Fat Face RS200 Circuit at Exe Sailing Club
by Pete Vincent 18 Sep 2008 10:23 BST
13-14 September 2008
Exe SC had been extremely popular hosts of the very successful 2006 RS200 Nationals and they did not let the fleet down for the final RS200 Fat Face Racing Circuit event of the year with a very warm welcome. You know you are at a great venue when your trolley is taken off you the minute your boat floats off it and when coming ashore you are met by a mountain of the best cakes ever. Unfortunately the weather forecast predicted very light airs and this put many off travelling but there was still a very healthy entry of 40 boats including boats from Scotland and Liverpool.
Having drifted out in light airs the first race eventually got under way
in 5-6 knots vaguely from the northwest. Bronze division gods
Paul/Corrine Whitbread led at the first mark believing somehow this
would not mean they were going to get promoted to the gold division next
year. At the second windward mark Hamish Calder/Severine Reece Jones
just led from Chris Martin/Katy Nicholl and the Whitbread’s but then the
wind became extremely patchy and the order rapidly changed as the race
was shortened. The Whitbread’s looked to have won on the short leg from
leeward gate to finish line but lost pressure at the critical moment.
Martin/Nicholl just won by half a boat length from the very fast
finishing Pete Vincent/HRH Tessa Nicholls followed by Calder/Reece Jones
and James Stewart/Tobytastic. The wind then shut off and after some
bobbing around the fleet was glad to be sent home.
Saturday night was a classic with Exe again showing they love hosting
good parties even if the 200 fleet was beaten by the 800’s in a good old
traditional boat race.
Sunday dawned sunny and the fleets looking very shabby after very late
visits to Exmouth finest dodgy nightclub. Again there was a very light
northerly which just allowed race 2 to start in 4-5 knots and there was
no way of stopping Chris Martin/Katy Nicholl that was until the wind
completely disappeared as they rounded the first leeward gate. As the
whole fleet now reversed around the leeward gate marks as the tide
started to ebb the race was abandoned.
Then a hopeful sea breeze set in from the south; of course it was only
teasing us as it faded to 4-5 knots but Martin/Nicholl was flying when
race 2 was rerun winning comfortably from Dave/Jane Hivey, Stewart/Toby
and Roy McCubbin/Kirsty McSeveney. As the sea breeze became very soft it
looked as if that was it for the day. The 8’s had already packed up
having not raced, the poor dears could not hack the pace of clubbing and
racing! But just as the PRO was about to abandon the breeze firmed up to
a huge 6-8 knots and race 3 got away on the third attempt; well it would
not be right to have no recalls! Iain Horlock/Ed Pearce from Exe
stormed off the pin end to lead but Martin Nicholl were having non of
this and won from Horlock/Pearce, Jayne Johnson/Nicola Mcilroy and the
Hiveys. Luckily that was it; nice to have seen the sun but some wind
would not have gone amiss.
Many thanks to Exe for being such great hosts and to the race teams for trying so hard to get some racing. The Whitbread’s won the bronze division in third overall with Horlock/Pearce second and Steve Woodward/Emma Yates third. Johnson/Mcilroy just won the silver from McCubbin/McSeveney and John Teague/Ali Lucas.
It’s off to Rutland SC on Sept 27/28 for the Gul Inlands, with a 100 boat fleet expected it is pre entry only so click here your entry form.