Results / RS Fat Face Eurocup, France Carnac - 19/04/2003
RS Fat Face Eurocup Event at Carnac, Brittany, 19-21 April 2003
Its Easter, its Round 1 of the Fat Face RS Eurocup and its was going to
be awesome. It goes something like this; Thursday afternoon sneak out of
work early and make the mad dash for the overnight ferries. A short
drive across France is then followed by 4 days of some of the best
sailing and partying in Europe. Catch the overnight ferry home on Monday
night and arrive back Tuesday morning, just in time to head for the
office totally broken after kicking the illegal immigrants out of your
boats. There really is no better way to spend Easter and if you throw in
the forecast of sunshine and lots of wind, you�ve got the recipe for an
amazing weekend. This year proved to be no exception.
The 200, 400, 600, 700 and 800 fleets arrived in Carnac to be greeted
with near perfect sailing conditions; 25 degrees and a steady force 4.
The format for the event allowed those on the correct ferries an
afternoon to practice, or time to check competitors boats for illegal
speed transducers if you�re a gullible national champion. The weather
really did not let us down with ridiculous amounts of sunshine, almost
clear blue skies and great breezes on Saturday and Monday. Sunday
produced a pathetic breeze but the race team got in 3 races if with one
horrible course. It did not seem to worry the fleets too much as the tans
were topped up.
The first night social was arranged for the Square Bar, featuring a Paddy
whisky promotion, oh dear!! Paddy Hats and lighters were issued by Fanny
and the other Paddy girls for the now obligatory annual Paddy Hat burning
ceremony. Unfortunately if you put as much gel in your hair as John
Callaghan then you really did need to take special precautions especially
with Nick Craig around.
The second night social was hosted by Yacht Club De Carnac and featured
an excellent pig roast dinner. Despite the large amount of money offered,
the hosts were unwilling to sell the two pigs heads to the Grimms in
order to make some masks to make them a little better looking. A move
was then made into town to exploit the combined purchasing power of 100
RS sailors by demanding as much free drinks as possible. The evening
then gets a little fuzzy but it ended up with the Euro-cup organiser
stripped naked on the podium proposing to a local girl. So that�s all
that really matters. On the walk home, just as the sun was beginning to
rise, it looked like another great day for sailing.
For the Sunday night social there was a return visit to the Square Bar.
After the previous nights boycott to show them we were serious about our
bargaining power, the fleet was tempted back with the promise of 80
litres of free cocktail. The bar was awash with comments of �there�s no
alcohol in this� before promptly collapsing on the spot. The cocktail
must have had its effect as, when it was finished we�d forgotten that we
had promised to stay all night and moved to the disco bar next door on
mass except for Ian Pickard who was left as a gibbering wreck outside
having drank rather too much of a disgusting Perno alcopop. After
completely failing to catch the crowd surfing German girl who half killed
herself on the DJ booth, the RS dancing team again impressed the French
with an awesome display.
So much happened but highlights have to include Speccy throwing away
victory in the RS400�s because he cannot write his name; the as yet
unidentified 600 exoceting the Andy Irons/Alex Newton-Southon last race
show down for overall victory, the pig roast and John Callaghan, our
glorious leaders, attempts to chat up a young French lady only to be
blown out by his crew.
A great weekends sailing was had by everyone and although no return visit
to Carnac is planned for next year I�m sure it�ll not belong before the
RS�s are back.
The journey home proved quite eventful for some. Obviously hit by the
financial demands of the weekend and a lack of demands for boat delivery,
Team JUGS decided to pick up some other form cargo on the way home. The
poor unfortunate Illegal Immigrant that had decided he fancied his
chances of a cross channel trip hidden in a 200 must have had no idea
what he was letting him self in for. Rest assured though that as soon as
Jubby and Ugs realised he couldn�t pay his share of the ferry fare or do
cheap fibreglass repairs, he was put straight to work unloading boat
before being carted off by the police.
RS200 - The Racing
A real quality fleet made the journey this year for the probably the most
competitive RS400 Eurocup event held.
In Race 1, it was as if the PRO was a little surprised by the speed of
the boats as a relatively short course was set with only 2 rounds.
However, the race duration of 18 minutes did allow for the Grimms to
spend more time upside down than upright and still finish 7th. At the
front of the fleet it looked as though Nick Craig and Keith Bedborough
sailing �Sola Wetsuits� had managed to come out on top after a close
battle with Roger Gilbert and Steve Dunn in �Fat Face�. However, Nick
was later scored as OCS leaving the first win of the weekend to Gilbert
and Dunn. Tubby O�Brien came in second obviously not slowed down by the
previous nights antics of this seasons new crew, Colin �I�m in a�
Staite. Maybe Greg�s sensible move to send his crew home in disgrace the
night before really had paid off. Phil Jackson and Gerard Barron sailed
well to take third place. Particular note must be made of Badger who
managed to pop John Callaghan�s cherry and get him to not only start, but
also to finish a race for the first time in John�s fourth year of trying
in Carnac.
Race 2 was again sailed on a relatively short course but with 4 laps
required. This time Nick Craig made no mistake on the start line and got
away cleanly. John Callaghan�s Racing Snake also made a great start and
sailed a brilliant first beat to arrive at the windward mark second.
