Results / RS Fat Face Racing Circuit Hayling Island SC - 18/06/2005

Sunshine and Pimms� For round 6 Of this year�s highly competitive Fat Face Racing circuit the RS 400 fleet moved in to Hayling for the weekend. The forecast for the hottest day of the year was sure to bring some awesome sailing conditions if some slightly questionable taste in hats. As usual Hayling didn�t disappoint, running a super slick event with top quality race management, great facilities and more bar staff than any self respecting 400 sailor could ever wish for. On the water a light Force 2-3 with strong tide made for some tricky starts but the fleet soon started behaving after the predictable appearance on the back flag. In race one PRO opted for a monster first beat. After 12 minutes of sailing three boats were in contention for the lead at the first mark � Jon Gorringe/Gareth Ayre, Craig Burlton/Andrew Bonsey and Chris Jennings/James Stewart. Jennings took a shift close to the first mark to take a slender lead over Burlton. However it was Mark and Sam Littlejohn (who rounded fourth) that showed good pace to take the lead in the light and variable conditions. The race officer wisely moved the windward mark closer to the leeward mark for the 2nd lap in order to avoid a marathon. Littlejohn sailed well to win convincingly. Burlton managed to hold on to second with light weather specialists Stuart Hudson/Adam Healey in 3rd. In Race 2 Burlton fired out of the line and then worked the left hand side of the first beat to take a comfortable lead at the windward mark. By lap two Burlton�s lead was significantly cut with challenges from Littlejohn and Hudson. Unfortunately Burlton hadn�t noticed that the race was scheduled for 4 laps and headed for a finish a lap early, dropping to 6th. This allowed Littlejohn to take the win, followed by Hudson and Hywel Roberts/Karen Baker. Performance of the race was Sam Hoyland and Nev Watson from Weston who had their best result of the weekend in 4th. Chris Gowers/June Riley made the most of a heavily port biased start line to lead at the first mark in Race 3. The left hand shift that caused the bias on the start line continued to shift left causing the beat/run to become quite biased. Gowers made the most of the situation to maintain first. Littlejohn followed home in second, with Roberts taking third. As usual the fleet took full advantage of the cheep deals on pitchers of Pimms and duly set about to try and drink the bar dry. No one can remember if we succeeded or not but dark glasses were definitely order of the day on Sunday morning. On the water, the conditions in Hayling bay were awesome. Clear blue skies and SE F3-4. Unfortunately the wind didn�t hold all day with race 5 & 6 sailed in a light F2 Burlton and Bonsey revelled in the slightly windier condition and made a good start at the starboard end. They went on to lead from the first mark all the way on to the finish. Hudson and Gowers spent much of the race fighting for second, with Gowers eventually prevailing. In race 5 keen racers, The Brothers Grimm and wine connoisseurs Burlton/Bonsey fell victim to the black flag rule following a general recall. On the restart Gowers made a perfect start at the port end (the fleet were starting to realise why he�s an Olympic coach) to lead comfortably at the first mark. Gowers was followed home by Jennings and Hudson after a close tussle for much of the race. In race 6 Burlton / Roberts / Jennings all made good starts from the port end of the line. Jennings made the most of the opportunity to lead from Roberts at the first mark. Jennings/Burlton pulled clear on the run, with Hudson making gains and Roberts falling into the clutches of the pack. Hudson moved through to second and continued to pressurise Jennings for the lead but eventually had to settle for protecting second place from Roberts after Burlton dropped to fourth. After six closely fought races with five different race winners Hudson/Healey deservedly took the event with the Littlejohns in second and Burlton/Bonsey taking third. Special mention should go to the race team who set great lines/courses and didn�t keep the fleet waiting between races. The next event in the calendar see�s the RS400�s join the other RS classes at Weymouth for the 7th event in the Fat Face Series.