Sailing Today	© www.fotoboat.com
The RS700 associations e-Newsletter - Issue 16
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Issue 16 contents... Calendar 2008 Lymington preview Think Baywatch - Then head for Hunstanton! Nationals 2008 Chew Valley report What happened at Queen Mary? Billy no mates... Anniversary Regatta		© www.fotoboat.com
Calendar 2008... 14/15 June 2008 Lymington Town Sailing Club 28/29 June 2008 Hunstanton Sailing Club 12/13 July 2008 Eastbourne Sovereign Sailing Club 28 July - 1st August 2008 Riva del Garda European Championships 24-27 August 2008 Hayling Island Sailing Club Gul National Championships 13/14 September 2008 Weston Sailing Club 04/05 October 2008 Grafham Water Sailing Club Inland Championships 25/26 October 2008 Oxford Sailing Club Winter Championships
RS600/700 Fat Face Racing at Lymington Town SC The RS600s & RS700s are off to the ever-popular Lymington Town SC on 14/15 June for the 5th (for 600s), 4th (for 700s) Fat Face Circuit event of 2008. If you are a Lymington virgin, it's a great club with friendly atmosphere & locals, very nice food and reassuringly cheap beer. For any support teams, Lymington is a great place to wander around. You don't absolutely need to pre-book for this one, but it would help the club if you did, and there is a £4 saving if you enter on-line before the event at www.sailracer.co.uk/events/event.asp?eventid=5636   This saving will buy you 2 pints in the LTSC Bar! Further details about the event, including directions and local accommodation are at http://www.rs-association.com/index.asp?selection=eventsdetail&uid=114823434&class=RS600&fleet=RS600&detailevent=1  If you are travelling West via the M27 it is strongly suggested that you leave at Jct 2, not Jct 1. Bring lots of change for the car park, or, even better, allow another 5 minutes and, once unloaded, you can park in one of the nearby street for free. If you need any further reason for coming along, it's local Andy Heissig's leaving party. Andy has accepted a job in Paris and starts the following week - zut alors! - so come along and help him get into the mood .....
Fat Face RS Racing Circuit - Hunstanton SC 28th/29th June  2008. Hunstanton Sailing Club are hosting the RS700 Fat Face RS circuit meeting on the 28th and 29th June. This is looking to be an 'event not to be missed'! The briefing will kick the weekend off on Saturday at 11am with the first race scheduled for mid day with 3 races back to back. It will then be time to return to shore and watch the sun go down with a cold beer! This will be followed by The Summer Time Beach Party at the club - Baywatch style! Beach Part wear is vital for this event as you tuck into a hog roast listening to the live acoustic band booked for the night. Then an 11am start on Sunday morning with 3 more races back to back!! For all the above it will only cost you £30 for the whole weekend including food! To find more information on Hunstanton Sailing Club visit there website at www.hunstantonsc.co.uk Look forward to seeing you there.		Hunstanton's finely tuned local RS700 sailors ready for action!
RS700 National Championships 2008... Hayling Island Sailing Club enjoys a high reputation for its organisation of World and National Championships, Olympic trials and open events; the choice of sailing waters ensuring that, barring the most extreme weather conditions, events can be completed and enjoyed.
In 2003 the new clubhouse was opened still commanding wonderful views of the harbour and the sailing, the new building provides much improved club facilities. As well as state of the art changing rooms, the new general club facilities, bars, dining room and services provide a comfortable environment for all Club members and guests. Click here for Notice of Race Social Programme Sunday 24th August - Disco Monday 25th - Jazz Jive and Cocktails Tuesday 26th - Go-Karting in Gosport sponsored by Seasure Wednesday 27th - Prizegiving, BBQ & Games incl Human football
Chew Valley Lake SC - 8th/9th March 2008... The first Fat Face Circuit Event of the season was held over the weekend of the 8/9th March at Chew Valley Sailing Club. With 80mph winds forecast for the following Monday the sailors were expecting a lumpy ride for the first event of the season and weren’t disappointed. For those who hadn’t been out practising over the winter, the cobwebs were about to get severely blown away. Race 1 started in a stiff F4-5 with plenty of dramatic gusts and holes resulting in some excellent spectator sport. Tim Johnson from the local club looked most comfortable in the conditions and was set to take the race until a port / starboard incident with a running boat resulted in a retirement. This left Matt Humphreys clear to take the first race followed by fellow Weston sailor James Ross and Jon Heissig from Lymington. A refreshed Tim Johnson returned to the water for the second race and picked up where he had left off to dominate the race, leading from Matt Humphreys and a fast improving Matt Stark.
