Results / RS Fat Face Racing Circuit Aldeburgh YC - 13/05/2006
The Fat Face circuit jaunt to the East Coast went ahead as scheduled,
with a nice polite force SE 1-2 coaxing 25 boats out to play. This
contrasted nicely with the rather less polite spring tide rip barrelling
north for the first start. Committee boat end was not so much favoured as
compulsory. Tom Halhead and Chris Bishop nailed this convincingly and
battled across the start line, with the rest of the fleet following
anything between one and eight minutes later. The fleet was split
tactically, with Halhead / Bishop deciding to try their luck at sea�and
everyone else opting to go inshore. Much close tacking up the beach
followed with the critical call being when to make the break for the
mark. Charlie and Anne Somerset and Howard Farbrother / Louise Hoskin
made the dash first, with Simon Tonks and Owen Balding reaching down on
their heels. In the lap that followed Farbrother & Hoskin managed to
break through and ended taking line honours from the Somersets with
Tonks / Balding in third. Race two commenced with a little more breeze
but similar tidal conditions, Halhead and Bishop got the idea this time
and led the fleet inshore, about this time it was impossible not to
notice a towering wedge of black cloud hiding behind Aldeburgh town
trying to look inconspicuous. Meanwhile, people were pushing for the
windward mark in much closer order with Simon / John Fulford chasing
Halhead and Bishop to the mark followed by the Somesets, Farbrother and
Hoskin, and Martin Browne & Dinah Holmes in quick order. The downwind
that followed gave people the chance to see just how much the big black
cloud really wanted to come and play. You could tell it was excited
because of the jagged white flashes, the heavy rain, and the way the
downwind turned into an upwind, rapidly followed by a no wind. Thankfully
it behaved itself, although the fleet seemed split between huddling
together for protection, and pretending they were out. The Fulfords snuck
through at the finish to take first, with Halhead and Bishop losing out
in second, and Tonks / Balding third. The fleet then voted with their
feet and ran for the bar and the warm embrace of traditional Aldeburgh
hospitality: good food, alcohol, and flinging yourself about to fiddly-
dee music.
Day two dawned with a much more promising F2 Westerly, and for the first
race or two people could almost believe the tide didn�t matter, which was
rubbish of course, but the large shifts and occasional bend kept people
fully occupied trying to work out what was more important. Halhead and
Bishop and the Somersets split honours for the first two races, with
Browne / Holmes and Farbrother / Hoskin also regularly featuring at the
front.
Race management continued to keep everyone guessing by running off with
the windward mark during the third race upwind, and into the fourth and
last race with two boats in it for the overall Open, and anyone of four
boats vying for third. After a tense tussle, the final deciding race
resolved itself: Halhead / Bishop 1st, Farbrother / Hoskin second, Simon
Syndenham / Aisling Bowman 3rd. Consequently Halhead & Bishop won by a
single point from the Somersets, with Farbrother / Hoskin in third place
overall.
Many thanks to our friends at Aldeburgh Yacht Club for their practical
approach to race management, large helpings of fun, and for managing to
get us back to the bar before the K6s!
1. tom halhead & chris bishop 5 2 3 1 3 1
15 5 10 1
2. charles somerset & anne somerset 2 6 1 2 2
4 17 6 11 2
3. howard fairbrother & louise hoskin 1 5 7 4 11
2 30 11 19 3
4. martin browne & dinah holmes 9 4 2 11 1
8 35 11 24 4
5. stephen fulford & a n other 7 1 6 7 4 26
51 26 25 5
6. simon sydenham & aisling bowman 4 9 5 26 12
3 59 26 33 6
7. nicholas bell & alexia bell 8 8 8 6 6 16
52 16 36 7
8. gavin marshall & annie marshall 23 15 4 3 10
7 62 23 39 8
9. terry fellowes & nikki fellowes 10 11 17 5 9
5 57 17 40 9
10. jock mawson & richard graham-enoch 12 16 11 9 7
9 64 16 48 10
11. ben deacon & katie reiss 6 18 10 26 5 10
75 26 49 11
12. paul browning & paul armitage 15 7 9 10 13
12 66 15 51 12
13. john hallas & graham webb 14 12 14 12 16 6
74 16 58 13
14. ed stevens & rhodri jones 26 20 12 8 8 13
87 26 61 14
15. stuart gurney & karen evans 19 13 13 14 17 26
102 26 76 15
16. roland walker & a n other 22 17 16 26 15 11
107 26 81 16
17. jon smith & joe goyder 18 14 19 13 19 17
100 19 81 17
18. mark broughton & vivienne broughton 13 24 20 16 18
15 106 24 82 18
19. simon tonks & owen balding 3 3 26 26 26 26
110 26 84 19
20. richard arthur & sue arthur 17 22 18 17 14 18
106 22 84 20
21. richard holmes & nick crackmore 16 19 15 15 21
19 105 21 84 21
22. paul walker & lindy walker 11 10 26 26 26 26
125 26 99 22
23. simon baker & graham hayes 26 23 22 19 22 14
126 26 100 23
24. robert wadge & martin brammer 20 21 21 18 20
26 126 26 100 24
25. alex cooper & justin hilling 21 25 26 26 26
26 150 26 124 25