Results / RS Fat Face Racing Circuit Queen Mary SC - 18/03/2006
RS400s at Queen Mary
Jennings/Bonsey take victory in spectacular conditions
Queen Mary S.C. hosted the opening event of the RS400 Fat Face racing
circuit for 2006. A cold and windy forecast greeted the competitors
and many left boats on their trailers. However those who braved the
conditions on Saturday were treated to some classic racing - over the
weekend there were four different winners from six races. The boats were
split into gold and silver fleets, with equal Fat Face vouchers going to
each fleet.
A windward-leeward course in gusts of 25 knots meant that the downwind
legs took a good deal less time than the windward ones, and everyone took
a swim at some point with some tentative early season gybing, especially
at the downwind lay line a.k.a. the local swimming facility.
In race one, Tom Halhead/Chris Bishop took an early lead, only to take an
equally early swim, allowing Chris Jennings/Andrew Bonsey through into the
lead, followed by Chris Gowers/June Riley and Paul Hilliar/Stuart Jagger.
A quick recovery and fast sailing from Halhead/Bishop saw them back into
second but couldn�t quite tag Jennings/Bonsey , who took the race win. In
the silver fleet, Richard Gray/Jon Dyas took the win from Rob and Liz
Jones.
Race two and again the curse of leading saw Jennings/Bonsey make early use
of the water wings as Halhead/Bishop and Gowers/Riley tussled for the lead
in front of Hilliar/Jagger. Some enormous gusts and some of the fastest
downwind legs many had experienced, so it was easy to spot the downwind
lay line for the gybe as there were invariably a collection of upturned
hulls! Halhead/Bishop held it together this time to win after a great
race with Gowers/Riley. Jones/Jones took the Silver fleet from John
Cooper and Becci Wigley.
With the cold taking it�s toll on the fleet, a reduced entry set out for
the third race. Jennings/Bonsey and Halhead/Bishop made the early running
but Hilliar/Jagger pulled through to take the win, with Jennings/Bonsey
holding off Halhead/Bishop to take second place. Gray/Dyas took the
silver fleet again in a war of attrition from Jones/Jones.
Sunday dawned and the weather was far more welcoming to competitors. Warm
sunshine and a gusty 15 knots meant that the fleet was racing far closer
together than the day before. With the windward mark set close to the
edge of the reservoir and a gusty downwind leg, a premium was put on
riding the gusts downwind.
Race four saw the fleet split on the downwind leg, with the main
beneficiaries being Jennings/Bonsey, who pulled through from mid-fleet to
lead early on. Confusion reigned with one lap to go as the leading three
all went for the finish line, allowing Gowers/Riley to come through to
second on the basis that they could count accurately to five!
Jennings/Bonsey had enough of a lead to hang on to win despite the
diversion but Gowers/Riley lost second to the charging Halhead/Bishop.
Silver fleet honours went to Howard Fairbrother/Louise Hosken, who held
off Gray/Dyas in second.
In race five, the downwind snakes and ladders continued, with Greg
O�Brian/Fiona Clark and Gowers/Riley at the front with Gray/Dyas. These
were chased by Jennings/Bonsey and Halhead/Bishop, with the overall title
clearly going to be contested between these two. After an hour of
incredibly close racing, Jennings/Bonsey kept their noses ahead just long
enough to take the win from Halhead/Bishop and O�Brian/Clark. Gray/Dyas
took the silver fleet result from Fairbrother/Hosken.
In the sixth and deciding final race, Halhead/Bishop extended a sizable
lead from the fleet and looked good for the title, with Jennings/Bonsey
languishing in the pack. However, a missed shift on the penultimate
downwind leg saw the Halhead/Bishop�s lead extinguished and they were
suddenly in a five way battle for the lead. It was game on for the
overall title as Jennings/Bonsey were hot on their heels. On the final
beat, O�Brian/Clark hit the left hard and came out leading but behind them
the final mark was getting fruity. Shenanigans between the top two saw
Jennings/Bonsey taking penalty turns and Halhead/Bishop capsized following
the collision. Hilliar/Jagger escaped downwind from the melee to claim
second behind O�Brian, with Jennings/Bonsey just holding on to third and
therefore taking the title from Halhead/Bishop. Gray/Dyas took the final
race in the silver fleet and with it the overall silver fleet title.
Many thanks to Queen Mary S.C. for making the best of Saturday�s testing conditions and putting on some superbly close racing on Sunday.
Sail No | Helm | Class | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Pts | Pos |
1238 | C. Jennings | RS400 | A. Bonsey | Burghfield SC | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
1240 | T. Halhead | RS400 | C. Bishop | Bristol Corinthian YC | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 2 |
1121 | P. Hilliar | RS400 | S. Jagger | Bristol Corinthian YC | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 3 |
1126 | G. O�Brien | RS400 | F. Clark | Bartley | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 4 |
1204 | C. Gowers | RS400 | J. Riley | Port Dinorwic | 4 | 2 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 19 | 5 |
1203 | R. Gray | RS400 | J. Dyas | QueenMary SC | 6 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 29 | 6 |
735 | R. Jones | RS400 | L. Jones | Weston SC | 7 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 36 | 7 |
1217 | J. Cooper | RS400 | B. Wigley | Lymington Town SC | 9 | 7 | 19 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 39 | 8 |
1251 | H. Farbrother | RS400 | J. Smith | QueenMary SC | 8 | 19 | 19 | 6 | 7 | 19 | 59 | 9 |
733 | N. Watson | RS400 | L. Watson | Weston SC | 10 | 19 | 19 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 61 | 10 |
1101 | S. Baker | RS400 | G. Hayes | QueenMary SC | 19 | 9 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 15 | 73 | 11 |
1267 | R. Kenneally | RS400 | R. O�Gorman | QueenMary SC | 19 | 19 | 19 | 9 | 19 | 8 | 74 | 12 |
693 | J. Smith | RS400 | T. Smith | Bartley SC | 19 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 75 | 13 |
955 | D. Donnelly | RS400 | S. Malaulty | QueenMary SC | 19 | 19 | 19 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 75 | 14 |
1233 | N. Francis | RS400 | S. Edwards | QueenMary SC | 19 | 19 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 77 | 15 |
794 | D. Herward | RS400 | P. Mason | Datchet Water SC | 19 | 19 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 82 | 16 |
1107 | B. Humphrey | RS400 | R. Lineham | QueenMary SC | 19 | 19 | 19 | 14 | 19 | 19 | 90 | 17 |
804 | S. Blackaller | RS400 | M. Camble | Parkstone SC | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 95 | 18 |