RS Racing / Fat Face Open at Hayling Island Sailing Club

by RS Class Association 11 Jul 2002 09:54 BST

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.

RS200 Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	520	Mark Littlejohn	Sam Littlejohn	LSC	5	2	1	1	1	49	10
2	772	Tom Hewitson	Jo Hewitson	Royal Northern	1	1	9	2	49	2	15
3	777	Ugly Vincent	Doris Danbury	Bristol Corinithian	4	3	2	4	17	4	17
4	754	Jonathan Lewis	Paula Hall	Burghfield SC	12	4	5	8	2	6	25
5	787	Harry Roome	Helens Toms	HISC	49	6	6	11	3	1	27
6	789	Steve Dunn	Dotte Gormack	SWSC	35	12	4	3	4	8	31
7	655	Richard Brown	Simon Evans	RYA	7	8	15	5	7	5	32
8	728	Ian Pickard	Laurie Dunn	Bristol Corinithian	25	5	3	26	5	3	41
9	741	Oliver Holden	Sarah Freestone	HISC	6	10	13	10	8	10	44
10	756	Hamish Calder	Severine Rees Jones	Royal Highland YC	9	7	49	14	8	6	44
11	767	Martyn Jones	Ben Wright	Locks SC	10	21	10	9	6	14	49
12	637	Derek Bretherton	Sarah Taylor	RYA	49	9	8	6	23	16	62
13	535	Simon Gillow	Tracey Hill	Wembley SC	16	17	7	12	26	17	69
14	581	Mike Chapman	Sheridan Killwick		3	22	11	27	20	15	71
15	695	Paul Dorer	Ian Robertson	Bowmoor SC	15	27	14	16	15	12	72
16	651	Charles Roome	James Boyce	HISC	27	14	17	49	12	18	88
17	392	Ben Alexander	Tom Alexander	Deben YC	18	16	22	28	13	19	88
18	706	Martine English	Bridget Cooke	Wembley SC	29	23	27	13	16	11	90
19	700	Dave Derby	Maria Hunt	Bough Beech	2	13	12	49	18	49	94
20	626	Paul Fisk	Lynn Ratcliffe	RYA	49	11	16	49	9	9	94
21	669	Mark Carelton	Sally Potter	Bristol Corinithian	8	34	30	21	26	20	105
22	743	Andrew Riley	Julie Marsden	Stewartby Water	33	18	23	29	11	25	106
23	675	Paul Buckley	Sarah Clarke	Fishers Green	22	32	25	18	21	21	107
24	514	Hamish Walker	Dave More	Stokes Bay	24	19	18	22	24	49	107
25	405	Clare Rowbottom	Lucy Matthews	Locks SC	11	28	28	25	28	22	114
26	646		Sally Bullock	Itchenor SC	49	49	26	15	19	13	122
27	732	Sue Antonellie	Jo Lloyd	Littleton SC	13	20	20	20	49	49	122
28	540	Fiona Pyke	Nigel Pyke	HISC	40	49	34	17	14	24	129
29	623	Luke Shaw	Marie Kassell	Wembley SC	23	24	31	19	49	49	146
30	484	David Leach	Thomas Kenny	ISC	30	38	40	30	25	23	146
31	491	Matt Adams	Pippa Williams	HISC	17	15	21	49	49	49	151
32	358	Stephen Seargeant	Jane Hill	Wembley SC	14	25	49	23	49	49	160
33	590	Alan Perry	Guiseppe Tirventi	Wembley SC	37	40	38	49	22	26	163
34	391	Matt Davies	Mill Pattison	HISC	21	26	19	49	49	49	164
35	588	Jason Romer	Marianne Hoskison	Littleton SC	36	35	33	24	49	49	177
36	426	Anne Vaudry	Suzie Creek	HISC	19	30	36	49	49	49	183
37	718	David Patient	Debbie Gardner	ISC	34	33	24	49	49	49	189
38	660	James Weatherstone	Hilary Weatherstone	HISC	38	31	32	49	49	49	199
39	800	William Carlton	Avril Carlton	Cotswold SC	28	37	37	49	49	49	200
40	552	Andrew Roberson	Camille Parsons	Bowmoor SC	26	49	29	49	49	49	202
41	768	Simon Hunt	Beth Bunning	HISC	32	39	35	49	49	49	204
42	480	Ian Brearley	Salley Brearley	HISC	20	42	49	49	49	49	209
43	387	Dan Perry	Jacquie Dyer	Wembley SC	31	36	49	49	49	49	214
44	607	Jim Jackson	Mark Howard	HISC	44	41	39	49	49	49	222
45	449	Vanda Young	Jonathan Vowett	Littleton SC	49	29	49	49	49	49	225
46	793	Richard Gill	Alexander Gill	HISC	41	49	49	49	49	49	237
47	383	Paul Goodwin	Paula Symons	Draycote SC	42	49	49	49	49	49	238
48	763	Michael Cook	Jill Cook	Bosham SC	43	49	49	49	49	49	239