(Surely this sentence is typing error- editor) The front pairing of Nick
Craig and Roger Gilbert quickly dispensed with the Snake and built a
sizable lead over the rest of the fleet. Once again a hard fought race
ensued between the top two but it was Nick and Keith who came out on
top. The Snake battled hard to keep everyone behind him but Phil Jackson
and Gerard Barron sneaked though to take another third. A late snake
gybing error even allowed the Grimms through into fourth just before the
finish.
Day 2 on the water and the weather was beginning to play up a little. An
oscillating 5 to 10 knots promised us a long day but with the sun still
shining at least we could work on the tan.
In race 3 either a drifting windward mark or just a bizarrely set course
meant the course involved a large square followed by both the 400�s and
the 200�s sailing around a sausage little bigger than a team racing
course. Coupled with a wind shift turning it into one fetch and one
reach it was less of a tactical battle than a competition to see who
could stop themselves from getting too dizzy. This takes nothing away
from Phil Jackson and Gerard Barron who were always the only winners. A
great start and sustained boat speed meant that Phil and Gerard
continually pulled away from the fleet to win by a considerable margin.
(Phil and Gerard win a real light wind race, surely some mistake �
editor) Stephanie Pilkingston and Martin Gunn also sailed well to arrive
at the windward mark second maintaining their position till the finish
with Mark and Sam Littlejohn coming in third. Roger Gilbert suffered a
broken spinnaker halyard but was lucky in that fact that Nick Craig was
unable to capitalise on his absence only managing a 5th place.
race 4 eventually got underway it was John Cooper and Becci Wigley who
made the best of the shifting wind up the first beat to arrive at the
windward mark first. Normal running was soon resumed as Nick Craig and
Roger Gilbert finished first and second again. Cooper and Wigley sailed
a brilliant race to hold onto third followed by Tubby O�Brien and
Colin �I�m in a� Staite who took their second Fourth of the day.
During race 5 the wind got lighter and even shifter but this did not stop
the now almost predictable result of Nick Craig winning followed by Roger
Gilbert in second. In the race for third place it was the turn of Dobbin
Kenwood and Toby Lewis sailing Proctor Masts to show the rest of the rest
of the fleet the way home.
Ideal sailing conditions returned for the last day with the wind back up
to a steady force 4 and the sun still shining - Although the high
proportion of sunglasses indicated that these conditions were probably
not considered ideal for some in the fleet.
The racing in the 400�s was what these boats were designed for; close
boat to boat tactics at high speed with never more than a hundred yards
between the front and back of the fleet - Although this lack of distance
was mainly due to the fact the curtains never opened on the Snake van all
day. There must have been a very ill badger inside.
Race 6 and it was Mark and Sam Littlejohn who got off the line fastest
and after picking up a good shift on the right hand side came into the
windward mark first. There was no stopping Nick Craig though as he passed
the Littlejohns to lead the fleet home to take his fourth bullet of the
weekend. Dobbin Kenwood and Toby Lewis continued from where they left
off the day before sailing well to take second with Mark and Sam coming
in third.
Going into the last race and it was still open with Specy on 9 points and
Roger on 11. They both got away well but it was Roger who lead Nick at
the windward mark and they quickly turned this into a potential 1, 2
again. The Grimms were also going well and after being second-to -last
at the windward mark managed to work their way up to third by the start
of the last leg. Roger sailed on to take the win but on the last run
Nick Craig lost ground playing with Dobbin and let the Grimmsters through
to take second. Nick managed to hold on to third and it looked like he�d
tied the event up on count back with 4 bullets. Unfortunately he managed
to show his stupidity by forgetting to sign off and thus incurring a 2-
point penalty. This handed the overall win to Roger Gilbert and
Steve �did I really drink that much� Dunn. Phil Jackson and Gerard
Barron took third place overall after some excellent sailing and very
consistent results.
1 1161 GILBERT ROGER/DUNN STEVE FRENSHAM POND
2 1038 CRAIG NICK/BEDBOROUGH KEITH FRENSNAM
3 1182 JACKSON PHIL/BARRON GERARD PARKSTONE
4 1175 O'BRIEN GREG/'in a' STAITE COLIN BARTLEY GREEN
5 1183 KENYON Robin/LEWIS Toby HAMBLE RIVER SC
6 1174 LITTLEJOHN Mark/LITTLEJOHN Sam LANCING SC
7 1205 BAILEY Chris/ BAILEY Matt BARTLEY
8 1187 PILKINGSTON Stephanie/ GUNN MARTIN NOTTS COUNTY SC
9 845 COOPER JOHN/ WIGLEY BECCI LYMINGTON
10 1047 CHARLTON DAVID/ CHARLTON CELIA BRIGHTLINGSEA
11 1200 CALLAGHAN JOHN/ SANDERS DAN HISC
12 682 COOK JONATHAN/ ADAMS LOUISE CN VERSOIX
13 1126 STEWART HELEN/ STEWART BRYAN
14 426 STAPLEY Richard/ DESFORGES Matt GUERNSEY YC
15 573 ROBINSON PATRICK/ BROWNE ANNA CHEW VALLEY