Results / RS700 Fat Face Racing Circuit Weston SC - 12/08/2006
A promising 15 knot forecast prompted 24 RS700 sailors to make the
journey to Weston Sailing Club, on Southampton Water. They were greeted
by a shifty force three north westerly.
With Richard Lovering making his debut, Pete Greenhalgh returning to the
class after a summer in the Volvo 40�s, as well as the usual suspects,
including the new National and European Champion Paul Bayliss, the scene
looked set for a hotly contested weekend.
Race one was run in 12 knots of breeze with a port bias line. Bayliss
immediately showed his intentions and pace, by leading the fleet up the
short windward leg. It was a lead he never surrendered. The race behind
him was contested by Leigh Albright and Andy Peake, with Peake coming
through in the end to take second.
Race two got underway in increasing pressure. Swapping from race mode to
safety mode now being the order of the day - it was Albrecht, Peake and
Lovering who contested the first three places, with Lovering gaining on
the upwind legs but losing out downwind with a more conservative
approach. Albrecht was to take the win on the water, but later retired
after being protested for a startline infringementt. This promoted Peake
to first, Lovering to second and Jon Heissig up to third.
Race three saw the pressure grow further. Bayliss charged upwind,
capsized on the final tack but still just led round the windward mark.
The whole fleet was then hit by over 20 knots, which saw half practicing
their breaststroke and the other half tacking round to avoid the gybe.
Lovering�s conservative downwind approach ensured his stick continued to
point skywards and saw him lead Peake and Paul Hayden around the leeward
mark. Lovering slowed on the next downwind leg to let Peake through,
which is how the race ended. Bayliss fought through to fourth after a
time consuming capsize. Overnight, it was Peake first, Lovering second
and Andy Holland, who had a consistent first day, in third.
Sunday dawned to more wind and grey skies. After a one hour postponement
to give the sailors enough water to launch in, race four got underway.
Again, Bayliss stormed up the first beat, but more closely pursued by
Andy Irons, Holland, Lovering, Rob Chaplin and Peake. After a number of
capsizes on the first run, Bayliss pulled out a 300m lead from Peake.
This gap was closed to one boat length on the penultimate lap, but
Bayliss stayed in front after a mistimed tack from Peake.
Race five, and the wind strength had increased to a consistent force six.
The remaining sailors were treated to some phenomenal downwind sailing �
25 knots and flat water! Bayliss and Peake again led the fleet away, with
Bayliss falling back halfway up the first beat after being teabagged as
he slammed into a wave. The downwind leg was over in the blink of an eye
and resulted in Bayliss rounding first, followed by Andy Holland and Matt
Connor. Peake and Irons were busy righting their boats after gybing and
dropping incidents. With the race officer now becoming concerned for
competitor safety, the race was shortened to two laps, with Bayliss in
first, Holland in second and Peake recovering to third.
The sensible decision was taken to abandon race six. Overall, Peake had
just done enough to retain his overnight lead and Bayliss climbed into
second spot. Andy Holland rounded off a solid weekend in third place and
Lovering, in his first 700 event, was fourth. The top five was rounded
off by RS Journeyman, Andy Irons.
In the silver fleet Matt Conner and Paul Hayden coped best with the
conditions shadowing the leading group and completing all of the races,
with local sailor Paul Ross coming in third.
By the end of the day, Western SC was full of beaming faces after an
awesome sail. Credit must go to the race officer and his team, who ran
two Sunday races in testing conditions which may have prompted other RI�s
to raise the abandonment flag. Analysis after the event showed the
highest gust speed at 32.9 knots with several other recorded gusts of +30
knots.
Thanks go to Weston for hosting the event and to our Sponsor�s fat Face
for their continued support.
The season comes to a climax in two weeks at Weymouth. With both the
Gold and Silver fleet prizes very much up for grabs the series closer
looks like it�s going to be a tense and nervy affair.
1 Gold 92 Andrew Peake
Eastbourne SC 2 1 1 2 -3 9
6
2 Gold 875 Paul Bayliss
Portchester SC 1 (25.0 DNF) 4 1 1
32 7
3 Gold 906 Andy Holland
Hunstanton SC 6 4 -7 5 2 24
17
4 Gold 823 Andy Irons
4 (DNC) 6 3 4 42 17
5 Gold 891 Richard Lovering
RSYC 10 2 2 4 (25.0 DNF)
43 18
6 Gold 861 E Gatehouse
Chichester SC 5 -7 5 7 7 31
24
7 Silver 868 Matt Conner
Queen Mary SC -11 9 9 6 5 40
29
8 Silver 765 Paul Hayden
Gurnard SC -13 11 3 9 9 45
32
9 Silver 766 James Ross
Weston SC 7 5 11 (DNC) DNC 73
48
10 Silver 808 Nev Watson
Weston SC 16 (25.0 DNF) 13 10 10
74 49
11 Silver 788 J Peats
DWSC 17 13 14 (DNC) 11 80 55
12 Silver 741 Ned McNulty
Stokes Bay SC 15 6 (DNC) 12 DNC 83
58
13 Silver 934 Matthew Stark
Netley SC (DNC) 14 12 25.0 DNS 8
84 59
14 Gold 882 Jon Heissig
Lymington Town SC (25.0 OCS) 3 10
25.0 DNF DNC 88 63
15 Gold 941 Rob Chaplin
Queen Mary SC (DNC) DNC 8 8 DNC 91
66
16 9031 Tim Dickinson
HISC (DNC) DNC DNC 11 6 92 67
17 Silver 960 Ian Nolan
Hunstanton SC 9 8 (DNC) DNC DNC 92
67
18 Silver 945 Jonathan Cameron
14 10 (DNC) DNC DNC 99
74
19 Silver 905 Simon Forbes
Weston SC 12 12 (DNC) DNC DNC 99
74
20 Gold 939 Leigh Albecht
Queen Mary SC 3 (25.0 DNF) DNC DNC
DNC 103 78
21 Silver 840 Dan Azzopardi
Queen Mary SC 8 (25.0 DNF) DNC DNC
DNC 108 83
22 Silver 709 John Hinsley
Weston SC (25.0 DNF) DNC DNC DNC
DNC 125 100
22 Gold 849 Pete Greenhalgh
(25.0 DSQ) 25.0 DSQ 25.0 DSQ
25.0 DSQ 25.0 DSQ 125 100
22 Silver 942 Al Hall
Weston SC (25.0 DSQ) 25.0 DSQ 25.0 DSQ
25.0 DSQ 25.0 DSQ 125 100