RS800 Report:

Photo © RS Class Association

45 boats arrived on the Saturday morning to sunny spells and no breeze! However as the race officer predicted the wind had started to fill in out in the bay. The first race got underway in a light force 2 with James Date and new crew Mark Hogan leading at the windward mark, closely followed by Mike Lennon and Nicky Griffin, then Steve Irish and Martin Gotrel. By the leeward mark Lee Sydenham and Adam Brushett had pulled back from 5th place into 2nd and were hot on the heels of Date/Hogan. By the finish Sydenham/Brushett (sponsored by Taylor Made Computer Solutions) had sailed through to take the race win, with Lennon/Griffin in 2nd and Geoff Carveth and Craig Davies in 3rd. Race 2 got underway after a general recall, and a few victims falling to the black flag, Steve Irish led the race from start to finish taking the bullet. As the wind built for Race 3, we saw some large wind shift and lots of changing places in the fleet. Lennon/Griffin sailed consistently and conservatively to win the race ahead of Carveth/Davies, followed by Ronald Millar and Peter Marshall.

Sunday started with grey skies and drizzle, which brought with it lots of wind and big waves - you either love it or you hate it! The exciting conditions made for awesome sailing, swimming and a few dis-masted boats. Carveth/Davies led the first race, closely followed by Paddy Gamble and Martin Frary, then Sydenham/Brushett. On rounding the leeward mark, Carveth realised he had been over at the start and was forced to dive out of the race. This left Gamble/Frary closely chased by Sydenham/Brushett who managed to crack off and 'send it' through to take the lead and the first win of the day. The race committee quickly got the second race underway; this time it was Lennon/Griffin in the lead at the windward mark. It wasn't long before Sydenham/Brushett managed to take the lead and the 2nd race in their favoured conditions! Date/Hogan proved a force to be reckoned with in the 3rd race, leading all the way round before being piped to the post by Irish/Gotrel on the finish line. Sydenham/Brushett came in 3rd, which was enough to be overall winners of the weekend. The journey into shore at the end of the day proved to be just as eventful as the racing as boats surfed back to the sailing club over the bar, a good weekends sailing had by all!

RS800 Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	1010	Lee Sydenham	Adam Brushett	HISC	1	2	8	1	1	3	8
2	1007	Mike Lennon	Nicky Griffin	HISC	2	46	1	3	2	4	12
3	922	Steve Irish	Martin Gotrel	Draycote SC	22	1	9	4	3	1	18
4	1000	Geoff Carveth	Craig Davies	HISC	3	6	2	46	7	5	23
5	1004	Richard Lovering	Brian State	Winner Bank SC	7	5	5	7	4	46	28
6	986	Paul Jenkins	Colin Hatton	Weirwood SC	13	3	7	8	5	10	33
7	951	Pady Gamble	Martin Frary	Stokes Bay SC	8	46	6	2	8	11	35
8	932	Ricky Tagg	Rox Allen	HISC	5	7	10	22	10	6	38
9	929	Ronald Millar	Peter Marshall	Dalgety Bay SC	9	10	3	15	9	8	39
10	983	Mike Way	Anne Way	Mayflower SC	18	14	4	12	13	7	50
11	960	Spod Olive	Mike Warren	Stokes Bay SC	20	4	22	18	6	9	57
12	924	Phil Bolton	Kate Saunders	RNSA	46	13	24	9	11	13	70
13	985	David Sayce	Fiona Sayce	HISC	6	9	21	17	20	46	73
14	961	Tim Penfold	Will Penfold	HISC	14	8	26	46	12	16	76
15	1001	James Date	Mark Hogan	Port Dinorwic SC	4	46	15	10	46	2	77
16	902	Gary Smith	Lynn Whitmore	Eastbourne Sovereign	12	22	46	16	14	14	78
17	860	Dave Geal	Alyson Ody	Eastbourne Sovereign	23	26	19	11	15	46	94
18	892	David Pike	Robert Pike	Eastbourne SC	28	12	17	6	46	46	109
19	843	Rob Watson	James Holmes	Royal Lymington SC	32	24	46	21	18	15	110
20	956	Greg Wells	Celia Edgington	HISC	10	46	11	4	46	46	117
21	853	Dave Adams	Peter Noble	Broadstairs SC	19	30	12	13	46	46	120
22	819	Buzz Keck	Ray Ryder	Bowmoor SC	16	17	25	45	19	46	122
23	992	Stephen Chiverton	Jeremy Davis	HISC	21	16	18	23	46	46	124
24	930	Paul White	Graham sexton	Thorpe Bay YC	30	29	35	20	17	46	131
25	806	Martin Orton	Lucy Kennedy	HISC	46	46	46	14	16	12	134
26	980	Neil Ashby	Alan Higgs	HISC	17	23	16	46	46	46	148
27	900	Chris Powells	Kirsty Hart	HISC	15	33	13	46	46	46	153
28	971	Adam Golding	Chris Paul	HISC	45	32	38	19	21	46	155
29	804	Neil Baker	Chris Dodds	HISC	25	25	14	46	46	46	156
30	883	Ian Jubb	Lesley Bennett	HISC	26	11	27	46	46	46	156
31	955	Andrew Smith	Beck Tobin	Stokes Bay SC	24	19	28	46	46	46	163
32	987	Graham Simmonds	Emma White	HISC	29	20	23	46	46	46	164
33	901	Greg Lamb	Keith Garner	HISC	11	18	45	46	46	46	166
34	944	Alisdair Hall	Sandy Wright	RNSA	46	15	20	46	46	46	173
35	903	Mick Whitmore	Sarah Smith	Eastbourne Sovereign	31	27	29	46	46	46	179
36	894	Alistair Hodge	Andrew Brothwell	Bexhill SC	36	46	33	25	46	46	186
37	953	Andrew Pickerell	Graham Dobson	Pevensy Bay SC	37	46	34	24	46	46	187
38	926	Alastair Shires	Penny Shires	Stokes Bay SC	39	28	30	46	46	46	189
39	1009	Paul Taylor	Julie Taylor	Datchet Water SC	46	21	31	46	46	46	190
40	931	Mark Pollington	Pete Barlow	Burghfield SC	27	34	37	46	46	46	190
41	871	Liz Humphrey	David Fewings	HISC	33	31	36	46	46	46	192
42	836	Derek Buchanan	Elaine Buchanan	Oxford SC	35	36	32	46	46	46	195
43	991	Malcolm Streeton	Richard Styles	HISC	38	37	39	46	46	46	206
44	927	Julie Fawcett	Dominic Hull	Stokes Bay SC	34	46	46	46	46	46	218
45	899	Neil Mclellan	Jon Branch	Weston SC	46	35	46	46	46	46	219

RS K6 Report:

The eleven K6s that competed on the Fat Face RS Racing Circuit at Hayling Island will definitely remember big Sunday. A strong southwesterly and strong ebb tide built some large ramps out in the bay and some huge ones on the bar on the way back home. Spectacular downwind sailing was the result and a special prize of a pair of bicycle clips goes to Owain Franks and Terry Wilkinson who three sailed it over the bar, peaking at 23 knots! Well worth watching.

Richard Sullivan and Roger Oldershaw made the early running on Saturday and were winners of race one, ahead of the consistent team of Jonathon Calascione and Ian Murrin - their first of a string of seconds.

Martin Wadhams, Amanda Davies and Claire Upton-Brown hit their stride from the second race and emerged as the event winners, just one point ahead of Calascione/Murrin overall. Sullivan/Oldershaw looked to be the hot favourites for third overall until they sailed through their kite on Sunday morning. A quick dash to the beach revealed their wives had gone shopping …along with the car and spare spinnaker. Must have been a long drive home.

In the end, Phil MacDonald and Matt Coleman clinched third with a strong 3,4,3 showing in the breeze on Sunday.

Next stop for the K6 fleet is Cowes Week, where a class start and seventeen entries so far promises some fantastic racing, including a Supercup series, to match the whole Cowes experience.

RS K6 Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	Pts
1	102	Martin Wadhams	Amanda Davies	Medway YC	4	1	1	1	1	11	8
2	127	Jonathan Calascione	Ian Murrin	Royal Southern YC	2	2	2	11	2	1	9
3	111	Phil McDonald	Matt Coleman	Hayling IslandSC	8	5	11	3	4	3	23
4	107	Phil Wright	J & J Duwner	Gurnard SC	3	4	4	2	11	11	24
5	119	Terry Wilkinson	Owain Franks	Queen Mary SC	6	8	6	4	6	2	24
6	117	Michael Fawcett	Johnathon Cameron	Weston SC	10	7	7	5	5	4	28
7	116	Richard Sullivan	Roger Oldershaw	Royal Norfolk&Suffolk	1	3	3	11	11	11	29
8	124	Henry Maples	Julian Maples	Weirwood SC	5	9	8	11	3	11	36
9	112	David Norris	Margaret Norris	Burton SC	7	6	5	11	11	11	40
10	108	John Carnegie	Anne Carnegie	West Wittering SC	9	11	11	11	11	11	53