Results / RS Fat Face Racing Circuit Bristol Corinthain YC - 15/03/2003

RS200 Fat Face Racing Circuit at Bristol Corinthian YC � the summer heat wave in March. The 2003 RS200 Fat Face Racing Circuit kicked off with a very healthy entry of 45 boats, lots of new boats and weather we would have been delighted to have in June. Saturday saw a puffy force 4 from the Northeast, which, unusually for BCYC, was quite stable, and bright sunshine. Sunday produced really strong sun and tans but the wind gave PRO Rhys Lankester nightmares as it could not make up its mind if it wanted to come from the south east or north east; at times it was coming from both directions on different parts of the lake with not a lot in between. With the RS300s and Vareos also racing the wind did not stay constant enough over the 15 minute start sequence for the start line and windward leg to stay true; the race teams did very well to get three decent races in under such conditions. Obviously the inventors of the snakes and ladders board game had sailed at BCYC on such days as wind strengths varied from force 2 and 4, and 90 degrees in direction at least twice each beat. In Race 1 Pete Vincent/Louisa Fewtrell just led at the end of the first run closely followed by old crew Trudie Danbury/Laurie Dunn and Steve Sargent/Karen Garlick, part of the epidemic of new boats from Wembley. Vincent/Fewtrell liked the close reaches on the trapezoid second lap and pulled well clear to win with Danbury/Dunn very chirpy in second. Lee Sydenham/Anne Vaudrey then really found forward gear to win the next two races; the third by a huge distance. The Danbury/Dunn team showed Doris power had really arrived with an excellent second place in the third race to claim second place overall overnight ahead of the consistent Dave Giles/Fiona Clark and, far more importantly, Ugly Vincent. First race on Sunday saw the overall situation really open up. Vincent/Fewtrell were given OCS by a blind race officer, both Sydenham and Giles had recorded their worst results and Jon Lewis/Camille Parsons came right into the frame with a convincing race win with Cliff/Bec Milliner second. Race 5 proved eventful and the turning point of the weekend. A big shift and drop in wind in the last 90 seconds before the start left the majority of the fleet too close to the committee boat unable to get down the other end. This was compounded 30 seconds after the start when any boat near the pin tacked onto port in two forces more wind. Sydenham/Vaudry were in exactly the right place at the right time and stormed away in fresh breeze from the NE. Any boat in the middle or right looked dead and buried including David Giles who was a dot in a whole world of trouble until he played his huge get out of jail card and suddenly tacked onto new breeze from the SE giving him a huge starboard lift and into the top ten at the first mark. Lee and Anne had already gone round the mark and had a race long big lead until the final run. Stuck in gentle breeze they had to fight hard to get across to new breeze bringing the chasing pack ever closer. A very relieved Lee just held on to beat Giles at the finish with the first 4 boats covered by less than 4 boat lengths. Giles scored a vital second with Josh Gebhard/Simon Evans an impressive third. Race 6 and John/Chris Blundell in their first RS200 event topped an excellent day by leading at mark 1. Giles and Vincent in 6.7 gybed first into new breeze to move to 1.2 on the first run, positions they held to the finish in a close tussle. Blundell just got the better of Ollie Holden/Sarah Freestone to claim third. Giles finishing salvo of 1.2 gave him overall victory despite Sydenhams three race wins. A very relieved Vincent just claimed third on discard from the Doris boat, the star performers of the weekend. Charlie Roome/Jodi Dyer, just back from his trip round the world, just pipped Paul Dorer/Ian Robertson for first youth. Perhaps the real story was that it�s only March and already the fleet has red faces, panda eyes and very strange tan lines on their necks from wearing drysuits. Pete Vincent