Lymington Clubs turn out in force at RS Games
Written by Giles Chipperfield Wednesday, 07 September 2011 19:27
525 boats and 879 competitors made the RS Games one of the biggest dinghy racing events of the worldwide 2011 calendar and a huge festival of all that’s good about dinghy racing. Held at the Weymouth Olympic sailing venue, the regatta included nine of the RS classes competing for their UK National Championships and the RS500 also for their Worlds title. Records fell with the RS200 producing the biggest Nationals for a two man boat this century. LTSC's Heather Chipperfield put the whole event together in her role as RS Class Secretary, so please do not ask her to organise anything else for a while.
A great turnout from both Lymington clubs helped swell the numbers, no doubt encouraged by the perfect sailor's combination of sponsorship from Mount Gay rum, Harken kit and Geeta's curry sauces. Quite a few hardy types even took the challenge of sailing in more than one event, despite the challenge of proper full-on wind nearly every day and periodic wintry downpours.The full list was :
RS100 Dave Gorringe, Richard Russell, Giles Chipperfield, Jon Heissig (well, he's still Lymington to us)
RS200 Nick Cherry & Charlotte Lawrence
RS400 John Cooper & Becci Wigley, Becci Wigley & Heather Chipperfield (short highlights album), Nick Simmons & Dan Dytch, Sam Parker & Paul Hilliar
RS500 Becky & Justin Hannam, Ian Jubb & Bonnie Moody
RS600 Becci Wigley, Andy Heissig, Giles Chipperfield
RS800 Pete Barton & Paul Davies, Luke & Emma McEwen, Richard Mayo & Tom Glanfield
RS100 Dave Gorringe, Richard Russell, Giles Chipperfield, Jon Heissig (well, he's still Lymington to us)
RS200 Nick Cherry & Charlotte Lawrence
RS400 John Cooper & Becci Wigley, Becci Wigley & Heather Chipperfield (short highlights album), Nick Simmons & Dan Dytch, Sam Parker & Paul Hilliar
RS500 Becky & Justin Hannam, Ian Jubb & Bonnie Moody
RS600 Becci Wigley, Andy Heissig, Giles Chipperfield
RS800 Pete Barton & Paul Davies, Luke & Emma McEwen, Richard Mayo & Tom Glanfield
Highlights were:
- Becci Wigley winning the RS600 Ladies Trophy against hot competition
- Pete Barton 3rd overall in the the RS800
- Dave Gorringe missing the first day because he couldn't get his new dog-slow cruiser round Beachy Head on delivery
- Becci & Heather getting exactly the same result in their stand-in race as John & Becci managed overall. Worried, John?
- Giles Chipperfield and Jon Heissig wiping each other out just before the finish, allowing Dave his best result of the series.
- Most remarkable of all, Andy Heissig suffered no boat maintenance failures. He broke himself on rum instead.
- Becci Wigley winning the RS600 Ladies Trophy against hot competition
- Pete Barton 3rd overall in the the RS800
- Dave Gorringe missing the first day because he couldn't get his new dog-slow cruiser round Beachy Head on delivery
- Becci & Heather getting exactly the same result in their stand-in race as John & Becci managed overall. Worried, John?
- Giles Chipperfield and Jon Heissig wiping each other out just before the finish, allowing Dave his best result of the series.
- Most remarkable of all, Andy Heissig suffered no boat maintenance failures. He broke himself on rum instead.
There were some truly splendid parties, bone-crunching Human Table Football and ludicrous fancy dress outfits. 
We even raised money for charity watching the real Olympians (Paul Goodison, mostly) show us all how much better than us they are in a slalom knock-out race. Ben Ainslie would have been there too, but was still recovering from the encouragement of the Dutch RS500 team at their 'Go Dutch' party. Apparently, that was a little different from the Test Olympic event as well.
We even raised money for charity watching the real Olympians (Paul Goodison, mostly) show us all how much better than us they are in a slalom knock-out race. Ben Ainslie would have been there too, but was still recovering from the encouragement of the Dutch RS500 team at their 'Go Dutch' party. Apparently, that was a little different from the Test Olympic event as well. We hope to see you all back on Lymington waters for the rest of the season.
