Blue skies and a steadily increasing sea breeze provided fantastic racing for the RS800s’ annual pilgrimage west to scenic Beer in Devon.

In the varied UK Circuit locations this was the fleets first real test on the open sea with the challenge of maintaining maximum speed through the waves upwind and whilst catching a few surfs downwind to dig deep on the run. With Saturday looking peachy and Sunday light, wise Chairman Schooling agreed with the PRO to utilize the SI allowing 4 races on Saturday which turned out a very smart move as the wind failed to materialize on Sunday.

The day belonged to Rob Watson and John Clifton of Royal Lymington who after opening with a 2nd cruised home with 2 big lead 1sts in the next 2.

Watson & Clifton have gone from strength to strength this year showing fantastic pace in their new boat. Quizzed on his successful formula Rob felt ‘keeping the boat flat and footing for speed rather than trying to point was key upwind’. Downwind he ‘kept it heated up to gain enough speed ready to catch the next good wave and then surfed deep whenever possible’. John added from his shower, ‘our speed was good so we focused on a clean exit from the start lines’. Sure enough, if you can master those two elements it makes life a whole load easier!

Race 4 provided the best breeze of the day with twin wiring downwind. But by this stage Mr Black Flag had woken from his box and snuck up the PRO’s mast. Five boats were binned from a recalled start and a further 6 dragged off the course in the last start. As if geniously masterminded by the PRO this led to a staggered queue for the winch up the shingle with the ‘usual suspect’ bad boys and girls congregating at the shorebreak for an early tow and shower. With only half the fleet left on the race course there was a fantastic opportunity to make comebacks with good counters.

Ben Schooling and George Kingsnorth held their nerve to capitalize on this winning race 4 and taking 2^nd overall from Justin Deal and Ollie Page in 3rd.

A fantastic time was had by all enjoying the beautiful village beach and hospitality provided by the members of Beer SC not to mention the glorious weather and the fleet looks forward to returning again next year.

Next stop on the RS800 UK circuit is Lymington this weekend, 4/5 July, where a total of 5 RS fleets will be competing in the Western Solent for no less than 15 prizes of luxury Spanish holiday accommodation courtesy of www.muciatastic.co.uk complimented by sailing in the sun courtesy of www.pro-vela.com . 

This exciting initiative will extend to Silver Fleets so be there for a chance of winning.