Jason Belben was the clear winner of the RS700 meeting at Stokes Bay SC on 24-25 May where a keen fleet of 22 boats had assembled. Counting five clear bullets, his supremacy at this, his home club, was never in question.

At under 70kgs, Jason is able to compete on a level playing field with much larger sailors in the class and this weekend showed just how effective the equalisation system really is. The only person to spoil a clean sweep for the winner was reigning champion, Paul Bayliss, who capitalised on a storming first beat in race two and extended through the race. Fortunately for him, he was also the most consistent in the other five races, so won the “best of the rest” competition.

A notable performance from team racing ace, Pete Barton could have caused an upset, and with three second places was looking dangerous. However, Pete was unable to keep it together for all the races and ended up counting a ninth. This relegated Tim Johnson to fourth on countback. Tim had a difficult weekend, and couldn’t keep his scores inside the top six when it mattered.

Newcomer this season Andy Peake showed that he’s a quick learner, and with a fifth place this weekend showed that given a bit more time in the boat, is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Andy White completed the top six after an indifferent weekend by his standards.