Fireballs at the Lyme Regis Regatta

With the Fireball Europeans and Nationals taking place at Lyme Regis in two weeks time, a number of the 'Runners and Riders' as described in Matt Burges' rather amusing article took the chance to race on the waters of Lyme Bay.

The Lyme Regis SC regatta format is 4 class or handicap races and one all in 'Championship Race' on Sunday afternoon which is non discardable.

Saturday gave the fleet an uncharacteristically North Westerly breeze which was both shifty and quite strong at times. It made for a lot of snakes and ladders through the fleet. However, it was Christian Birrall & Vyv Townsend who seemed to always be in the right place. Matt Burge & Daniel Schreiber after missing the first race showed good pace. In all three races the teams of Dave Hall/ Paul Constable, Kevin Hope/Russell Thorne plus Derian & Andy Scott all had a good battle with each taking turns to challenge the leaders.

Sunday delivered what one expects at Lyme Bay, a building westerly breeze which brought some glamorous sailing and excellent racing. Christian & Vyv had a good battle with Matt & Daniel in the first race with Dave & Paul just on their tail. In the final championship race Matt & Daniel lead the way with Derian & Andy taking second.

While Christian and Vyv won the fast handicap series it was however Dave & Paul who were first overall in the regatta after Christian & Vyv did not compete in the last race and Matt & Daniel had a DNS plus an OCS.

Full results can be found here.