Results / Fat Face Racing Circuit Bristol Corinthian YC - 23/03/2002

Fat Face Racing Circuit � RS400 - Bristol Corinthian YC � 23/24 March 2002 The RS 400 bandwagon rolled into picturesque Cheddar Gorge over the 23/24 March to do battle at Bristol Corinthian sailing club. The 10 to 12 kt. South-Easterly breeze with the promise of sunshine was just what was required for a great weekend�s sailing and socialising for the thirty 400s that entered. With a busy six-race program planned the black flag was used right from the first start. Craig Burlton and Andrew Bonsey from Northampton SC led the fleet around the first windward buoy, followed by David Giles and Fiona Clark from Weir Wood. These two pulled away from the rest of the fleet and were soon locked in a tight battle. It looked as if Giles had done enough when he was still leading half way up the last beat, but Burlton found the right windshifts in the patchy run in to the windward buoy to snatch the lead and take the winners gun. Chris Jennings and Ed Nicklin from Burghfield were third with Tony Woods and Amanda Pierpoint from Leigh & Lowton fourth. The second race saw the Giles and Burlton teams battling it out again. This time, however, Giles managed to stay in the lead. Phil Jackson and Gerrard Barron from Parkstone held second place for a while but had to settle for third in the end with Steve Venables and Richard Brown from Shustoke fourth. The wind was decreasing by now to about 6 to 8 kts. Another clean start saw Giles with a useful lead at the windward buoy. Chris Jennings was second round and pressed Giles hard for the lead but was not able to break quite break through. Burlton remained a little way back in third while Greg O�Brien and John Blundell used their considerable weight disadvantage to record a fourth. This brought day ones sailing to a close, and heralded the start of the evening�s festivities. The annual challenge to drink the bar dry proved a little too much for some crews who failed to make it to the start line the next day, while several of those who made it to the start looked much the worse for wear. Giles, who had done as much as anybody to help the sailors win the challenge, looked to be struggling at the start of race four. First out of the blocks was Venables and Jennings, closely followed by Mark Greaves and Alan Woosey from Leigh and Lowton. The first two seemed evenly matched and were barely separated from each other by more than a few boat lengths all race. In the end, Jennings took the gun by passing Venables at the end of the last beat, with Greaves just holding on from Giles. Race five saw most of the leading boats start on the port end of the line. Venables worked the shifts up the first beat best to take a slight advantage around the windward buoy. Downwind proved decisive with Venables building up a large lead, which was not seriously challenged. There was a tight battle for second, third and fourth between Jennings, Burlton and Hywel Roberts (crewed by Melissa Storey), which saw Jennings come out on top and Burlton just passing Roberts before the finish. And so the scene was set for the final showdown. Giles and Jennings were tied on eight points with Burlton one point back in third. Giles, Jennings and Burlton�s overall result would be decided by who beat who in the last race. The wind had eased a little to about 8kts and become considerably shiftier. For the first time in the regatta, the start line was showing a committee boat end bias. Jennings and Burlton failed to notice this and started on the �pin� end of the line, which was to prove costly. With Giles starting right on the committee boat end, he and the other starboard end starters quickly built up a gap on the rest of the fleet. Tony Woods lead around the windward buoy closely followed by David Giles and Giles & Heather Chipperfield. With wind filling in on the left downwind it was vital to gybe straight around the windward buoy onto starboard. Woods and Giles did this and broke clear of the rest of the fleet. Giles grabbed the lead when Woods overstood the leeward ley line and grimly held on to it to the finish. Jennings and Burlton could only fight through the fleet as best they could, ending up 5th and 9th respectively. Phil Jackson crossed the finish line in third. And so the story had fully unfolded. David Giles and Fiona Clark took the meeting ahead of Chris Jennings and Ed Nicklin and Craig Burlton and Andrew Bonsey. The prises were presented by Peter Vincent whose sharp wit entertained as ever, however he hit a common note when thanking not only Bristol Corinthian for laying on a great weekend�s sailing but also the sponsors, Fat Face, for their generous financial support.