Three bullets

Edwards and Townend show the way at the Typhoon Fireball Nationals

It was a battered and bruised fleet that listened to the messaged being radioed ashore as the committee boat left the harbour to head to the race area. The initial report was that the waves were 30% bigger than yesterday and the wind was blowing 26 knots and was forecast to increase.

However when the committee boat arrived at the race area conditions were found to be much the same as yesterday so it was with some relief that the tallies were released and the fleet were let out to play. Once again St Austell Bay provided perfect Fireball conditions.

In race three Vince Horey and Jonny Mildred lead at the windward mark only to hoist their kite and head to the leeward mark as the rest of the fleet two-sailed to the gybe mark! That left DJ Edwards and Vyv Townend to take their second win in race three from Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes in second and Angus Hemmings and Steve Chesney in third.

Race two and after a slight lull in the wind the breeze started to build once again. Later in the day a number of the rescue boat crews were heard to say the reaches were “the most impressive they had ever seen” and another described them as simply “Scary”. One again it was DJ and Vyv who showed they had mastery of these conditions. Sailing the correct course in race four Vince and Jonny proved they were on the pace by finishing second.

Overall DJ & Vyv now lead with 11 points from Vince and Jonny in second on 12 points and Stevie Morrison in third with 13 points! This is shaping up to be one of the hardest fought Fireball Championships for years.

Results

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	Tot
1	D.J. Edwards	Vyv Townend	8	1	1	1	11
2	Vincent Horey	Jon Mildred	3	2	5	2	12
3	Steve Morrison	Ben Rhodes	2	5	2	4	13
4	David Wade	Richard G Wagstaff	1	7	4	3	15
5	Paul Cullen	Jon Ching	5	3	7	7	22
6	Andy Smith	Russell Thorne	4	6	13	5	28
7	Angus Hemmings	Steve Chesney	9	9	3	8	29
8	Kevin Hope	Rob Gardner	12	4	8	6	30
9	Shane MacCarthy	Andy Thompson	11	8	10	9	38
10	Tim Rush	Gavin Tillson	7	10	9	17	43
11	Ian Fryett	Jonathan Bale	13	17	6	15	51
12	John Curzon	Pete Elver	14	12	19	11	56
13	Grahame Newton	Mark Stevens	15	13	14	14	56
14	Derian Chandler	Olly Goldsmith	6	11	21	21	59
15	Sam Mettam	Richard Anderton	17	19	15	12	63
16	Jenny Thompson	Nick Thompson	16	16	22	10	64
17	Andy Pearce	Adam Broughton	22	15	16	13	66
18	Philip Popple	Doug Shore	23	14	12	19	68
19	Becky Priest	Tim Saunders	18	21	20	20	79
20	Mark Maskell	Vic Gomez	20	23	18	26	87
21	Martin Scarth	Brian Gibson	21	27	23	23	94
22	Andy Willcocks	Andrea Willcocks	25	25	24	22	96
23	Don White	Alastair Bush	26	26	17	27	96
24	Alex Shaw	Andy Scott	19	22	26	34	101
25	Jeremy White	Ed Ayre	27	28	36	24	115
26	Chris Panting	Keith Ellis	29	33	28	28	118
27	Russ Cormack	Ali McLeod	42	29	30	30	131
28	Tim Cross	Rachel Keeling	37	43	29	25	134
29	Brett Cokayne	Heidi Cokayne	33	32	38	31	134
30	Malcolm Davies	Alex Bale	31	18	11	75	135
31	Rhys Lankester	Chris Bishop	30	35	37	38	140
32	Andy Foskett	Lesley Foskett	38	30	39	36	143
33	Mike Whitehouse	Karen Whitehouse	40	34	42	32	148
34	Adam Whitehouse	Colin Vaughan	75	24	32	18	149
35	Paul Jenkins	David Mason	75	45	25	16	161
36	Sandra Davis	Mike Davis	43	37	49	40	169
37	Peter Mason	Dominic Jennings	41	40	51	37	169
38	Charles Chandler	Owain Hughes	35	41	52	43	171
39	Ben Baxter	Aly Bowering	28	47	27	75	177
40	Graham Bush	Charles Bush	44	36	47	51	178
41	Matt Potter	John Rowell	24	75	34	46	179
42	Jeremy Davy	Scotty	10	20	75	75	180
43	Keryn Henwood-Fox	Gary Henwood-Fox	32	39	35	75	181
44	Debra Gibson	Ian Priest	34	75	41	33	183
45	Jemima Line	Jo Line	45	31	33	75	184
46	Terry Forbes	Simon Forbes	36	75	45	35	191
47	Chris Warren	Nigel Warren	51	44	56	41	192
48	Helen Salisbury	Mike Shreeve	49	46	53	44	192
49	Steve Popple	Suzi Capey	50	48	60	50	208
50	Mark Bowles	Jane Bowles	75	75	31	29	210