Fat Face RS racing at North Berwick

Reports and results from the 200s, 300s and 400s over the bank holiday

RS200s
The, now annual, trip to North Berwick for the RS 200s was supported by a good turn out of 30 boats, variable weather and extended opening hours. All in all an almost perfect weekend for sailing as for the most part the wind blew and the rain stayed off. And we all got lots of ice cream. All of the competitors at the event enjoyed it immensely, with many already booking accommodation for next year’s Nationals!

People woke on Saturday to look at a very windy course area with many smiles. By the time racing started the wind had dropped to a gentle F3 and as the racing continued the wind dropped still further, with the leading boats finishing in very little wind. The dropping wind did not detract from some extremely close racing throughout the fleet, with the lead only being settled on the final reach to the finish. The race was eventually won by James (I didn’t hit a corner in this one) Stewart sailing with new crew Alex Halliwell. Coming in a very close second were Josh Gebhard and Simon Evans showing they are likely contenders when the circuit moves to their home club, Derwent, at the beginning of June.

As the 200 watched the 400 fleet drift towards the finish line in the last of the dying breeze many 200 sailors watched the spectacle of some very enthusiastic 400 kinetics, all to no avail. Race officer Jim Sinclair wisely let the fleet wait it out on the water as the forecast promised new breeze. After 45 minutes the wind filled in and slowly built to a good F4. Racing was underway again – Ian Pickard sailing with Lucy Mathews got off to a cracking start and had a good lead by the first mark, this was steadily eroded around the course by Steve and Laurie Dunn though Pickard held on for the win. Third place went to Pete Vincent and Sarah Allen, who were pushed hard and managed to hold on. The breeze was now strong enough that a few members of the fleet were testing their water wings and race three started. This time Jon Lewis and Milly Parsons made no mistakes and headed off for a nice victory, closely followed by Tom Hewitson sailing with Fiona Clarke and Pickard/Mattews.

Saturday night was a blend of torture and good company as the karaoke machine was in action. The late opening of the bars tested the stamina of the southern sailors and was in part responsible for some sore heads on Sunday. However, the racing on Sunday was simply superb. The wind was blowing a good F4 gusting to F5 and the racing was extremely tight. Race four was started with two boats reaching in to the start line kites up and generally looking very sheepish. James Stewart then had some real fun at the pin end as he tried to squeeze into a very small gap, resulting in the removal of his rudder and enough turns to get dizzy! The race was won by Hewitson/Clark with charging Dunns in second. Vincent/Allen showed they had not been in the bar long enough by getting a third.

As the wind built race 5 got underway, again Hewitson/Clark had an excellent start while the Dunns could do with lessons in starting, however some good downwind sailing brought them back into second for the race. Behind there was some real tussles going on with places changes on almost all of the legs of the course, eventually Patrick Altoft sailing with Adam Tunningley pulled through into third place. Race 6 was led almost from start to finish by the Dunns, with some more extremely close racing continuing through out the remainder of the fleet, Lewis/Parsons managed to hold Pickard/Matthews for third place in the race.

With a great day on Sunday Steve and Laurie Dunn won the event, first lady was Sarah Taylor sailing with Claire Upton-Brown.

RS 200 Overall results:

	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Total
1	Steve Dunn	Laurie Dunn	4	2	5	2	2	1	11
2	Tom Hewitson	Fiona Clarke	5	9	2	1	1	5	14
3	Ian Pickard	Lucy Mathews	14	1	3	4	DNF	3	25
4	Pete Vincent	Sarah Allen	10	3	7	3	DSQ	4	27
5	James Stewart	Alex Halliwell	1	8	9	6	DSQ	6	30
6	Patrick Altoft	AdamTunningley	6	10	4	7	3	DNC	30
7	Sarah Taylor	C. Upton-Brown	12	6	8	8	4	10	36
8	Connor Mc Gaughey	Scott Graham	9	4	6	10	DSQ	9	38
9	Ollie Holden	SarahFreestone	3	13	13	5	DSQ	7	41
10	JonLewis	Mad Milly Parsons	7	5	1	DNS	DSQ	2	46
11	Josh Gebhard	Simon Evans	2	15	11	9	DSQ	11	48
12	Trudie Danbury	Bert Ryder	13	11	14	11	DSQ	8	57
13	Bess Homer	Kirsty Higgins	8	7	16	18	12	DNC	61
14	Graeme Henry	Shona Redpath	16	19	15	13	6	12	62
15	Ewan Dunn	Jo Foulkes	11	14	22	12	8	DNC	67
16	Lucy Davey	Jane Sutor	15	17	12	16	15	DNC	75
17	Katie Masterson	Fiona Foulkes	18	24	17	19	5	17	76
18	Andrew Hartley	Eve Hartley	20	18	10	17	14	18	77
19	Martin Smith	Barbara Smith	19	16	19	24	9	15	78
20	David Redpath	Anna Renz	26	12	26	21	13	16	88
21	J.Thompson	R. Thompson	23	20	23	22	17	14	96
22	Peter Greggs	Ronnie Carter	29	27	25	23	10	13	98
23	Kirsty Mc Sereney	Sandy Mc Jeveney	24	22	18	15	DSQ	19	98
24	Nick Marshall	Kieth Renz	22	21	24	20	18	21	102
25	Sarah Robertson	Kate Mitchell	21	26	20	DSQ	11	DNC	109
26	Sarah Meldrum	Jess Copland	25	23	21	14	DSQ	DNC	114
27	Findlay Mc Donald	Lindsey Doig	27	25	27	25	16	22	115
28	Jane Robertson	Eric Robertson	28	28	DNS	26	19	20	121
29	Pete Birrell	Brenda Renz	30	DNC	28	DNS	7	DNC	127
30	Richard Evans	Val Evans	17	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNC	DNC	141

RS300s
We had 6 300s at the Fat Face event at East Lothian YC, North Berwick on the 3/4th May who enjoyed the brisk conditions, a bit of sun and a few rain squalls.

Race 1 was the lightest wind at about 10 knots but was very hard work due to a large swell coming in from the east against the westerly wind, causing some unusual boat handling problems. Ian Baillie coped best and had a large lead by the end in front of Steve Cook who had managed to sneak ahead of Ben Yates down the last run. Mark Henman was 4th with his A rig There was a long wait while the wind disappeared completely before backing to the south and increasing. So race 2 started into a shifty, gusty offshore breeze, with Yates leading for most of the race from Cook until they both
decided that 2 laps were enough and went for the finish, allowing Baillie (who can count) to close up and pass them both.

Baillie led right from the start of race 3 and was never caught. Yates continued his good form to take 2nd from Cook with Eddie Griffiths consolidating 4th with his new boat.

Sunday was bright and sunny again with more wind from the south, giving similar shifty conditions. There were more squalls with the wind being recorded up to 25 knots. Race 4 looked like a copy of the first 3 with Baillie building up a commanding lead until a roaching 400 caused him to capsize on the last run with Cook taking advantage to win.
However he made no mistakes in race 5 to win the race and series with Cook 2nd again from Yates and Steve McDonald picking up his second 4th place after his nightmare Saturday. Cook won the last race from Yates with Griffith continuing his improvement with a 3rd. Baillie decided to try some swimming practice, McDonald was 5th and Henman battled round, making sure he finished every race.

RS 300 results overall:

	Helm	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7
1	Ian Baillie	1	1	1	2	1	4	6
2	Steve Cook	2	3	3	1	2	1	9
3	Ben Yeats	3	2	2	3	3	2	12
4	Edward Griffiths	5	4	4	5	5	3	21
5	S. Macdonald	6	5	6	4	4	5	24
6	Mark Henman	4	6	5	6	6	6	27

RS400s
North Berwick is an awesome venue; a beautiful seaside town with excellent sailing and a friendly welcoming club, it’s always well worth a long journey for this hidden treasure. With a brand new clubhouse opened only 3 weeks ago, the Scottish leg of the Fat Face Racing Circuit was also an excellent opportunity to check out the venue for the 2004 Nationals.

The event proved to be a battle between two boats; namely Craig Burlton and Nick Craig - and although these two were made to work hard for their positions, they finished well clear of the chasing pack on overall points.

Having said this, race 1 began with a surprise: Mason Woodworth and Simon Hamilton, in their first event, sailing the oldest boat in the fleet, led to the windward mark in a shifty force 3 that was rapidly dropping away. As the wind disappeared, they couldn’t hold on to the lead, allowing Burlton and Bonsey to cruise past to take the win followed by Ian Wood and Ian Fletcher. Martin Browne and Dinah Holmes finished an excellent 3rd and Steven Leask and JP McCaldin were the first Scottish boat, managing to take 10 places on the windless final leg to finish 4th. Craig/Bedborough had a difficult race, only managing a 5th.

With the wind all but disappearing on the last leg of race 1, the Race Officer Jim Sinclair showed excellent judgement by postponing race 2, as after about an hour of waiting, a steady force 3-4 arrived in a weird freaky kind of way….(you had to be there!)

With the course re-laid and the fleet eager to get on, Race 2 got underway. Craig/Bedborough set the record straight by leading to the windward mark and sailing away cleanly to take the win…the first of 4 straight bullets in the following races. Dobbin Kenwood/Toby Lewis from ‘Humble’ River found their form to finish second, and Wood & Fletcher continued their good run to finish 3rd. Burlton/Bonsey finished 4th.

A quick turnaround between race 2 and 3 ensured that, despite the late start and the delay, 3 races would still be completed before the main business of the evening’s Kareoke. Craig/Bedborough had a long battle with Burlton/Bonsey before beating them to the finish line, followed by Kenyon/Lewis in 3rd. Tubby O’Brian/Colin ‘I’m in a’ Staite, had their best result of the weekend to finish 4th.

Those that missed Matt Grimm singing ‘In the Navy’ or Pete Vincent singing ‘I’ll be your Teddy Bear’ after 18 gallons of rum & coke will never quite understand just what a lucky escape they had. There were a few worried faces amongst the locals as East Lothian Yacht Club’s immaculate new clubhouse was given its first real test…a night of partying RS style. Fortunately the clubhouse escaped unscathed despite the fact that some foolish person had put John ‘6 bottles’ Callaghan in charge of ordering the rum and had let Colin ‘I’m in a’ Staite into the clubhouse.

An early start on Sunday morning meant that there were one or two absences as the fleet headed out in to a freshening force 3. Funny? There was no sign off life from the Snake van. Yet again, there must have been a very ill Badger and Snake inside.

Once James Stewart had finally got his 200 off the pin end mark, Race 4 began the way Race 3 ended with Craig/Bedborough and Burlton/Bonsey storming away from the fleet with a first and a second respectively. Woods/Fletcher continued their excellent run to finish 3rd whilst the ‘Brothers Grimm’, Chris & Matt Bailey, began what proved to be their best day’s results ever by sailing through the fleet to finish 4th.

The wind continued to strengthen into race 5 gusting up to a force 5 as the fleet fought their way up the first beat. Another surprise at the windward mark came with the arrival of the ‘Brothers Grimm’ in first place closely followed by Craig/Bedborough and Burlton/Bonsey. A long battle ensued with all 3 sharing the lead but Craig/Bedborough got the better of the other two to take their 4th straight win. Normal service was resumed when the Brothers Grimms’ kite jammed, allowing Burlton/Bonsey through to finish second. Robbie Wilson/Jamie Hilton followed up in 4th, consolidating their position in the overall results as top Scottish boat.

Going into Race 6, with 4 firsts and a 5th, Craig/Bedborough appeared to have the event in the bag, but with Burlton/Bonsey only a few points behind they could not afford to be complacent. They started well and despite a large shift that left many of the fleet over-standing the windward mark, arrived first – closely followed by Gavin Fleming/Richard Higgins. A broken kite halyard soon to pay to Craig’s lead, but with the event not sewn up, they attempted to continue without a kite. Unfortunately an incident at the leeward mark with John ‘Wayne’ Hookway left them with a nasty hole, a bent rig and out of the race. This left the way open for Burlton/Bonsey to win the event if they could finish first. After Fleming/Higgins capsized at the second windward mark the only thing that stood in Burltons way was the Grimms who, to their amazement, were winning again. At the last windward mark, the Grimms appeared to have come out on top, but Burlton/Bonsey broke cover, found a wind lane and romped home to take the race win and the overall event. Kenyon/Lewis continued their consistent form to finish third and take third place overall.

RS 400 results overall:

	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Total
1	Craig Burlton	Andrew Bonsey	1	4	2	2	2	1	8
2	Nick Craig	Keith Bedborough	5	1	1	1	1	DNC	9
3	Robin Kenyan	Toby Lewis	6	2	3	5	DNC	3	19
4	Ian Wood	IanFletcher	2	3	6	3	DSQ	9	23
5	Robbie Wilson	Jamie Hilton	14	5	5	7	4	4	25
6	Chris Bailey	Matt Bailey	15	8	9	4	3	2	26
7	Greg Obrien	Colin Staite	7	6	4	8	5	6	28
8	Steven Leask	J. P. Mc Caldin	4	11	14	10	6	5	36
9	John Hookway	Dan Wood	9	9	10	6	DNF	11	45
10	Martin Browne	Dinah Holmes	3	10	11	DNF	9	15	48
11	Mason Woodworth	Simon Hamilton	10	7	7	18	14	12	50
12	Nick Holt	Derek Hill	22	14	12	9	8	7	50
13	Gavin Fleming	Richard Higgins	12	13	15	12	7	8	52
14	Ding Brown	H. Brown	17	12	8	11	DSQ	10	58
15	Craig Hepplewhite	Bert Schooling	11	15	13	14	10	DNC	63
16	Colin Ferrier	Tom Watson	18	16	16	16	12	14	74
17	Alistair Reid	Calum Reid	13	22	17	17	15	13	75
18	John Murphy	Sarah Murphy	20	17	18	15	16	16	82
19	Bob Stott	Liz Stott	23	21	20	19	13	17	90
20	Michael Alexander	Felicity Bristo	8	20	19	DNS	DNC	DNC	99
21	Donald Maclean	Ken Hutchison	16	19	DNC	13	DSQ	DNC	100
22	Helen Stewart	Bryon Stewart	21	DNS	DNC	DNF	11	18	102
23	John Callaghan	Badger	19	18	DNC	DNS	DNC	DNC	115
24	Olly White	Gerry Hughs	24	DNS	DNC	DNF	DNC	DNC	128
25	Jane Scott	Niall Morrison	25	DNS	DNC	DNS	DNC	DNC	129