Sailing Today	Nick and jules at Travemunde Eurocup - © www.fotoboat.com
	Issue 3  Issue 2
The RS200 associations e-Newsletter - Issue 4
A quick introduction…
My name is Andy Robertson and I’m your eNewsletter editor, I am currently at university in Southampton and so when suffering from monster hangovers I can keep you up to date with RS200 circuit news. I have been around on the RS200 circuit for the past 8 years in the form of both a helm and crew. If you are still wondering who I am, I was the one that Pete Vincent crashed his spinnaker pole through at the nationals this year!! The way we plan to run the eNewsletter from now on is (as of December 2007) one will be sent out to you every other month. This one is for December and January, the next one will be sent out in February. If this is not frequent enough then we might start doing one once a month to keep you as a member up to date. The idea behind the eNewsletter is to improve communications between the committee and the members. Back copies can be found on the association website  by clicking the links above.	©Warwick Baker
New committee structure...
As some of you may already be aware we have a lot of new faces involved with the running and organising of the RS200 association. A diagram below shows the new committee structure and who you, as members need to contact if you have any questions, input or problems. The core committee (Pete, Ian and Paul) have worked hard over the previous 12 months to try and spread the workload of our growing RS200 association. After conversations at the 2007 nationals it was decided that the amount of work that needed to be completed to be an efficient class association subdivision within job titles needed to be adopted.
An example of this is with my own role, I am now involved with collecting and editing all the information that we wish to send out in the form of an eNewsletter, Duncan Ellis then makes it look glamour with his computer skills (which are considerably more advanced than mine) and then sends it to all you, the members. Originally, Pete Vincent and Trudie Dudbury were producing the eNewsletter, they were also trying to run other major aspects of association. There just wasn’t enough time in the day! If you have anything that you wish to add to the eNewsletter then it would be great to hear from you, it can be anything from tips and tweaks, to gossip, to forthcoming events.
The Nationals from a ‘newbie’s’ perspective…
Having stated sailing last October with the purchase of our 200 we decided, with a bit of peer (beer) pressure, to enter the nationals this year. We’d done some of the open circuits with varying degrees of success (I seem to remember not finishing last in at least one race!) so our ambitions for the event were limited. First, finish every race. Second, beat ten boats in any one race – this being something of a rarity for us! We arrived in Tenby on the Saturday afternoon in plenty of time to attend the “virgins briefing” session as well as one of the ‘proper’ ones. By attending two briefings I was confident that someone would enlighten me on how to avoid the other 129 boats on the start line….the leeward mark…..the windward mark….. Confidence was at an all time high when Pete Vincent informed me I was bookies favourite a ‘duckams award’. Cheers Pete, but revenge is sweet!	Getting ready for the gate - © www.fotoboat.com
Day 1 - A bit breezy (crew said VERY windy) Arrived at the boat to be told that the start was going to be a delayed due to the 30mph gusts! As a result of the fantastic buddy system, (gold fleet are paired up with bronze and silver fleets) our buddy from the gold fleet tracked us down to check out our boat and give us some advice. Three comments stick in the mind – “Do you have different length strops for a reason?” “Is it something to do with your wonkey spreaders” and “hmm, your spinnaker pole seems about a foot short”. Luckily start was postponed long enough to make some necessary adjustments. Eventually we were given the go ahead to launch and I can honestly say I’ve never seen so many boats in one place before. The start was everything we thought. With my crew constantly telling me to ‘find a gap’ (err, where?) amongst the others, we had a terrible start due the fear of causing real damage to the fleet. Once going, we found that we we’re actually (for us) going quite well upwind, and on both tacks thanks to our newly adjusted strops! Dodging the fast guys coming downwind as we go up and up as we go down (don’t you know we have no control, that’s why we’re at the back!), we managed to complete the race and amazingly in front of some other boats. Result for Race 1: 99th. Definitely worth a beer or two, we treat the bar to the site of us in full celebration mode despite being beaten by almost 100 other boats. It’s all in the perspective guys! Day 2 – A fresh breeze (crew said VERY, VERY windy) After day 1’s result I felt oddly confident, although the thought of 3 races in a force 4 and building was somewhat worrying. Despite our determination to fight for a place on the start line thing didn’t quite go to plan and having tacked immediately onto port we eventually realised that we had gone behind the gate boat and therefore not crossed the start line. After a polite discussion between helm and crew (yeah right!) we headed back downwind to cross the start line. Despite our slight detour we still managed to reel in a number of other boats before the finish. My crew later pointed out that perhaps we should have attended the talk given about gate starts on the previous evening! Still, we survived the races so more beer to celebrate Result for Day 2: 99th (consistent!)
