CoastWaterSports RS Aero Open at Sutton Bingham Sailing Club

Chris Hatton leads from Charlie Sansom and Peter Barton during the CoastWatersports RS Aero Open at Sutton Bingham © Andrea Hatton

Sutton Bingham Sailing Club gave a lovely warm welcome - literally, to seventeen RS Aeros from across the south of England from as far afield as Whitstable and Falmouth.

Glorious sunshine and a light to medium breeze greeted the sailors and it was looking like a fantastic day to be out on the water. With the briefing completed and the boats rigged all was set tor the action to begin just after 11 o'clock.

Five races were schedules with the 9 Rigs starting first, followed by the 7 Rigs. The fleets were well behaved, with clean starts throughout the day, so no recalls and black flags were required.

The first two races were very shifty and kept everyone on their toes! Charlie Sansom and Chris Hatton, both from Bowmoor SC flew around the course with a 1st and 2nd in both races before lunch. Meanwhile in the 7 fleet Andrew Frost from Sutton Bingham and Noah Rees From Torpoint Mosquito SC battled it out in the first two races. With 3 more races after lunch it was definitely all to play!

A course change and a change of wind direction made for an interesting afternoon. It felt as if the reservoir had split in two halves! There was a lovely 10 knots at the windward mark and then under 5 knots at the leeward mark making it a challenge for everyone. With the first start underway, it was a maze to find the best way up and down the lake. Sansom and Hatton in the 9 Rigs held on to their 1st and 2nd positions for the rest of the afternoon with Peter Barton hot on their heels!

Andrew Frost, 7 Rig winner in the CoastWatersports RS Aero Open at Sutton Bingham - photo © Andrea Hatton

In the 7 Rig, Frost and Rees were all square on points going into the final race and it was local knowledge that helped Frost prevail to take the win. Behind the leaders it was a hard fought battle for third place with close racing between Chris Jones, Sam Issacs-Johnson and and Catie Atkin. Issacs-Johnson finished n a high with a 2nd in the final race but it was Jones with two good early results that clinched 3rd overall.

It was an interesting day, with sweltering temperatures, beautiful sunshine and very pleasant all round. A special well done to our first time Aero sailors James Harcourt and Kelsey Green who sailed boats chartered from RS Sailing and thoroughly enjoyed their experience. We hope to see you out in Aero's again soon!

At the prize giving CoastWatersports were thanked for their generous sponsorship of the event, the team at Sutton Bingham for organising the event; with special thanks to Race Officer David Thomson who did well to set good courses as the wind swung eastwards and to all the sailors that turned up to support the event!

Andrew Frost receiving trophy and CoastWatersports vouchers in the CoastWatersports Sutton Bingham RS Aero Open - photo © Kelsey Green

CoastWatersports vouchers were awarded the leaders and top youths in each rig size, the top lady and top master in addition to glassware for the top finishers.

Overall Results: