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The anticipation of a sunny weekend in Portland was enough to pull out the biggest 800 fleet of the season to date. There were as many returning old faces as there was new teams who found the, as it turned out, light conditions a perfect opportunity to experience RS 800 racing.
Largely light and stable wind conditions resulted in very even racing where big gains were hard to come by. Every place gained was hard fought and each pace lost was a hard blow. This put huge priority on the start and resulted in very close competition in both the Gold Fleet and the Silver Fleet. A detailed report of the Silver Fleet standings will feature in the next report…
The Gold Fleet was dominated by Ben McGrane and Olivier Vidal who only lost a race to Spod Olive and Guy Fillmore. Olive and Fillmore had a run of misfortune that kept them down the overall results. More unfortunate still were the team of The Little Man and James Hughes who managed to crash into a concrete buoy in 8 knots of wind and damage their boat sufficiently to miss two races.
Peter Barton and Roz Allan returned to the fleet after a few events away and finished second ahead of Ian Martin and Jamaican bobsleigher Sanka Coffie who had a consistent day Sunday. The ones-to-watch in the Gold Fleet were Sam Mettam and Paul Rigg from Royal Navy Sailing who had their highest finish in an Open Meeting at 6th.
Our thanks go to Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy for hosting the weekend.
| Rank | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Nett |
| 1 | Ben Lengend McGrane | Olivier Vidal | Chew Vally SC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | (42.0 DNC) | 7 |
| 2 | Peter Barton | Roz Allan | Rotyal Lymington YC | 4 | 2 | -13 | 2 | 13 | 5 | 26 |
| 3 | Ian Martin | Adam Broughton | King & Queen YC | -17 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 29 |
| 4 | Rob Watson | John Clifton | Royal Lymington | 5 | 6 | -10 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 31 |
| 5 | Tom Halhead | Christian Humphrey | BCYC | -15 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 36 |
| 6 | Sam Mettam | Paul Rigg | Royal Navy Sailing | 10 | 15 | 2 | -26 | 5 | 8 | 40 |
| 7 | Ben Schooling | George Kingsnorth | Helensburgh | -11 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 41 |
| 8 | Justin Deal | Ollie Page | Lancing SC | (42.0 OCS) | 4 | 8 | 11 | 18 | 1 | 42 |
| 9 | Matt Gill | Tiny Wincer | FFSC | 2 | 8 | 9 | 12 | -24 | 12 | 43 |
| 10 | Charlie Roome | Tom Jeffcoate | Gill Race Team | -16 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 44 |
| 11 | Adrian Coatsworth | Julia Coatsworth | Alton Sailing Club | (42.0 OCS) | 10 | 3 | 16 | 4 | 13 | 46 |
| 12 | Ansy Jeffries | Nick Jerkins | Eastbourne SSC | 8 | 12 | 4 | -15 | 10 | 15 | 49 |
| 13 | Spod Olive | Guy Fillmore | Stokes Bay | 21 | 5 | 6 | 1 | -26 | 21 | 54 |
| 14 | Ross McKerchar | Phil Lasko | Oxford Sailing Club | 9 | 17 | 18 | 5 | 6 | (42.0 DNC) | 55 |
| 15 | The Little Man | James Hughes | Thorpe Bay | 3 | (42.0 DNC) | 42.0 DNC | 4 | 8 | 7 | 64 |
| 16 | Tim Saxton | Nicola Groves | Starcross & Grafham Water SC | -28 | 9 | 16 | 14 | 23 | 14 | 76 |
| 17 | David Pike | Fiona Laockwood | Eastbourne SSC | 7 | 14 | 15 | 20 | -31 | 23 | 79 |
| 18 | Ralph Singleton | Alex Knight | Chew Vally SC | 19 | 18 | 17 | -22 | 22 | 6 | 82 |
| 19 | Mick Whitmore | Sarah Smith | Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing | 12 | 16 | 20 | 18 | 19 | (42.0 DNC) | 85 |
| 20 | Brett Ellway | Jaimie Bick | Stokes Bay | 6 | 29 | 21 | -32 | 12 | 19 | 87 |
| 21 | Sam Maxfield | Rob Gullan | HISC | 14 | 25 | -35 | 13 | 14 | 24 | 90 |
| 22 | Roger Philips | Will Crocker | Rutland SC | 13 | 20 | 22 | -30 | 20 | 17 | 92 |
| 23 | Andrew Gould | Michael Frogley | Emsworth Slipper SC| | 18 | 23 | 14 | 21 | -35 | 16 | 92 |
| 24 | Neil Ashby | Sam Proctor | 20 | 19 | 23 | 19 | 17 | (42.0 DNC) | 98 | |
| 25 | Ed Whitehead | Karen Baker | Parkstone | -29 | 24 | 27 | 17 | 21 | 20 | 109 |
| 26 | Theo Galyer | Jack Spencer | ESSC | -33 | 27 | 28 | 23 | 15 | 18 | 111 |
| 27 | Any Harvey | Mike Stone | Mumbles YC | 25 | 26 | 24 | 27 | -30 | 10 | 112 |
| 28 | Derek Buchanan | Elaine Buchanan | Oxford | 22 | 22 | 19 | 28 | -29 | 22 | 113 |
| 29 | Andy Scott | Derian Scott | CVLSC | 24 | -33 | 25 | 31 | 16 | 30 | 126 |
| 30 | Andy Howard | Alex Howard | Llandegfedd SC | 27 | 21 | 26 | 24 | -32 | 32 | 130 |
| 31 | Richard Marsden | Emma Toman | HISC | 26 | 30 | 31 | (42.0 DNC) | 25 | 25 | 137 |
| 32 | Sam Seddom | Josh Seddon | Felixstowe Ferry SC | -32 | 32 | 29 | 25 | 28 | 26 | 140 |
| 33 | Joe Joyner | Hannah Jones | Chew Vally | 23 | 31 | 30 | 36 | -39 | 27 | 147 |
| 34 | Stephen D Brown | Phillip Bairstow | Ullswater YC | 30 | 28 | 33 | 33 | -36 | 28 | 152 |
| 35 | Joel Walker | Mandy Horton | Grafham Water Sc | 34 | 35 | 39 | 29 | 27 | (42.0 DNC) | 164 |
| 36 | Jon Bennett | Wayne Coote | Stokes Bay SC | 31 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 38 | (42.0 DNC) | 171 |
| 37 | Ian Paterson | Carol Paterson | Grafham Water SC | (42.0 DNC) | 37 | 32 | 38 | 34 | 31 | 172 |
| 38 | Mark Duckworth | Emma Clarke | Hamble River | 37 | 38 | 38 | -39 | 37 | 29 | 179 |
| 39 | Alex Thorsby | Pete Mccoy | Emsworth Slipper | 36 | (42.0 DNC) | 37 | 35 | 33 | 42.0 DNC | 183 |
| 40 | Antony Mee | Clare Rickard | DWSC | 38 | 39 | -40 | 37 | 40 | 33 | 187 |
| 41 | Howard Osborne | Emma Pethybridge | weston | 35 | 36 | 36 | (42.0 DNC) | 42.0 DNC | 42.0 DNC | 191 |