The breeze was showing no sign of abating for the final race of the day and a depleted fleet took to the start line. Fatigue and the consistently gusty conditions were taking their toll and the race turned into a real game of “last man standing”. All of the front runners had their chance and all managed to lose it with Tim pulling through to deservedly take the race. After some excellent food in the club and the odd beverage, Sunday dawned with a shifting light breeze which resulted in a postponement until the wind stabilised and built allowing the Race officer to set a course. A good force four had built resulting in some excellent racing for the remainder of the day. The first race of the day saw the usual suspects at the front enjoying a very close tussle. It was Matt who made the decisive break, gybing off into a gust at the optimal time and taking the race.		© www.fotoboat.com
Race 5 was equally close with Jon closely shadowing Matt throughout the race. Jon finally took the lead on the last run only capsize at the last gybe, handing the victory back to Matt. A depleted fleet took to the start line for the final race of the weekend. Matt climbed out from the committee boat end, sailing higher than the rest of the fleet to lead at the first mark. Jon recovered from an average first beat to pull though into second place keeping Matt very honest throughout the race. Tim dropped it downwind with a very elegant windward roll with kite, which allowed Ian Nolan through into third. However it was Matt who held on to win followed by Jon with Tim pulling though to retake third. This left Matt Humphries a clear winner from Jon Heissig, with last years winner Tim Johnson taking the final podium position. 1st Matt Humphries ‘Rooster’ – Weston SC 2nd Jon Heissig – Lymington Town SC 3rd Tim Johnson – Chew Valley SC Our thanks go to Chew Valley for once again being excellent hosts and to Fat Face for their continued support. The circuit next moves onto Queen Mary SC on 5th and 6th of April. See you there.
Queen Mary SC - 5th/6th April 2008... Will the weather gods ever smile on the 700’s? Once again the forecast for the weekend was pretty grim with sub zero temperatures and snow forecast. It would very easy to imagine the fleet staying at home to watch the Grand National in comfort. As it turned out 15 hardy souls were to be found rigging up on Saturday with a very variable light to moderate breeze in the offing. Andy Holland made the best start from mid-line and with clear air led the fleet up the first beat. He seemed destined to take the race until on the 3rd lap the first of many 30% windshifts allowed Matt Humphreys, James Ross and Rob Chaplin through on the run. However what the lord giveth, the lord taketh away and Andy was able to recover a lot of the loss when he found himself the right side of the shift on the final run. However, first race to Humphreys.
The second race started with a lighter breeze and Matt led out from the start in what was destined to be a pretty processional affair. That is until the QM weather gods decided to throw in a nice gust which allowed Rob Chaplin and Pete Sanders to drive through to leeward threatening to overtake the leading bunch. Matt and Jon Heissig spotted the danger and were able to gybe across to just hold onto the leading positions. After a few random sleet showers and squalls, the final race started in a much stronger but shifty breeze. This gradually worked its way round until the course became a one tack beat and a single sail reach. A real drag race and a Race officer’s nightmare! For a change Jon took the line honours with Pete Sanders second and Matt in third. The highlight of the race was Rob Chaplins nosedive just before the finishing line. The deceleration was so sudden that he was dislodged him from the wing and looked certain to capsize. However the boat popped up (nice design Al!) and sailed through the finish line dragging Rob behind to the amusement of all. Sunday dawned with a couple of inches of snow already on the ground and more falling. The fleet made an executive decision to stay in the clubhouse, drink warm stuff and watch a Grand Prix. That is until the first ‘rebel’ twitched and went for the wetsuit which of course meant that everyone needed to follow suit. On day the Gods will make his rig will fall down and justice will be done, just wait and see! Race four was pretty processional with Matt winning convincingly and starting to place a