Extreme conditions

It was cold and windy for the RS400 Fat Face event at Queen Mary SC

Queen Mary S.C. hosted the opening event of the RS400 Fat Face racing circuit for 2006. A cold and windy forecast greeted the competitors and many left boats on their trailers. However those who braved the conditions on Saturday were treated to some classic racing - over the weekend there were four different winners from six races. The boats were split into gold and silver fleets, with equal Fat Face vouchers going to each fleet.

A windward-leeward course in gusts of 25 knots meant that the downwind legs took a good deal less time than the windward ones, and everyone took a swim at some point with some tentative early season gybing, especially at the downwind lay line a.k.a. the local swimming facility.

In race one, Tom Halhead and Chris Bishop took an early lead, only to take an equally early swim, allowing Chris Jennings and Andrew Bonsey through into the lead, followed by Chris Gowers and June Riley and Paul Hilliar and Stuart Jagger. A quick recovery and fast sailing from Halhead and Bishop saw them back into second but couldn’t quite tag Jennings and Bonsey, who took the race win. In the silver fleet, Richard Gray and Jon Dyas took the win from Rob and Liz Jones.

Race two and again the curse of leading saw Jennings and Bonsey make early use of the water wings as Halhead and Bishop and Gowers and Riley tussled for the lead in front of Hilliar and Jagger. Some enormous gusts and some of the fastest downwind legs many had experienced made it easy to spot the downwind lay line for the gybe as there were invariably a collection of upturned hulls. Halhead and Bishop held it together this time to win after a great race with Gowers and Riley. Jones and Jones took the Silver fleet from John Cooper and Becci Wigley.

With the cold taking it’s toll on the fleet, a reduced entry set out for the third race. Jennings and Bonsey and Halhead and Bishop made the early running but Hilliar and Jagger pulled through to take the win, with Jennings and Bonsey holding off Halhead and Bishop to take second place. Gray and Dyas took the silver fleet again in a war of attrition from Jones and Jones.

Sunday dawned and the weather was far more welcoming to competitors. Warm sunshine and a gusty 15 knots meant that the fleet was racing far closer together than the day before. With the windward mark set close to the edge of the reservoir and a gusty downwind leg, a premium was put on riding the gusts downwind.

Race four saw the fleet split on the downwind leg, with the main beneficiaries being Jennings and Bonsey, who pulled through from mid-fleet to lead early on. Confusion reigned with one lap to go as the leading three all went for the finish line, allowing Gowers and Riley to come through to second on the basis that they could count accurately to five. Jennings and Bonsey had enough of a lead to hang on to win despite the diversion but Gowers and Riley lost second to the charging Halhead and Bishop. Silver fleet honours went to Howard Fairbrother and Louise Hosken, who held off Gray and Dyas in second.

In race five, the downwind snakes and ladders continued, with Greg O‘Brian and Fiona Clark and Gowers and Riley at the front with Gray and Dyas. These were chased by Jennings and Bonsey and Halhead and Bishop, with the overall title clearly going to be contested between these two. After an hour of incredibly close racing, Jennings and Bonsey kept their noses ahead just long enough to take the win from Halhead and Bishop and O’Brian and Clark. Gray and Dyas took the silver fleet result from Fairbrother and Hosken.

In the sixth and deciding final race, Halhead and Bishop extended a sizable lead from the fleet and looked good for the title, with Jennings and Bonsey languishing in the pack. However, a missed shift on the penultimate downwind leg saw the Halhead and Bishop’s lead extinguished and they were suddenly in a five way battle for the lead. It was game on for the overall title as Jennings and Bonsey were hot on their heels. On the final beat, O’Brian and Clark hit the left hard and came out leading but behind them the final mark was getting fruity. Shenanigans between the top two saw Jennings and Bonsey taking penalty turns and Halhead and Bishop capsized following the collision. Hilliar and Jagger escaped downwind from the melee to claim second behind O’Brian, with Jennings and Bonsey just holding on to third and therefore taking the title from Halhead and Bishop. Gray and Dyas took the final race in the silver fleet and with it the overall silver fleet title.

Many thanks to Queen Mary S.C. for making the best of Saturday’s testing conditions and putting on some superbly close racing on Sunday.

Results:

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Tot
1	C. Jennings	A. Bonsey	1	4	2	1	1	3	8
2	T. Halhead	C. Bishop	2	1	3	2	2	4	10
3	P. Hilliar	S. Jagger	3	3	1	4	4	2	13
4	G. O’Brien	F. Clark	5	5	6	5	3	1	19
5	C. Gowers	J. Riley	4	2	19	3	5	5	19
6	R. Gray	J. Dyas	6	8	4	7	6	6	29
7	R. Jones	L. Jones	7	6	5	10	9	9	36
8	J. Cooper	B. Wigley	9	7	19	8	8	7	39
9	H. Farbrother	J. Smith	8	19	19	6	7	19	59
10	N. Watson	L. Watson	10	19	19	11	10	11	61
11	S. Baker	G. Hayes	19	9	19	17	13	15	73
12	R. Kenneally	R. O’Gorman	19	19	19	9	19	8	74
13	J. Smith	T. Smith	19	19	19	16	11	10	75
14	D. Donnelly	S. Malaulty	19	19	19	12	12	13	75
15	N. Francis	S. Edwards	19	19	19	13	14	12	77
16	D. Herward	P. Mason	19	19	19	15	15	14	82
17	B. Humphrey	R. Lineham	19	19	19	14	19	19	90
18	S. Blackaller	M. Camble	19	19	19	19	19	19	95