2ndhanddinghies RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club

RS200 SW Ugly Tour Round 1 at Bristol Corinthian © Tom Halhead

RS200 SW Ugly Tour Round 1 at Bristol Corinthian © Tom Halhead

With a full on severe gale and a monsoon forecast to hit sometime on Saturday it was a depleted fleet that looked out on a feisty Axbridge reservoir on Saturday morning a little apprehensively for round one of this year’s 2ndhanddinghies.com SW Ugly Tour. Axbridge reservoir on the Somerset Levels has the Mendips directly behind and in a northerly is well known for being very shifty as wind comes down off the hills and spreads; added to this on Saturday morning there were some major gusts and rapid increases in wind. It was hence with some relief that the wind eased towards launch time and 20 boats went afloat for 4 entertaining, very eventful races with never a dull moment and lots of snakes of ladders in 10-24 knots usually on the same leg!

Race 1 and the tried and tested team of Ian “so rusty” Pickard and Rachel “have not sailed since Sammy Fell was born” Dunn were quick off the mark to lead and then sail into a good win. Matt Mee/Emma Norris pulled through to second with John Teague/Louise Fisher third.

In race 2 Paul and Pat Teague led early on before capsizing and then completing a strange mating ritual with Tony/Zach Freer. It then became the Ed Whitehard/Alice Kingsnorth show as they went into turbo winning race 2 by a distance, particularly after Pickard/Dunn went splash in second, repeating the result in race 3. Mee/Norris again pulled through to second in race 2 and repeated the result in race 3. Teague/Fisher was equally consistent with another third with Steve Dunn/Karen Baker claiming the other third.

So the scene was set for a Race 4 show down between the 2 leading boats and it was major advantage Mee/Norris when they led at the first mark with Whitehead/Kingsnorth having a mare with their transom bridle breaking. At the second windward mark it looked all over with Mee/Norris well in the lead; Dunn/Baker and Pete Vincent/Charlotte Cotter looking secure in the next two places with Whitehead in 10th. But Whitehead gybed straight away and found the gust to end all gusts disappeared in a ball of spray with everyone wallowing to plane all the way to the leeward gate and into second right on Mee’s transom. Although Teague/Fisher got in the way for a while Mee/Norris won but Whitehead/Kingsnorth’s second gave them overall victory by a point.

Jayne Johnson/Katie James from Starcross sailed a mighty fine consistent series to finish 6th overall and first silver division boat. Chew Valleys Mike Riley/Mary Hill just won the bronze division after an initial counting error from Cotswolds Pete and Flea Haddrell.

Many thanks to PRO useless lump Bob Wainwright for some impressive turn arounds between races and to Tom Halhead/Stu Jagger for vaguely keeping the course true. Plus a huge vote of thanks to BCYC shore team for the excellent nosh after sailing appreciated by all.

Next round of the 2ndhanddinghies.com SW Ugly Tour is into the Lion’s den with a first visit to Parkstone YC, home to possibly the largest 200 fleet in the country on May 19th. Could someone have found the off switch for the rain by then on some heat?

Overall Results: