Results / RS Fat Face Racing Circuit East Lothian YC, North Berwick - 03/05/2003

The, now, annual trip to North Berwick for the RS 200�s was supported by a good turn out of 30 boats, variable weather and extended opening hours. All in all an almost perfect weekend for sailing as for the most part the wind blew and the rain stayed off. And, we all got lots of ice cream. All of the competitors at the event enjoyed it immensely, with many already booking accommodation for next years nationals! People woke on Saturday to a look over a very windy course area with many smiles. By the time racing started the wind had dropped to a gentle F3 and as the racing continued the wind dropped still further, with the leading boats finishing in very little wind. The dropping wind did not detract from some extremely close racing through out the fleet, with the lead only being settled on the final reach to the finish. The race was eventually won by James (I didn�t hit a corner in this one) Stewart sailing with new crew Alex Halliwell. Coming in a very close second were Josh Gebhard and Simon Evans showing they are likely contenders when the circuit moves to their home club Derwent at the beginning of June. As the 200 watched the 400 fleet drift towards the finish line in the last of the dying breeze many 200 sailors watched the spectacle of some very enthusiastic 400 kinetics, all to no avail. Race officer Jim Sinclair wisely let the fleet wait it out on the water as the forecast promised new breeze. After 45 mins of waiting the wind filled in and slowly built to a good F4. Racing was underway again � Ian Pickard sailing with Lucy Mathews got off to a cracking start and had a good lead by the first mark, this was steadily eroded around the course by Steve and Laurie Dunn though Ian/Lucy held on for the win. Third place went to Pete Vincent and Sarah Allen, who were pushed hard and managed to hold on. The breeze was now strong enough that a few members of the fleet were testing their water wings and race three started. This time Jon Lewis and Milly Parsons made now mistakes and headed off for a nice victory, closely followed by Tom Hewitson sailing with Fiona Clarke and Ian/Lucy. Saturday night was a blend of torture and good company as the karaoke machine was out to action. The late opening of the bars tested the stamina of the southern sailors and was in part responsible for some sore heads on Sunday. However, the racing on Sunday was simply superb. The wind was blowing a good F4 gusting to F5 and the racing was extremely tight. Race four was started with two boats reaching in to the start line kites up and generally looking very sheepish. James Stewart then had some real fun a the pin end as he tried to squeeze into a very small gap, resulting in the removal of his rudder and enough turns to get dizzy! The race was won by Tom and Fiona with a charging Steve and Laurie in second. Pete and Sarah showed they had no been in the bar long enough by getting a third. As the wind built race 5 got underway, again Tom and Fiona had an excellent start while Steve and Laurie could do with lessons in starting, however some good down wind sailing brought them back into second for the race. Behind there was some real tussles going on with places changes on almost all of the legs of the course, eventually Patrick Altoft sailing with Adam Tunningley pulled through into third place. Race 6 was led almost from start to finish by Steve and Laurie, with some more extremely close racing continuing through out the remainder of the fleet, Jon and Milly managed to hold Ian and Lucy for third place in the race. With a great day on Sunday Steve and Laurie won the event, first lady was Sarah Taylor sailing with Claire Upton-Brown.