A total of 29 RS400s made the journey to East Lothian YC on May 4-5 to compete in the five-event Gul RS Grand Slam event.

Sunny skies and a healthy sea breeze of about 14knots saw everyone on the start line for the (slightly changed) schedule of three races after some early morning training from Nick Craig. A short windward/leeward course was set and the first race with Nick Craig/Dan Sanders and Tom Hewitson/Andy Bonsey establishing a rather sizeable lead over the rest of the fleet. With some excellent down wind speed, Craig/Sanders held off Hewitson/Bonsey to take the gun with Robbie and Jenny Wilson leading the rest of the fleet home.

The second race saw much of the same scenario developing, with Craig/Sanders winning again from Hewitson/Bonsey. This time the chasing pack was led by Derek Gibb and Keith Milroy. The third race saw Craig/Sanders’ grip on the event broken, with Hewitson / Bonsey taking the winner’s gun and the Wilsons storming through in second, Craig/Sanders third took them into an overnight lead on countback. Chris and Mark Bailey showed some excellent speed to finish fourth, leading the chasing pack home.

Sunday dawned with a rather light and patchy breeze from the north-west. The race officer, with excellent foresight postponed until the breeze began to fill from the sea breeze (easterly) direction. On arrival at the racing area the breeze had built to a steady 10-12 knots. Two races were sailed on a short windward/leeward course, with some good shifts coming off the shore on the right of the beat. Craig/Sanders led race four for a while, but Hewitson/Bonsey caught and overtook down the second run to take the winning gun. Mark Fearnley and Chris Spicer held on to third place from John Hookway and Dan Wood in fourth. Race five, and the deciding race for first overall, with the fleet off to a clean start under a black flag, following a general recall with the whole fleet over the line. Craig/Sanders had to beat Hewitson/Bonsey to take the event, and set out to do it in style leading the entire race. Greg O’Brien and Colin Statte roared round to an excellent second place, with Fearnley/ Spicer in third. Hewitson/Bonsey failed to make ground after a disappointing start and had to settle for fourth, their only result out of the top two, and second overall. Craig and Sanders won by a point, counting three firsts and a second.