Fat Face RS300 Scottish Championships at Largs Sailing Club

Paul Barker, from Milton Keynes during the Fat Face RS300 circuit at Largs © Alan Henderson / www.fotoboat.com

15 RS300s came to the line for the RS UK Fat Face and Scottish Championship held at Largs Sailing Club over the weekend of the 28th 29th May.

Those who arrived on the Friday evening were greeted with 50 knot winds so it was not a total surprise when Saturdays racing was blown off.

However, the wind had dropped to around 15 knots with bright sunshine when the racing began on Sunday but with a very difficult sea left over from the high winds, which was described as lumps rather than waves.

John Carron, all the way from Milton Keynes was first away in race 1, with an excellent start at the port end as a rain squall caused some to struggle. John led the first lap but Ian Baillie of Dalgety Bay had closed up and powered past on the next windward leg. These 2 built up a substantial lead over the rest of the fleet, finishing in that order with Neil Beveridge of Prestwick 3rd from Ben Yeats of Chanonry and Port Edgar’s Eddie Griffiths.

Baillie was first to the windward mark in race 2 with Carron and newcomer John Wilson in hot pursuit. There was little difference down wind, but Baillie had that bit of extra speed again upwind, to hold them off, with Carron again second. Griffiths sailed a great last lap to snatch 3rd away from Beveridge and Wilson.

Carron led at mark 1 in the next race but Baillie caught a few waves on the first reach to pass and was able to defend his position for the remainder of the race. Again there was a great tussle for 3rd with Beveridge coming in ahead of Gavin Marshall from St Mary’s Loch and another Milton Keynes traveller, Paul Barker.

Baillie executed a perfect port tack start for race 4 to build an unassailable lead and win again. Carron was back in the pack but fought his way to another second place, with Yeats, Beveridge and Greg Barton of Glossop just boat lengths behind.

At the end, Ian Baillie added the Scottish Championship Quaich to his National title with a convincing victory. However John Carron is sure to improve as he gets to grips with the RS300 in waves and will be a major contender at the Nationals in September.

Chris Morrissey was the first A rig and was grateful for the generosity of the Scots in allowing him to race despite forgetting his passport.

With many thanks to Largs SC who hosted an excellent event in a truly spectacular venue.

Overall Results: