Five Championship events, 148 boats, 300 sailors, 75 clubs. With those statistics, consistency was definitely key for the Rooster RS200 Championship Tour 2023, comprising of the Spring, Summer, Southern, Northern and Inland Championships as well as the National Championship.
Ben Whaley, sailing with Bella Fellows, set the scene at Bristol Corinthian YC in the Spring Championships (18th-19th March). They finished a very close 2nd to Parkstone YC club-mate Edd Whitehead and local Corinthian YC sailor, super-crew Anna Horackova.
Back with his regular crew Lorna Glen, 3rd places followed at the Southern Championships, Itchenor SC (17th-18th June) and the Noble Marine Rooster National Championships, East Lothian YC (7th-11th August). They completed the series in style with a well-deserved win at the Rope4Boats Inland Championships at Grafham Water SC (30th Sep – 1st Oct).
Brendan Lynch and Ellen Clark (Anna McBestie at the Northerns) from East Lothian YC were 2nd overall. They gave Ben and Lorna a really good run for their money, counting a 5th, 4th and 1st place going into the Inlands leading to a very tense finale, where a win could have given them the tour title!
The scores for places 3-6 were no less competitive with just five points splitting five boats:
- 3rd – Owen Bowerman and Annabelle Orme of Hayling Island SC
- 4th – Henry Hallam and Ashley Hill of St. Mawes SC / Restronguet SC
- 5th – Matt Venables and Bethan Matthew of Sutton SC / QMSC / RTYC
- 6th – Steve and Sarah Cockerill of Stokes Bay SC
There were too many other notable results to mention at individual events, but a study of the results table will show you the strength and depth of this fleet.
To celebrate the inclusivity of the fleet, Rooster awarded a mid-fleet hero and Endeavour prize at each individual event as well as winners prizes and overall tour prize vouchers. The class would of course like to thank Rooster for this generous sponsorship, which has developed into a valued partnership over the years.
We are delighted to announce that the RS200 Championship Tour will continue in 2024, with most fixtures already on the calendar here.
Report by Sally Campbell
Photograph by Digital Sailing