Day 3 – Quite windy (crew said it was gale force) I think we must have been improving as we found ourselves surrounded by other boats at the windward mark which proved slightly problematic when we managed to capsize whilst tacking onto the mark. My crew’s enthusiasm (and language) deteriorated somewhat after I capsized us another couple of times on the downwind leg. Despite a significant amount of swimming we must have been doing something right as we managed to clock up a 94th, 105th and 96th. After 3 days, the body was definitely beginning to feel it. I wasn’t sure how long drinking large quantities of beer and sailing in force 4 + could be sustained - something was going to have to give. I hoped it was the wind so the drinking didn’t have to suffer.	Littleton SC on mass go as the England Rugby team to the theme night, what did you want to be when you grew up, at the Nationals
Day 4 – Windy (crew said it was a hurricane) I seem to remember my crew took some convincing to set sail, and after capsizing twice before the start, the crew was definitely not seeing the funny side. First start we seemed to get into the right place, alongside Roger and actually held onto him (for several seconds I believe, we were very proud!), just a shame they recalled the race due to the gate boat breaking down. Tried to do the same for the second start and managed to be in the right place again, unfortunately this time our boat was upside down and the two of us were stood on the hull as the pathfinder went past. Not brilliant…. We managed to get going and try to catch a few who have fallen over tacking up the first beat. The wind had built quite significantly by this point and downwind was ‘challenging’. After rounding the windward mark my crew asked whether or not to hoist. Being utterly confident of my helming abilities I shout ‘what are you waiting for?’ with a lot of muttering along the lines of ‘if you capsize us…….’ the crew hoists and we’re off. Looking down the run, I can see that most people are attempting to bang in a corner. We can see where to do this as most of the fleet seems to be upside down at that point. I decide on the same tactics and approach the corner shouting at the crew to be ready, but the same fate awaits us - a very rapid bath! Three turtle turns later and accidentally sailing off with my crew still in the water we decided to call it a day and go and have some ice cream and beers instead. Day 5 – light breeze (the crew agrees) We had a brilliant start in the second race but my tactical brilliance ensured we soon fell into our accustomed place of second last after the first lap. At this point my crew took over tactics and instructed me to stop interfering and do what I’m told – and there’s me thinking the helm is meant to be in charge! On the last lap I was ‘ordered’ to head out to the right of the course and stay there until it’s time to tack onto the lay line. Despite thinking to myself that she had gone mad, I decided to humour her (well it was the last race!) and did as I was told. Somehow we got lifted the whole way to the mark which coupled with the clear air meant that we overtook about 40 boats! With a good downwind run we managed out best place of the week, 80th with our gold buddy 10 places behind - Result!! My crew was planning next years nationals before we even get back to shore. This was surely a good sign of a decent holiday. The last night is always going to be a great excuse for a celebration and this was no different. Although our night of celebration was cut short as a result of someone locking everyone out of our apartment……the less said about that the better…..but you know who you are! Can’t wait till next year! Wes Kangurs. The soppy git made the mistake of taking his crew for a romantic meal instead of coming to the Inlands (how poor is that) and proposed so Wes and Jo are now engaged. He has done the right thing though, rang Heather got advanced notice of the 200 programme for next year and the wedding is now booked with no possibility of clashing with any 200 event, good man! Pete Vincent
Top buddies…
This editions Gold award for services to promoting the 200 fleet In the December edition of Dinghy Sailing Magazine there was an excellent article from Mo Allen on his experience of taking part in his first National Championships. After 5 years of sailing at Fishers Green on a relatively small pond Mo decided to find out about waves and big fleets at this years RS200 Nationals at Tenby, an entertaining read his diary made. A particular article caught my eye. "We arrived the day before the event began, signed on, attended the talk on gate starts having never done one before and met our buddy. RS assign a sailor from the gold fleet to each of the other sailors as way to encourage tips and improvements throughout the fleet. Our budies were Mike Chapman and Lynne Ratcliffe. They were really enthusiastic, welcoming and helpful, it was a great way to start the week."	© www.fotoboat.com
Thank god we allocated Mo to someone who was prepared to talk to him and help!! Well done to Mike and Lynn, have a gold star. As Mo's article and Wes's story in this e news show the buddy system when it works is so important and much appreciated.
