Two convincing wins

Craig and Stewart and the Gilberts took victory the RS200 and RS400 Fat Face Circuit event in Parkstone

Fantastic weather conditions, and a friendly welcome from Parkstone YC, greeted the fleets on Saturday for the RS200 and RS400 Fat Face Circuit event.

RS200

The first start got underway in 12-14 knots of breeze out in bay. Roger Gilbert, sailing with his sister Katrina Gilbert, had a good start and won the first race, with Ian Pickard and Lucy Matthews and Andy and Geraldine Peters in second and third respectively.

The wind picked up a few knots, and the PRO lengthened the course for the second race. The Gilbert siblings showed the way again to win the second race, with Tom and Jo Hewitson back in their more usual position near the front taking second place and Jon Lewis and Katie Nichols in third.

The wind had increased again for race three. Not all the fleet noticed the PRO had put numeral five pennant up indicating five laps, instead of the two laps of the previous races. The hard work up the beats was rewarded by some exciting downwind runs in front of the photographer’s boat. The Gilberts showed great form to win a third race, with Hewitsons in second and Pickard and Matthews in third.

A fantastic days sailing was followed by great food, and live music from the Martin Kitcher Band in the Yacht Club. New lightweight crews Max Sydenham and Hazel Jones were welcomed to the fleet.

Sunday morning brought blustery wind. Unfortunately, when the gusts increased to 35 knots, the PRO was forced to abandon sailing for the day. Roger and Katrina Gilbert won the event with three first places. Pickard and Matthews and Lewis and Nichols were tied on 13 points in second place, with Pickard and Matthews getting second overall due to their second place in the first race. With no discard, consistency counted, and Mark Littlejohn and Emma had hit the consistency button on Saturday to take fourth overall.

RS400

After a recalled start to the first race the black flag restored discipline to the fleet, at the RS400 open meeting in Parkstone, who got away in 12-15 knots, sunshine and moderate waves.

The leading boats came in from the right on the first beat and it was Nick Craig and James Stewart who sailed an excellent beat to pull through into an early lead, followed by Jon Gorringe and Toby Lewis and Steve Venebles and Richard Brown. After two laps of tough upwinds and blasting downwinds, the top two remained the same but Tom Halhead and Chris Bishop pulled out the stops downwind to take third from Venebles and Brown.

The wind built slightly for the second race, and a big left shift up the first beat put Archie Massey and Simon Walker into the lead at the first mark, but they couldn’t hold off the pack downwind and Craig and Stewart were at the front again, this time with Hywel Robots and Duncan Glen pushing them hard all the way. Behind them, Halhead and Bishop staged another recovery to take third.

In the third race, Craig and Stewart port tacked the fleet and sailed into a very big lead in what was the longest race of the day. Venebles and Brown held off Paul Hilliar and Stuart Jagger in a final beat tacking duel to take second but the biggest battle was taking place just behind. After over an hour of racing, about 15 seconds separated fourth to ninth place.

Sunday looked promising but with wind gusting to 35 knots the inevitable happened and racing was abandoned, leaving Craig and Stewart as convincing winners.

Results:

RS200

Pos	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	Tot
1	Roger Gilbert	Katrina Gilbert	1	1	1	3
2	Ian Pickard	Loopie Lucy	2	8	3	13
3	Jonathan Lewis	KT Nichol	4	3	6	13
4	M. Littlejohn	Emma	6	6	5	17
5	Tom Hewitson	Jo Hewitson	14	2	2	18
6	Andrew Peters	Jeraldine Peters	3	9	7	19
7	Micky Wright	Howie Enkel	7	4	8	19
8	Steve Dunn	Noelle Vidal	9	7	4	20
9	Trudie Fell	Karen Baker	5	5	14	24
10	Will Storey	Kate Havill	12	10	12	34
11	Richard Edwards	Paru Edwards	10	16	10	36
12	Sandy Ramus	Jane Willaw	8	11	27	46
13	Fiona Hall	Paul Rigg	20	18	9	47
14	Mike Chapman	Lynne Ratcliffe	15	17	15	47
15	Sue Antonelli	Jo Lloyd	11	14	23	48
16	John Greenland	Pippa Williams	21	19	11	51
17	Charlie Muir	Jane Sands	23	13	17	53
18	George Kingsnorth	Victoria Fairhurst	24	20	13	57
19	Sarah Taylor	Lucy Matthews	26	15	16	57
20	Chris Catt	Nikki Catt	16	23	20	59
21	Simon Gillow	Emma Harniman	25	21	18	64
22	Paul Lewis	Flicity Pearson	13	27	25	65
23	Juliet Kingsnorth	Alice Kingsnorth	28	28	19	75
24	Stephen Janering	Charlotte Cotter	19	12	DNC	83
25	Alan Tarrant	Dale Phillips	27	26	31	84
26	Paul Goodwin	Tessa Nichols	37	24	24	85
27	Gareth Robinson	Willow Holland	31	32	26	89
28	Georgie Hill	Roger Tait	18	DNC	22	92
29	Neil Chadborn	Lucy Hall	33	25	34	92
30	Phil Sowden	Jim Sowden	52.0 DSQ	22	21	95
31	Nigel Biggs	Gael Pawson	17	DNC	29	98
32	Rosie Sands	Andy Williams	36	34	30	100
33	Daniel Scott	Nicole Chambers	38	31	33	102
34	Nigel Harniman	Alex Porter	30	38	35	103
35	Matt Davies	Dottie Commack	22	30	52.0 DNF	104
36	Phil Waind	Sonya Gohil	39	29	38	106
37	Mike Riley	Dave martin	43	35	32	110
38	Andrew Barraclough	Elice B\arraclough	34	37	44	115
39	Ellie Martin	Hannah Burywood	35	43	40	118
40	Peter Jenkins	James Jenkins	49	42	28	119
41	Adrian Spicer	Jordan Kirk	32	45	42	119
42	Karen Littlejohn	John McGrath	42	36	41	119
43	Emily McKee	Guy Kippen	45	44	36	125
44	Katharine Lovering	Chris Lawson	47	39	39	125
45	Jane Sutor	Katarina Matthews-Lundin	41	41	43	125
46	Martin Fear	Chris Georgiou	46	33	52.0 DNF	131
47	Peter Milligan	Mark Hodgson	29	DNC	DNC	133
48	James Bayliss	Lucinda Hall-Jones	44	DNC	37	133
49	Peter Franklin	Melissa Storey	48	40	DNC	140
50	Ashley Fry	Catherine Fry	40	DNC	DNC	144
51	Robert Timms	Oliver Timmis	DNC	DNC	DNC	156

