RS kick off

2005 Fat Face RS Racing Circuit starts up west

The 2005 Fat Face RS Racing Circuit kicked off at Bristol Corinthian / Chew Valley in mid March and the 800 class held its Gul Winter Championship over the same weekend at Chew. Close racing in the unstable breeze – outcomes that hung in the balance – suspicion over science teacher Sarah Taylor’s concoctions behind the bar – great race management that held it all together.

RS200
It all seemed easy for Lee Sydenham/Anne Vaudrey in races 1 and 2 with two bullets. Jeremy Stephens with Roger Gilbert as guest crew was comfortable in second. Race 2 saw the A.R.O. busy with the OCS board and an eventful race included local heroine Danbury finishing a lap early whilst lying second! Big mistake. New faces hit the front in race 3, with ex champions David Giles/Fiona Clark winning from Jon Lewis/Katy Nichol second.

New day, new wind on Sunday. Sydenham/Vaudrey again looked good in race 4, just holding on as the final run turned into a reach. The Hewitsons finally found top gear to win race 5 with Danbury/Ryder a fine second. In the final race showdown, Sydenham was in the driving seat and Giles could claim overall victory only by winning the final race with Sydenham worse than tenth. The Hewitsons were fast out of the blocks and led at the midway point, with Giles second and Sydenham stuck in the early teens - a three-way tie was a distinct possibility. Then Giles found the required shift to take the lead and win the race from the Hewitsons and the consistent Robertson/King. Sydenham/Vaudrey climbed to…11th, so Giles claimed overall victory by one point.

RS400
With a rolling start system running throughout the event, the 400s had the opportunity to watch the 200s making sense of the shifts. It looked like business as usual when National and Endeavour champ Nick Craig, sailing with Emma Roberts won the first race, but it was not to be! A loud bang soon marked the end of race 2 for Craig/Roberts as cracks appeared in their mast step. Chris Jennings and Ed Nicklin followed their opening 3rd with a win in race 2 and the die was cast for their remarkably consistent performance of 3,1,3,1,2,5 through the shifts and changing conditions of the weekend.

Archie Massey and Giles Bradford, taking a break from the 14s, showed some serious speed, also with consistency, to finish second overall, with no race wins but a lowest score of 4th to count. David Jones and Mark Hogan finished their series with two wins to clinch third overall from Paul Hilliard and Toby Ashton from Oxford, who enjoyed Saturday’s big breeze, in fourth. Chris Gowers and June Riley won race 3, but a black flag on Sunday morning meant they had to count a 17th and settle for 7th overall.

RS600
As soon as the 600 fleet left the shore at Chew Valley Lake, the temperature plummeted and a fresh, gusty and shifty wind developed. Race one saw Paul Smalley lead around the first mark but a capsize allowed Jamie Mawson and Alex Knight through. A gust then caused carnage at the gybe mark but Mawson went on to win. Knight led the fleet round the windward mark in race two but was overtaken by Smalley on the reach with Mawson finishing in third. Race three saw the closest racing of the weekend as Andy Heissig and Knight rounded the windward mark together. Places swapped regularly between the leading four boats which all finished within two boat lengths of each other. Smalley stole the honours from Knight.

On the Sunday a light and shifty breeze made for tricky conditions. Demo Dave took a flyer in race four and was never challenged. Smalley pulled up to second with Knight in third. The breeze filled in more for race five which saw Mawson winning in front of Smalley and Knight. In the final race Mawson started well but lost out to Smalley and Knight, giving Smalley the event.

A great event to start the Fat Face season, and good to see new faces getting to grips with the 600.

RS700
Early leaders were Jerry Wales, and locals Tim Johnson and Tony Freer but those behind had the benefit of a large gust to catch up downwind, whilst enjoying the spectacle as it caught the leading group mid-gybe! Wales emerged clear ahead, Johnson recovered to second and Leigh Albrecht sailed over the top of Jon Heissig on the final reach for third. The wind then started dying and shifting and when it was steady enough to start race 2 Johnson pulled so far ahead he looked like last! Wales and Heissig swapped second for a while, with Wales finally edging ahead. Johnson and Wales seemed oblivious to the erratic wind in race 3 and built up a substantial lead, with Johnson pulling away for another win, Cooper third and Nigel Walbank fourth.

Similar conditions for Sunday saw those who could pick the right way up the beat build up a large enough gap be unchallenged. Wales did this convincingly for the next two races to win the event with a race to spare. The light conditions in Race 4 suited Albrecht who came in second, with Mark Pollington in third. Race 5 saw Cooper up to second, Albrecht third and Johnson recovering to fourth, back in the running for second overall. The final race had plenty of place-changing but ultimately Johnson cruised into the lead with Freer finally getting his kite under control in 2nd and Albrecht claimed 3rd in the race and 3rd overall.

RS800 – Gul Winters
Shifty and tea-bagging were the terms of the weekend! Race one kicked off with good wave action and twin-wiring that meant you had to be tuned in for gusts. Steve Irish/Martin Gottrel led the fleet with Chris Haworth/Stuart Aston battling but finally losing to Spod/Jane Olive for 2nd. Race 2 followed a similar routine but this time Haworth/Aston got ahead with the Olives chasing. Ian Martin & Claire Booth, sporting their new aft-led mainsheet, flying in on the port layline third found Neil Ashby/Roz Allen steaming in on starboard. A 720 left them wallowing at the back of the fleet but with some gambles they pulled back up to 4th. Race 3 saw place changing all the time; not a good enough excuse for the Olives finishing in the lead but on the penultimate lap, letting Justin Deal/Sarah Mariott take and keep the lead.

Sunday started with puffy single-wiring stuff. Deal/Marriott led most of the race, with Irish/Gotrell managing to finally creep into the lead to take race 4. By now there were a number of teddies floating around the lake as shifty conditions had caused rows in every boat. A day to try to stay level headed. Irish/Gotrel showed this for the last 2 races with clean fast starts and efficient working of shifts and gusts - 2 bullets sealed their Gul Winters victory ahead of Howarth/Aston and the Olives. The Merit award went to Kate Gillow/Katie Savage who had obviously had picked up some speed juice from somewhere to finish 12th overall.