The day ended with the daily awards, the UK Class AGM and then a chilled dinner and beers at The Cove Inn overlooking Chesil Beach in the sunset. Day 3 looks set to be another glamour day on Weymouth Bay with 12-14kns from the southwest and sunshine.

DAY 3
Day 3 of the 4^th RS Aero European Championship dawned windier than expected and PRO Mark Woods made the call to race inside the harbour alongside the RS Teras with the RS Aero 5 & 6s out first followed by the RS Aero 7 & 9s.

The RS Aero 5 & 6s launched into 23kn of breeze, which steadily softened to 18kn. The RS Aero 7 & 9s raced their three races in a breeze dropping from 18kn to 10kn providing opportunities throughout the fleet. A couple of substantial and prolonged right and left shifts kept sailors and the Race Team on their toes.

The large RS Aero 5 fleet made consistency key over 3 races with Chloe George (GBR) again one of the most consistent with a 4,3,5. Over two races Roscoe Martin (GBR) stepped up to 2^nd with a 1,1 and Mark Ripley (GBR) and Lijia Xu (CHN) scored a 2,4 each. Winner of Race 7 was David Peaty (GBR) who backed it up with a 6^th.

In the RS Aero 6s Chris Hatton’s (GBR) run of 1sts was finally brought to a halt when Luca Mitchell (GBR) took the win in Race 9. That still leaves Chris out in front, now with Ants Haavel (EST) 2^nd and Luca a point back in 3^rd

It was Craig Williamson (GBR) who won the day in the RS Aero 7s with a 4,3,1 to jump up to 3^rd overall. Martis Pajarskas (LTU) held his lead at the top with Tim Hire (GBR) in 2^nd. Jon Emmett (GBR) took the win in Race 8 to step up to 5^th.

The RS Aero 9s were ready for the lighter breeze later in the afternoon after two days of hard hiking! Peter Barton (GBR) won the day but his string of 1sts was brought to an end by Simon Geyman (GBR) won Race 9 and was 2^nd best scorer on Day 3.

After a late finish the daily awards were postponed to be rolled over until tomorrow night. Lijia Xu will also then field a Q&A session with a few key Top Tips for speedy sailing. Later DJ Covell will pump out the tunes for a final party night before Friday’s grand finale on the water.

Day 4 on Thursday is set to be out in Weymouth Bay with a start time of 12:00.

DAY 4
Day 4, the penultimate day of the RS Aero European Championship, provided new racing challenges. Racing was out in Weymouth Bay with a 8-12kn north westerly off the shore making the race course thick with opportunities as regular shifts and gusts came down the race course. That made positioning and decision making a bigger focus now than boat speed. With the north westerly sailors enjoyed a nice fast reach in and out of the harbour to the race area.

Winning races in the RS Aero 5s was Andrew Frost (GBR), Tom Ahlheid (GBR) and Ed Day (GBR). Chloe George (GBR) retained her lead overall with a 2,14,4 and the chasing pack is made up of Roscoe Martin (GBR) Andrew Frost (GBR) and Tom Ahlheid (GBR).

In the RS Aero 6s Chris Hatton’s (GBR) did not have it all his own way this time with Ants Haavel (EST) and Graham Tribbeck (GBR) gaining race wins. Chris takes a good lead into the final day with Ants, Luca Mitchell (GBR) and Chris Rust (GBR) all challenging for podium places. 

Ben Whaley (GBR) took two wins in the RS Aero 7s, revelling in the lighter sniggly race course. Craig Williamson (GBR) continued his good form from the day before with another win. Martis Pajarskas (LTU) holds his lead into the final day with a 4,9,2 with Vejas Strelciunas (LTU), Tim Hire (GBR)and Craig in the hunt for the podium places.

The RS Aero 9s enjoyed a slightly lighter breeze to rest their legs a little whilst still loving the extra power for exciting down winds through the baby waves. Peter Barton (GBR) sealed the title with a 1,1,1 clinching a couple of them in the final stages. Ben Charnley (GBR) made a comeback for the silver with a 2,2,3 and goes into the final day tied for 2^nd with Chris Larr (GBR).

The day ended with a daily awards through the fleet and customary sharing of top tips by the day’s leaders. Gold medallist and newcomer to the RS Aero 5 fleet, Lijia Xu (CHN), then give a talk and fielded questions to a captivated audience on both her downwind technique and her general thoughts so far on how to best make an RS Aero sail fast.

It looks like a similar day out in Weymouth Bay for Day 5, enabling sailors to put the lessons learnt on Day 4 into practice. 

DAY 5 & OVERALL
A few dusty heads turned up on Friday morning after revelling the night away to the tunes of DJ Mark Covell playing on the RS Sailing hub main stage! Day 5, provided a Grande Finale to the Championship with titles hotly contested over the last two races. Similar to the previous day, racing was out in Weymouth Bay with a 8-12kn north westerly off the shore but this time it was hotter and the shifts and wind variance were more pronounced. The race course was thick with opportunities and sailors had to make careful judgements on their positioning and decision making.

In the RS Aero 5s race wins went to David Peaty (GBR) and then to Lijia Xu (CHN) in the final race of the series. At the top of the scoreboard Chloe George (GBR) did enough to bring home the title. The chasing pack narrowed the gap with Roscoe Martin (GBR) in 2^nd and Tom Ahlheid (GBR) in 3^rd and 1st Youth (U19). 1^st Youth Female was Abby Hire (GBR), 1^st Junior (U16) was Philip Sahl-Andersen (DEN) and 1^st Junior Female Aimee Bulkes (URU).

In the RS Aero 6s a 1,3 was enough for Chris Hatton’s (GBR) to secure his title. Ants Haavel (EST) took the silver and Chris Rust (GBR) bronze. Luca Mitchell (GBR) took 4^th and top Youth, Abigail Larr (GBR), 1^st Lady, Andy Hill (GBR) 1^st Master (O55), Catherine Hemsley (GBR) 1^st Lady Master and Nick Scully (GBR) 1^st Grand Master (O65)

Martis Pajarskas (LTU) took the title in the RS Aero 7s with a win in the first race. It was even in the race for silver going into the last race and a 2^nd place gave it to Tim Hire (GBR) with recently crowned Youth World champion Vejas Strelciunas (LTU) in 3^rd. 1^st Lady was Anya Haji-Michael (GBR) in 12th, 1^st Youth was Blake Tudor (GBR), 1^st Master Steve Norbury (GBR) and 1^st Grand Master Michael Baldwin (GBR).

The RS Aero 9s’ enthusiasm got the better of them on the first start of the day with 5 boats over and only a few returning. The title was already secured by Peter Barton (GBR). Chris Larr (GBR) came back from his OCS to take the silver with a final race win with Ben Charnley (GBR) taking bronze. 1^st Master was Robbie Lawson (GBR) and 1^st Grand Master Andy Warren (GBR).

Many thanks to all the volunteers and staff who made the RS Games and the two RS Aero Championships all possible. Over 200 RS Aero entries over the two weeks representing 15 nations all had a fantastic time with great racing in a nice mix of conditions and a fun time both ashore and afloat.


Check out the photos of the day by Digital Sailing with 50% Discount code 'RSGAMES’ until 20th August - www.digitalsailing.co.uk