RS400

Pos	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Tot
1	Nick Craig	James Stewart	Frensham Pond S.C.	1	1	1	3
2	Tom Halhead	Chris Bishop	Bristol Corinthian S.C.	3	3	4	10
3	Paul Hilliar	Stu Jagger	Bristol Corinthian Y.C.	6	4	3	13
4	Jon Gorringe	Toby Lewis	Parkstone Y.C.	2	6	7	15
5	Steve Venables	Richard Brown	Sutton S.C.	5	9	2	16
6	David Jones	Mark Hogan	Port Dinorwick S.C.	4	8	5	17
7	Hywel Roberts	Duncan Glen	Parkstone Y.C.	9	2	9	20
8	Greg O'Brien	Fiona Clark	Sutton S.C.	8	7	10	25
9	Phil Jackson	Gerard Barron	Parkstone Y.C.	11	10	6	27
10	Neal Freeman	Paul Freeman	Parkstone Y.C.	7	12	8	27
11	Richard Bone	Daniel Martin	Bough Beech S.C.	12	13	11	36
12	Bob Alexander	Sam Pearson	Parkstone Y.C.	14	11	13	38
13	Andrew Freeman	Emma Jones	Parkstone Y.C.	17	14	12	43
14	Chris Bailey	Matthew Bailey	Bartley S.C.	13	15	15	43
15	Archie Massey	Simon Walker	Itchenor S.C.	10	5	37.0 DNF	52
16	Chris Hogan	Elaine Marsh	Port Dinorwick S.C.	16	23	14	53
17	Howard Farbrother	Louise Hosken	Queen Mary S.C.	22	16	19	57
18	Georgie Blaver-Mann	Rob Hepburn	Parkstone Y.C.	20	19	22	61
19	Dave Griffiths	Paul Adams	Bewl Valley S.C.	28	17	17	62
20	Mark Reddington	Claire Stopps	Bartley S.C.	21	26	16	63
21	Becci Wigley	Eric Wigley	Lymington Town S.C.	23	20	23	66
22	Richard Kenyon	Richard Bullock	Parkstone Y.C.	18	28	21	67
23	Richard Graham-Enock	Roland Walker	Aldeburgh Y.C.	19	27	24	70
24	Patrick Keats	Zoe Dunne	Parkstone Y.C.	25	25	20	70
25	Tom Peters	Anna-Louise Morris	Weston S.C.	26	24	26	76
26	Sam Parker	Anna Ludgate	Weston S.C.	DNC	22	18	77
27	Dave Cheyne	Steve Kane	Royal North of Ireland Y.C.	37.0 DNF	18	25	80
28	Gordon Patterson	Mike Krowne	Royal North of Ireland Y.C.	15	30	37.0 DNF	82
29	Mike Adams	Rowan Stedman	Bexhill on Sea	27	21	DNC	85
30	Nick Simmons	James Jaffer	Corus S.C.	24	29	DNC	90
31	Ian Heijne	Terry Young	Bough Beech S.C.	30	31	37.0 DNF	98
32	Huw Willetts	Richard Willetts	Parkstone Y.C.	29	37.0 DNF	DNC	103
33	Peter Travis	Tim Embercy	Castle Cove S.C.	31	DNC	DNC	105
34	Christopher Hitchman	Stuart Roberts	Bartley S.C.	32	DNC	37.0 DNF	106
35	Paul Naser	Bob Swaffield	Spinnaker S.C.	DNC	DNC	DNC	111
35	Simon Blackaller	James Blackaller	Parkstone Y.C