Results / RS Fat Face Circuit Lymington Town SC - 28/09/2002

In the old days we used to pack away our boats in October and think about ski-ing, but instead an excellent turnout of 35 RS400s experienced fantastic conditions on the last weekend of September, with sunburn and hangovers the only real problems. Lymington Town S.C. returned splendidly to their role hosting big events in the western Solent, and the Saturday night party really was a major affair, especially after certain RS400 stalwarts literally picked up the disco and moved it into the upstairs bar. A wind flowing directly over the Isle of Wight (it�s never normally like this here�) led to some action-packed racing on the Saturday in a warm and pleasant Force 2-3, with the resulting shifts led to some spectacular place changing. Paul Bowen from Gurnard S.C. climbed the ladders and missed the snakes better than most to win the first race, with Giles Chipperfield of the home club second after a remarkable slide from 3rd to 32nd in a single leg, followed by an equally sudden and unexpected recovery. Race two was distinguished by the fleet�s traditional refusal to look at the number of laps clearly displayed on the committee boat, with the result that the first 18 boats did an extra lap, before Nick Craig sailed from mid-fleet straight to the line to take the race. The wind continued shifty for Race 3 : to such an extent that some of the fleet were surprised to find themselves following the IOW ferry as it also rounded the new windward mark, helpfully keeping out of the actual race area. Paul Meakins won after a close tussle with Richard Russell of the home club, leaving the fleet to count a series of cricket scores overnight. Current national champion Roger Gilbert had a magnificent 38 points from three races, while overnight leader Robin Kenyon must have a unique achievement in the RS400 fleet in managing to lead with 17 points. A new race format was tried on Sunday, with five short races packed in as quickly as possible in glorious sunshine and a steady force four. This seemed to work well, with fierce starting and place-changing at every mark, while the fleet still finished close together and could therefore re-start quickly. The variety was slightly dented by an imperious display from Roger Gilbert, who posted five straight wins to take the event overall despite his Saturday, but the following four of Chris Jennings, Robin Kenyon, Craig Burlton and Nick Craig were fighting it out right up to the last race. Perhaps it�s not surprising that this had the first general recall of the weekend, and then only Chris Jennings managed to escape the black flag on the restart, giving him second overall. Nick Craig redeemed his display of tactical insight from the day before by managing to OCS both the last two races, leaving him fifth behind Craig Burlton, with Robin Kenyon third. An indication of the closeness of the racing is that the next four boats finished within a single point overall. All in all, a huge amount of tight racing, some memorable socialising and beautiful weather. A great weekend.