Results / RS200 Fat Face Racing Circuit SCYC, Abersoch - 10/04/2004

FAT FACE RS200 RACING CIRCUIT AT SOUTH CAERNARVONSHIRE SC. - The sailing was well worth the wait. The RS classes made their first ever visit to Abersoch for a Racing Circuit event when RS200 and RS400�s held round 2 of the 2004 Fat Face Racing Circuit over the Saturday and Sunday of Easter; it proved well worth the wait. Abersoch has a high reputation as a venue and South Caernarvonshire YC made an immediate strong impression on the RS fleets with a friendly welcome. Unfortunately the weather did not play ball on the Saturday. Unusually for a Bank Holiday in the UK it was not raining and it was relatively mild but there was not a faintest hint of a ripple on the water. Sailors contented themselves with beach cricket, tweaking boats and body boarding; just as the first pints were ordered a faint breeze filled in and a course was rapidly set. As the first boats reached the race area the inevitable happened, the breeze disappeared and the fleet had to be towed ashore. Luckily SCYC showed they could run a bar and short people had a fun filled evening. Sunday morning and if anything the weather seemed worse. Just as people started to think this was going to be a wasted weekend a light breeze from the South West filled in. PRO Mike Crompton quickly announced that the Race Committee was going to set a course and the fleets should launch. It was a pretty dubious fleet that went to change; little did they know how good it was going to get. Race 1 started in a light 5-6 knot breeze on a port biased. Lee Sydenham and Ann Vaudrey flew off the line to lead straight away and went on to win the race from Steve Dunn with Sheena Craig making a guest star appearance as crew. Ian Pickard/Noelle Vidal were in close company in third. The breeze was now building to 10 knots, with the sun starting to break through the clouds this was becoming a very pleasant day racing. Jon Lewis/Mad Millie Parsons started near the committee boat and went further right to lead. Sydenham/Vaudrey worked their way through to be a close second with Dunn/Craig third. Abersoch was seen at its glorious best for race 3 with 12-14 knots of breeze and sunshine. The fleets could not believe their luck; all the waiting around had really been worth it. Pete Vincent/Eluned �Tiny taff� Jones won the committee boat end and led at mark 1 from Dunn/Craig. The race quickly developed into a close romantic match race between Vincent/Jones and James Stewart/Sam Littlejohn but boat rules prevent me reporting further except to say that Stewart won from Vincent. Dunn and Sarah Taylor/Simon Fell had a close fight for third until Sydenham again pulled through to claim third. PRO Mike Crompton had set excellent courses and also turned racing around very smartly so there was plenty of time to run a fourth race which was to prove the closest of the day. Vincent/Jones again worked the right side of the first beat well to lead with Dunn and Lewis in close company. A lead they held for a lap before Dunn took over moving him into an overall winning position. With Sydenham now joining in the four leading boats were now very close and it was any ones race. Dunn led at the start of the final run but Sydenham gybed straight away and gained the decisive advantage to win the race from Lewis, Dunn and Vincent to win overall. In an equally close finish Trudie Danbury/Bert just got water on Sarah Allen/Veryan Ridler and Sarah Taylor/Simon boy friend Fell at the final mark to be first Doris helm by a point from the two Sarah�s. Ian Pickard now has a vice like grip on the Duckhams award with a consistently high performance at events so far after getting his car and double stack stuck on the beach.