A light forecast showed just a glimmer of hope, that the RS200 fleet would get enough wind for the penultimate event of the SW Ugly tour sponsored by Westcountry Boat Repairs at Exmouth. That forecast didn’t put off a healthy fleet of 23 boats, who were greeted by the smell of bacon rolls and coffee at the ever friendly Exe sailing club, with the club fresh from hosting this years RS200 National Champs, it was good to see many sailors returning less than a month later for more racing, a testament to the clubs hosting abilities.

As the fleet launched a gentle and welcome breeze filled in, with the tide giving a helping hand to push the fleet out of the channel and into the bay. Race one started with a promising wind, and even some very mild hiking up the first beat, as the race progressed however this dropped back to a pretty light wind, the leading pack were tightly bunched, with the win taken by Edd Whitehead/Chris Baker from Exe locals Merrick Stanley/Victoria Upton, with third by the fast (its all relative!) finishing Fred/Liz Mainwaring and fourth John Teague/Naomi Pound.

Race two saw yet more of the light stuff, with the conditions made trickier by the choppy sea state relative to the wind, doing its best to stall every tack and shake what little wind there was out of the spinnaker. With a game of snakes and ladders in the front pack, Whitehead/Baker soaked into the lead on the final run to take their second win, from Teague/Pound sneaking over the top of Henry Hallam/Ashley Hill on the final reach to the finish, with James Williams/Anna Mason taking fourth place.

The third race saw the weather gods throw a curve ball in the final 30 seconds of the start sequence, with a big left shift opening up new opportunities through the fleet. Not for the first time this year, Williams/Mason showed blistering pace to take the biggest win of the day showing the fleet a clean pair of heels. Behind team Mainwaring took second, from Jeremy Stephens/Lloyd Williams in third place with Whitehead/Baker in fourth.

The fourth and final race saw the Cornish team of Hallam/Hill take control of the race to finish with a win, with Teague/Pound taking second from Whitehead/Baker close behind in third, and the Mainwarings in fourth place. That brought a close to a very enjoyable, highly competitive, light and tense series, with thanks going to the very efficient race team from Exe, headed by Tim Graham the race officer.

The final scores at the prizegiving, naturally accompanied by tea and cake, saw the team of Edd Whitehead/Chris Baker from Parkstone/Bristol Corinthian take a well deserved win, something Chris appears to be making a name for himself at the front, having now won two Ugly events with two different helms this year. Second place was taken by John Teague/Naomi Pound from Bristol Corinthian, with the podium completed by the final race winners, the St Mawes duo of Henry Hallam/Ashley Hill. Fourth place, and equal points to third, was the local Exe team of Fred/Liz Mainwaring with our race three winners James Williams/Anna Mason from Chew Valley taking fifth.

The silver fleet was won by another Cornish boat, this time from Restronguet, of Kyle Brown/Madeline Strugnell, with Graham/Darcie Flyn taking second in Silver. Bronze fleet was won by Sarah/David Green from Llandegfedd, which as sponsor Pete Vincent pointed out at the prize giving, certainly dispels any myths of them not being fast in the light stuff, especially posting a 7^th place in the second race. Second in Bronze went to the local Exe boat of Chris/Sophie Crook.

So we now have only one more event to complete this years Ugly season, for which we head to Chew Valley Lake for our traditional season ender on 23^rd October. This is going to be quite some event, with quite possibly our most competitive ever dash for the Ugly tour title, with four teams in the running for the overall title, and no less than seven boats in with a chance of getting on the podium, wow! The Silver and Bronze fleet overall positions are still up for grabs, with plenty left to play for, who will be taking home an Ugly prize?!

John Teague

Overall West Country Boat Repairs SW Ugly Tour results after Exe

Exe photos thanks to Tim Graham