Results / RS Fat Face Racing Circuit East Lothian YC, North Berwick - 03/05/2003

North Berwick is an awesome venue; a beautiful seaside town with excellent sailing and a friendly welcoming club, it�s always well worth the long journey North for this hidden treasure. With a brand new clubhouse opened only 3 weeks ago, the Scottish leg of the Fat Face Racing Circuit was also an excellent opportunity to check out the venue for the 2004 Nationals. The event proved to be a battle between two boats; namely Craig Burlton and Nick Craig - and although these two were made to work hard for their positions, they finished well clear of the chasing pack on overall points. Having said this, race 1 began with a surprise: Mason Woodworth and Simon Hamilton, in their first event, sailing the oldest boat in the fleet, led to the windward mark in a shifty force 3 that was rapidly dropping away. As the wind disappeared, they couldn�t hold on to the lead, allowing Burlton and Bonsey to cruise past to take the win followed by Ian Wood and Ian Fletcher. Martin Browne and Dinah Holmes finished an excellent 3rd and Steven Leask and JP McCaldin were the first Scottish boat, managing to take 10 places on the windless final leg to finish 4th. Craig and Bedborough had a difficult race, only managing a 5th. With the wind all but disappearing on the last leg of race 1, the Race Officer Jim Sinclair showed excellent judgement by postponing race 2, as after about an hour of waiting, a steady force 3-4 arrived in a weird freaky kind of way�.(you had to be there!) With the course re-laid and the fleet eager to get on, Race 2 got underway. Craig and Bedborough set the record straight by leading to the windward mark and sailing away cleanly to take the win�the first of 4 straight bullets in the following races. Dobbin Kenwood & Toby Lewis from �Humble� River found their form to finish second, and Wood & Fletcher continued their good run to finish 3rd. Burlton & Bonsey finished 4th. A quick turnaround between race 2 and 3 ensured that, despite the late start and the delay, 3 races would still be completed before the main business of the evenings Kareoke. Craig & Bedborough had a long battle with Burlton and Bonsey before beating them to the finish line, followed by Kenyon and Lewis in 3rd. Tubby O�Brian & Colin �I�m in a� Staite, had their best result of the weekend to finish 4th. Those that missed Matt Grimm singing �In the Navy� or Pete Vincent singing �I�ll be your Teddy Bear� after 18 gallons of rum & coke will never quite understand just what a lucky escape they had. There were a few worried faces amongst the locals as East Lothian Yacht Club�s immaculate new clubhouse was given its first real test�a night of partying RS style. Fortunately the clubhouse escaped unscathed despite the fact that some foolish person had put John �6 bottles� Callaghan in charge of ordering the rum and had let Colin �I�m in a� Staite into the clubhouse. An early start on Sunday morning meant that there were one or two absences as the fleet headed out in to a freshening force 3. Funny? There was no sign off life from the Snake van. Yet again, there must be have been a very ill Badger and Snake inside. Once James Stewart had finally got his 200 off the pin end mark, Race 4 began the way Race 3 ended with Craig & Bedborough and Burlton & Bonsey storming away from the fleet with a first and a second respectively. Woods & Fletcher continued their excellent run to finish 3rd whilst the �Brothers Grimm�, Chris & Matt Bailey, began what proved to be their best day�s results ever by sailing through the fleet to finish 4th. The wind continued to strengthen into race 5 gusting up to a force 5 as the fleet fought their way up the first beat. Another surprise at the windward mark came with the arrival of the �Brothers Grimm� in first place closely followed by Craig & Bedborough and Burlton & Bonsey. A long battle ensued with all 3 sharing the lead but Craig and Bedborough got the better of the other two to take their 4th straight win. Normal service was resumed when the Brothers Grimms� kite jammed, allowing Burlton and Bonsey through to finish second. Robbie Wilson and Jamie Hilton followed up in 4th, consolidating their position in the overall results as top Scottish boat. Going into Race 6, with 4 firsts and a 5th, Craig & Bedborough appeared to have the event in the bag, but with Burlton and Bonsey only a few points behind they could not afford to be complacent. They started well and despite a large shift that left many of the fleet over-standing the windward mark, arrived first � closely followed by Gavin Fleming & Richard Higgins. A broken kite halyard soon to pay to Craig and Bedborough�s lead, but with the event not sewn up, they attempted to continue without a kite. Unfortunately an incident at the leeward mark with John �Wayne� Hookway, left them with a nasty hole, a bent rig and out of the race. This left the way open for Burlton & Bonsey to win the event if they could finish first. After Fleming and Higgins capsized at the second windward mark the only thing that stood in Burltons way was the Grimms who, to their amazement, were winning again. At the last windward mark, the Grimms appeared to have come out on top, but Burlton and Bonsey broke cover, found a wind lane and romped home to take the race win and the overall event. Kenyon and Lewis continued their consistent form to finish third and take third place overall.