2ndhandinghies.com RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Starcross Yacht Club

RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Starcross © R M Fryer

RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Starcross © R M Fryer

RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Starcross © R M Fryer

The Starcross fleet welcomed the RS200 SW Ugly Tour sponsored by 2ndhanddinghies.com on Saturday 30th September. Three races back to back, alongside the RS400 and 100 fleets was a colourful sight to behold downwind, and a great advert for the travelling RS circus.

After bacon buttie fueled breakfasts, the fleet headed out for the first race. Edd Whitehead/Karen Oldale led the way, closely followed by John Teague/Naomi Pound, and Alistair Norris/Helen Summersgill. The shifty breeze saw the fleet hunt the gusts downwind, with big gains to be made if you could get up on the plane. Whitehead/Oldale increased their lead comfortably, with Teague/Pound in second and Norris/Summersgill in third, until reading the sailing instructions properly led all three boats to attempt an early finish. Whitehead/Oldale held their lead, with Norris/Summersgill capitalising to take second. Teague/Pound pulled back through to third on the final run, with Pete Vincent/Abi Campbell taking fourth and Nick Martindale/Ruth Kenyon in fifth.

Race 2 saw the wind shifting, and providing plenty of challenges weaving in and out between the moorings, but this didn't stop the dominance of Whitehead/Oldale who saw of the fleet to take an impressive bullet again. Recovering from their first race after their mainsheet ratchet parted company with the boat, Owain Hughes/Poppy Husband revelled in the conditions, to take second, from Vincent/Campbell to give Abi a well deserved third place on her birthday. Norris/Summersgill took fourth, from local boat Olly Turner/Sam Motterhead having their best race of the day in fifth.

RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Starcross - photo © R M Fryer

The third and final race saw a turnaround at the top, with James William/Vicky Counsell storming into the lead on the first beat, with their Chew club mates Martindale/Kenyon in hot pursuit. As the race progressed Martindale/Kenyon pulled into the lead to take the win, with Norris/Summersgill and Teague/Pound both chasing hard and pulling through the fleet to take second and third places, with Vincent/Campbell taking fourth from Williams/Counsell finishing with their best result in fifth.

RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Starcross - photo © R M Fryer

Overall Edd Whitehead/Karen Oldale from Parkstone won the event, with Alistair Norris/Helen Summersgill from Bristol Corinthian in second. The fast finishing Nick Martindale/Ruth Kenyon from Chew Valley Lake took third place on count back from John Teague/Naomi Pound from Bristol Corinthian with another Bristol boat of Pete Vincent/Abi Campbell in fifth. Silver fleet was won by the Chew Valley boat of James Williams/Vicky Counsell in 8th overall, with first Bronze of Kerry Pinker/Charles Richardson from Bristol Corinthian snapping at their heels in 9th overall.

RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Starcross - photo © R M Fryer

The final instalment of the 2017 SW Ugly tour takes place at Chew Valley Lake on the 28th October, don't miss it!

Overall Results: