Results / RS Fat Face Racing Circuit Chew Valley Lake SC - 15/03/2003
The first event of the 2003 RS Fat Face Circuit welcomed 17 RS700s to a
sunny and warm weekend of close racing. Chew Valley hosted a total of 56
RS600s, RS700s and RS800s racing on different courses but using the same
start and finish lines. The race team managed the fleets with alacrity
and style. As far as we know no one got lost!
Saturday�s breeze was from the East(ish), F2 to F4 gusting F5 and
shifting through thirty degrees all day. These conditions tested the
sailors� boathandling, tactics and boatspeed skills to the full. The
first race was dominated by Andy White, who had Tim Johnson and Tony
Freer snapping at his heels but neither were able to get ahead of White.
In the second race Stuart Speer led around the first mark but in the
changeable conditions was soon overtaken by the pack. White was on the
right side of the shifts again and won by 5 metres. Jerry Wales sailed
well to finish second just a metre ahead of Johnson who had recovered
from a dreadful first lap. With the wind increasing for the third race
White led the pack again until capsizing at the final mark! Andy Irons
capitalised on the mistake to take the third gun. White limped home in
second just ahead of Carl Vining and Andrew Peake. White had won the day
by a handsome margin with the rest of the fleet struggling for
consistency.
Sunday�s breeze was from the East(ish), F1 to F3 gusting F4 and shifting
through thirty degrees again. The fourth race started promptly at 10:40am
and the fleet fought through the shifts and gusts with many place
changes. Freer went left on the second beat and sailed from 7th to 1st!
He held onto the lead until capsizing on the final run. Jerry Wales,
sailing consistently, won, with Johnson and Irons close behind. The fifth
race was heavily contested in the first lap, but Johnson found the right
shifts downwind to win by a leg from Peake and the speedy 69Kg Jon
Emmett. The tight competitive racing and variable conditions meant that
the open meeting was still winnable by any of the top 5. The sixth race
was sailed in the lightest winds of the weekend. Wales sailed a brilliant
first lap and took a hundred yards out of Neil Sanders who took another
hundred yards out of the pack. The pack with all title contenders (except
Wales) was parked up at the windward mark. Escape routes were tried by
many but clear air was hard to come by. Dave Aston, Nigel Walbank, Dave
Merchant and Johnson all got clear early to chase Wales and Sanders.
Their lead proved to be unassailable but Johnson managed to clinch third
and the regatta. White sailed to a second in the regatta after being on
the wrong side of too many shifts on the Sunday. Wales clinched third
with 2 firsts and a second. Freer, in his first regatta in a RS700.
finished fourth. With Peake, Irons and Vining close behind.
Thank you to all the volunteers at Chew who put on such a great regatta
and thank you to all the visitors for travelling to Somerset where the
beer is only �1.30 a pint! The competition in the 700s is getting faster
and tighter all the time!
1 762 Tim Johnson 11 2 3 18 2 1 3
2 741 Andy White 14 1 1 2 7 5 5
3 841 Jerry Wales 17 6 2 9 1 7 1
4 822 Tony Frer 22 3 4 5 18 4 6
5 750 Andrew Peake 24 8 6 4 8 2 4
6 823 Andy Irons 28 11 5 1 3 8 18
7 716 Carl Vining 29 5 14 3 4 6 11
8 718 Tim Garvin 34 7 15 6 5 9 7
9 775 Nigel Walbank 41 4 11 8 12 10 8
10 721 Neil Sanders 44 18 7 14 6 15 2
11 839 Jon Emmett 45 13 10 10 10 3 12
12 834 Dave Merchant 48 12 8 7 15 12 9
13 843 David Aston 57 18 9 13 14 11 10
14 855 Loopy 58 9 13 12 11 14 13
15 753 Eddie Gatehouse 64 14 12 11 13 16 14
16 803 Tim Dickinson 66 10 16 18 9 13 16
17 777 Stewart Speer 83 15 17 15 18 18 18