real stamp on the event. Race five saw Andy Holland and Steve Marshall bang the left hand corner to lead at the windward mark followed by Ian Nolan who had banged right! The big problem for the leaders was trying to find the spacer mark which had been set a couple of hundred yards to windward of the windward mark. Matt Humphreys was the first to spot it and he again took the lead and the race as a result. The course was shortened as the 400’s hadn’t managed to get away which effectively handed Matt the race and the event. The final race saw the fleet effectively split into a number of two boat match races with Matt and Jon enjoy a tussle for the lead, Andy and Mike Dencher fighting it out for third and Steve Marshall and Ian Nolan having a right royal scrap for the minor places. Overall winner of the event was therefore Matt Humphreys (Rooster) from Weston, followed by Jon Heissig from Norfolk Renegades and Andy Holland (Kings Lynn Audi) from Hunstanton.		© www.fotoboat.com © www.fotoboat.com © www.fotoboat.com
In the Silver fleet Richard Marsden from Hayling put in some creditable performances on Saturday (before getting snowed in and unable to make the racing on Sunday) but couldn’t match Tony Denchers results. In an unusual move the next event on the circuit is Billy No Mates open which is a combined handicap event at Carsington SC on the 26th and 27th April. A rare chance to race head to head with other classes whilst still scoring circuit points. Enjoy! Ian Nolan
Final Results 1st 933 Matt Humphreys RS700 Weston SC 1 1 3 1 1 2 6 1 2nd 882 John Helssig RS700 GYG SC 8 2 1 3 3 1 10 2 3rd 906 Andy Holland RS700 Hunstanton 3 5 4 4 2 4 17 3 4th 908 Mike Dencher RS700 Chew Valley SC 2 6 7 2 6 3 19 4 5th 962 Steve Marshal RS700 Sully 4 10 6 5 4 6 25 5 6th 960 Ian Nolan RS700 Hunstanton 9 7 8 6 5 5 31 6 7th 835 Peter Sanders RS700 QueenMary SC 6 4 2 16 16 16 44 7 8th 1 Rob Chaplin RS700 QueenMary SC 5 3 5 16 16 16 45 8 9th 870 Tony Dencher RS700 Netley SC 7 8 10 16 16 16 57 9 10th 866 Richard Marsden RS700 Hayling Island SC 16 9 9 16 16 16 66 10 11th 859 Peter O'Nions RS700 QueenMary SC 11 11 16 16 16 16 70 11 12th 914 Andrew Tomlins RS700 QueenMary SC 12 12 16 16 16 16 72 12 13th 881 Jeremy Gorbold RS700 Oxford SC 10 16 16 16 16 16 74 13 14th 766 Graham Blake RS700 QueenMary SC 13 13 16 16 16 16 74 14 15th 938 James Ross RS700 Weston SC 16 16 16 16 16 16 80 15
Carsington SC - 26th/27th April 2008... April 26th saw the second annual Billy-No-Mates Open and the third round of the RS700 Fat-Face circuit at Carsington Sailing Club, Derbyshire. Nine RS700’s were greeted with blue skies and a ‘steady’ F4 SW wind; perfect 700 racing conditions. In an unusual move, this event was being held amongst a larger, mixed fleet of single-handers, which meant that the competitors enjoyed a busy start line with 41 boats jostling for position. A slightly different course configuration than normal (a windward leeward with wide spreader marks at the top and bottom of the course) created an interesting new challenge, needing some lightning fast responses on the main sheet to keep the boat up-right. Race one started cleanly. Unfortunately, I had a slight lapse in sailing ability at this point and ended up swimming for the majority of the race and developing a minor form of Tourettes!! So I have no idea what actually happened. Jon Heissig took the first line honours with Nigel Walbank 2nd and Pete Shaw following behind in 3rd. The Race Officer, Henry Wright, quickly re-set the line and race two got off to a start. This time it was a close race between Heissig, Walbank and Allen. With the lead changing places several times, Heissig took a dive on a gybe in the penultimate lap leaving Allen clear to take 1st place, with Heissig 2nd, followed by Walbank and Steve Marshall in 4th. Whilst waiting for the course to be re-set, the competitors were provided with welcome refreshments (water and chocolate bars) from the safety boat in an attempt to recharge tired muscles. Race three got underway with the wind easing off slightly. Chris Wright showed us all a clean pair of heels at the start, but the familiar sight of Heissig, Walbank and Allen chasing each other around the course soon returned, with them finishing in that order. After a good days racing, the competitors retired to the bar for a well deserved beverage or two, and a superb curry served up by the galley. Sunday saw a true case of the pain / pleasure theory, as after the