do the same check before a period of extended cruising or race regatta, particularly if you will be some distance from the services of a sailmaker. The luff, foot tapes and bolt ropes are a good place to start. Chafing is the biggest problem, particularly if it has worn right through the cloth to the rope. It can then catch in the groove as the sail is hoisted and tear badly. If you have slides, hanks or cars, have a good look at each of them to see if there is any cracking or signs of fatigue failure (discoloration or roughening of the surface). The attachment of any hardware to the sail is a potential problem area, because of the fastening of soft sailcloth to harder metal and plastic. The headboard, batten pockets and battens, cunningham and outhaul rings are all worth careful inspection for chafe and broken stitching. In fact all the seams are worth scanning to see if they are showing signs of wear.
This has been an Ugly production with the help of the short noisy blonde van owners.
email:rs200@progressivetechnology.co.uk