Write-Up

Bradford on Avon SC River Open, Wiltshire, UK, 17th Aug

6 RS Aeros turned out at Bradford on Avon SC to embrace the challenges, fun and excitement of river racing on the narrow river Avon in Wiltshire. The river here is particularly narrow ranging between 20-30 meters wide. The depth all the way to the sides is good, but you also need to be looking upwards for the occasional overhanging branches!

The schedule was for 6 short races with a lunch break in between. With the mixed fleet and a very narrow start line to decision was made to pursuit race, Based on the RYA PY numbers the RS Aero 7s started first and the RS Aero 9s just 1 minute later. 21 minutes after the RS Aero 7 start the finish was signalled and positions on the course were taken.

The day started light but by the afternoon we had a good breeze gusting up to 12kns. In both the light and stronger breeze the dynamic challenge, agility and coordination of keeping to RS Aeros on its toes through the zephyrs, gusts and large directional shifts was huge. Over the 20 minute races the sailors might make more decisions, adjustments and manoeuvres than in a whole championship day!

In race 1 the RS Aero 7 of Andrew Cooney (Broadwater SC) could not be caught after a fast start and some close racing between the RS Aero 9s. Again in the last two races with more breeze, the RS Aero 7 was able to accelerate more easily and retained its lead over the chasing 9s. Frequent and repetitive requests for 'Room to Tack' between adjacent tacking boats gave everyone a good refresher on the rules, and raised some new questions too!

After 6 races the fleet agreed together to extend the schedule to add a 7th race as the breeze was good, it was all very pleasant and everyone was having so much fun! After in excess of 200 tacks each during the day we can feel well prepared in that regard for the upcoming RS Aero World Championship now!

Ultimately Andrew and Peter Barton (Lymington Town SC) scored 3 wins each, with the day going to Peter who had a string of 2nds to back up his 1sts. A very consistent Gareth Griffiths (Island Barn RSC) was never out of the top 3 all day and took 3rd overall, together with top Grand Master. Top local boat was Mark Lambdin.

Many thanks to Bradford on Avon SC for enabling a fantastic day out and sharing their wonderful hidden gem with the RS Aero Class. We all enjoyed a fantastic lunch between races and a fine selection of cakes afterwards!
Thanks too to Rooster for supporting the awards.

Summer 2024 Gallery for more photos (taken before the nice afternoon breeze filled in!)

Results