near perfect conditions on Saturday we were greeted by nothing more than a glassy pond; light rain added insult to injury. In honour of Ian Nolan, the fleet spent the morning measuring rigs and showing the new guys just how much kicker is needed to keep pace with the big boys up wind!! Sadly, due to the complete lack of wind racing was abandoned at midday. Although this was not the best way to finish the weekend, the good racing from Saturday made up for it. Many thanks go to all those involved in the organisation of the event. Photographs of the event are available to view courtesy of Mark Hills at. http://www.hillsphotography.co.uk/ In June the fleet returns to the south coast for the next event on the 2008 Fat Face Circuit at Lymington Town SC. See you there! Richard Allen GBR912
Final Results   1 882 RS 700 Jon Heissig GYGSC 856 4 1 2 1 2 966 RS 700 Nigel Walbank Lymington Town 856 7 2 3 2 3 912 RS 700 Richard Allen Carsington SC 856 8 4 1 3 4 906 RS 700 Andy Holland Hunstanton 856 16 6 5 5 5 978 RS 700 Peter Shaw Carsington SC 856 17 3 8 6 6 926 RS 700 Chris Wright Carsington SC 856 17 7 6 4 7 908 RS 700 Mike Dencher Chew Valley 856 19 5 7 7 8 962 RS 700 Steve Marshall Sully SC 856 26 11 4 11 9 950 RS 700 Tom Jones Carsington SC 856 30 8 11 11
RS Fat Face Anniversary Regatta at Hayling Island... "Now I know what everyone means when they talk about the RS family" commented one first timer. When all the RS classes get together there is something very special about it. Old friends, new adversaries, tons of enthusiasm – you could not wish to spend the weekend with a better bunch. And Champagne was the key word.
Fourteen years, fours months and three days since the launch of RS Racing seemed to the RS Association like a good enough excuse for a party! The Fat Face sponsored 10th Anniversary multi class event, also brilliantly run by Hayling Island SC, had been such a popular success that everyone wanted to do it again – and the May Bank Holiday in 2008 was the first opportunity when such a big event was feasible. Saturday kicked off in Hayling Bay with three class races on three courses in Champagne conditions. That would have been enough to make most events seem good, but it was just the beginning. Back ashore ten Fat Face RS Tera dinghies were rigged and ready on the beach for the Champion of Champions showdown. The Le Mans start and finish were on the balcony steps below crowds of spectators who bet on their favourite in a Sail for Cancer sweepstake. The course was a maximum of 20 yards from the beach and commentary was provided by the inimitable Pete Vincent. Who will forget the cheers as nine year old Jack Parkin (RS Feva) jumped back out of his boat after leading on the water and sprinted up the beach with Spiderman Ian Marshall (RS600) closing him down yard by yard as they raced for the podium. It was a proud Jack who popped his first ever Champagne cork, sprayed the crowd and even stole a crafty swig! He will go far in the RS world. Absolutely no pause for breath and the steel band kicked off the Caribbean party night. Fewer people than normal made it into fancy dress simply because there was barely time to get out of sailing gear. The party carried on until some sailors should have know better, with mal de mer a surprising complaint in Sunday morning’s calm conditions. On Sunday the weather let us down a bit. Four classes were scheduled to sail short course Sprint racing in the Bay, with the others competing in a Harbour Dash. The wind shut down and the Dash boats fared best as the course was shortened and a chilled afternoon on the beach followed. The classes in the Bay had a long trip back but all bar the 400s completed their series. Black ties and posh frocks came out as hundreds of sailors scrubbed up. Speeches by some key RS sailors and the directors of RS resulted in more Champagne awarded before another top band kicked off.	© www.fotoboat.com © www.fotoboat.com © www.fotoboat.com
Monday’s giant RS pursuit race in the Bay was postponed an hour so the 400s could determine their Sprint final winner and then was again sailed in…wait for it…Champagne conditions. OK the breeze shifted but it built to a flat-out reaching finish under warm blue skies. The perfect finale to another top RS weekend. Massive thanks to Fat Face, Hayling Island SC and the RS Assoc team. Who won? Well for anyone who cares the results are all at www.hisc.co.uk
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