Thanks Tom and Jo, Noble Marine, LDC and many other sponsors....
Many people had commented for a few years that the RS200 major trophies were looking pretty ropey and not fitting for events of such status. Sarah Allen really decided to do something about it and volunteered to do find sponsors for new trophies. Oh boy what a top job she did as the class now has very impressive trophies of modern design.
Many thanks to Noble Marine and LDC for sponsoring the half model trophies for the National Champion and Eurocup. To Selden Masts, Yachts and Yachting, beminetoday.com, Sailboat Deliveries, GUL, Purple, Harken and West Country Boat Repairs for new race trophies for the Nationals. All these new trophies were much more creative designs than the standard silver cups and look fantastic on Rogers mantelpiece. Please show your appreciation and support our sponsors. Perhaps the nicest story behind a new trophy is the new half model for the Inland Championships. Tom and Jo Hewitson had won five of the last six Inlands; well Tom won one of these with Lizzie Humphries as Jo had the feeble excuse of being pregnant. The trophy had taken a permanent place on their mantle place so they decided they would like to keep the trophy and donate a new one. They were on hand to present the new trophy to worthy winners of the 2007 Inlands, Chris Pickles and Laura Westell. Thanks Tom and Jo, great gesture. Pete Vincent	Yes anyone at Shoreham circuit event will never forget the conditions! - ©Warwick Baker
Words from RS…
Below are photos of the mainsails that LDC will be supplying in the New Year. Nothing has changed in terms of dimensions, sail cut, panel shape etc but there have been small detail changes. Reinforced patches have been put on batten pockets and foot where sail hits the shroud to prevent excess wear from sail constantly hitting the shroud. The way the battens are tied have been changed, instead of having the batten ends projecting and being tied into place catamaran style batten ends will be used with a key. This is more secure, more neat and much easier to get correct batten tension by using a simple key. A much better tack strap will now be permanently sewn into the front of the sail with metal buckle rings instead of the old style strap. Your RS200 committee welcomes these modifications and considered them specification changes not requiring changes to class rules.	Diagram 1.1 – New style batten pocket and adjusting key.
Diagram 1.2 – Adjusting the new style batten end.	Diagram 1.3 – New style tack strap with metal buckle.
Diagram 1.4 – New style bolt rope.	Diagram 1.5 – Reinforcement patches on the batten pockets and foot.
Looking ahead at the 2008 circuit…
The forthcoming season is shaping up to be another exciting one with many different clubs along with some traditional RS clubs (Bristol) set to host some awesome events. The idea with the eNewsletter is to keep you informed on what is coming up in the near future. So the first event is the Winter Champs on the 16/17th of February, this is a classic event for the RS200’s that has been running for some time, this year Grafham Water Sailing Club are set to host it. This event is a great opportunity for some big fleet winter practice and it is known to blow. So stick the drysuits and warm gear in the back of the car and make the trip. This is the first Fat Face and Gul sponsored circuit event of the year and this one is not to be missed. To find your way to Grafham Water follow the link below http://www.grafham.org/?page_id=2 To find decent accommodation that is close to the sailing club follow the link below http://www.grafham.org/?page_id=94 The second event of the season is a bit later on at Datchet Water SC. This is on the 5/6th of April and again is set to be another cracker. Datchet (a large inland lake for those who haven’t been there) have been known to put on a really good event for the 200s and without doubt this will be another one. To find your way to Datchet Water Sailing Club follow the link below http://www.dwsc.co.uk/page.php?page=Contact%20Us&mlink=Club%20Information To find decent accommodation that is close to the sailing club follow the link below http://www.dwsc.co.uk/page.php?page=Accommodation&mlink=Club%20Information	© www.chunkypics.co.uk © www.fotoboat.com
RS200 Sailing Today is brought to you by Progressive Technology Systems Limited