Results / RS Fat Face Circuit HISC - 06/07/2002

48 200s, 45 RS800s and 11 RSK6s drove down the causeway at Hayling Island SC on Saturday with very little optimism. Under a grey sky there was almost zero wind and the first sight that welcomed everyone as they passed the lifeboat station was of cruisers not making any headway against the tide. Great!! Little did we all know that the weather gods were really going to play ball and supply some of the best possible winds imaginable for some fantastic competitive sailing. As the clouds lifted on Saturday and some funny bright thing in the sky started giving some warmth, the race teams out in Hayling Bay called the fleets out with very sceptical sailors not really believing the information that there was now a breeze. Oh yea of little faith - the race teams did know what they were talking about. A 4-5 knot southwesterly soon built, so that race 2 and 3 were sailed in a force 3-4 with clear blue skies. Very happy crews really could not believe their luck, suntans and top sailing. Sunday was very different with low clouds giving a uniform slate grey coverage and constant rain. There was also a good breeze, around a force 4-5 from the southwest giving real waves in the bay. Between race 4 and 5 the visibility really closed down and the wind increased making race 5 very action packed. This was not for the faint hearted but some of the downwind stuff was superb. The race teams held their nerve and with the Isle of Wight reappearing the wind slightly eased to a force 4 for the final race. With a very low tide everyone had to take the long way round to get home with Hayling bar at its notorious best. However, this did mean that everyone had the 3 mile roller coaster kite burn back to the club, which will be remembered for a long time. A word that is over used at times to describe an event is awesome but this was truly an awesome event RS200 Report 48 RS200 had a ball at the RS Fat Face Racing Circuit event at Hayling Island. With virtually all the leading contenders turning up this was almost a trial run for the Nationals. In this context Mark and Sam Littlejohn�s performance was hugely impressive in winning the event with a race to spare - particularly their boat handling downwind in waves. This was a very competitive fleet, however, and the Littlejohns had to work hard for victory. Race 1 was led early on by Harry Roome/Helen Toms but they suffered on the second beat when the wind suddenly swung to the southwest. Anyone on the left side of the beat made huge gains and Paul Fisk/Lynn Ratcliffe popped into the lead, which they held to the finish. They were OCS though, so Tom and Jo Hewitson won their first race in their new boat with Dave Derby/Maria Hunt second, and Mike Chapman/Sheridan Killwick third. The wind really settled down for the second race and by now crews were sitting out hard upwind. The Hewitsons and Derek Bretherton /Sarah Taylor started right at the leeward end of the line and went hard left. Pete Vincent/Trudie Danbury started at the committee boat and went right. All three arrived at the windward mark at the same time. The Hewitsons broke away downwind to establish a race winning gap. Behind, the Littlejohns eventually got the better of Vincent to claim second. Vincent cruised his way up the first beat of the third race to lead, with the Littlejohns in close company. The Littlejohns had the edge downwind and were through on lap 2 to win from Vincent with Steve Dunn/Dottie Cormack recovering from a very unfortunate race 1 to claim third. Overnight it was very tight with the Littlejohns one point ahead of Vincent with the Hewitsons only a further point a drift. Race 4 and Vincent powered his way to first place at the first mark with Fisk just behind. The race took a familiar pattern when the Littlejohns blasted through downwind to score a convincing win. The Hewitsons were also impressive in second, whilst Dunn got the better of Vincent to grab third. Bretherton got a perfect start in race 5 and blasted in on the port lay line to lead. With the waves now really building, however, he was the first to capsize in gybe corner, which shortly became a graveyard of upturned hulls. None of this worried the Littlejohns who surfed their way into the lead, to win from Jon Lewis/Paula Hall and Harry Roome. With the Hewitsons and Vincent both getting very wet in race 5 the Littlejohns now had overall victory in the bag. Race 6 was a classic competitive race with the front 10 locked together with constant place changing on every leg. Ian Pickard/Laurie Dunn copied Bretherton and led at the first mark but Harry Roome got through downwind. Vincent pulled through from 10th to wrestle second on the final beat from Pickard. As the Bristol pair had a private battle on the final run the Hewitsons gybed early in fourth and got the better pressure to fly into second and secure second overall in the final 100 yards. With 5 different winners of the last 5 major circuit events the formbook is really suggesting the RS200 Nationals is going to be very open. Jon Lewis/Paula Hall�s solid fourth overall at HISC virtually secured overall victory in the Fat Face circuit when combined with their winning streak at the Inland venues. Second place, however, promises to be a battle royal. Fat Face Circuit overall (counting 3 out of 4 events) 1. Jon Lewis Paula Hall 3pts 2. Steve Dunn Dottie Cormack 10pts 3. Ian Pickard Laurie Dunn 14pts 4. Pete Vincent Trudie Danbury 14pts 5. Ollie Holden Sarah Freestone 21pts 6. Hamish Calder Severine Rees-Jones 29pts