Results / Fat Face Racing Circuit Yorkshire Dales SC - 03/06/2006

The recently re-branded Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club on Grimwith Reservoir played host to the fourth round of the Fat Face RS800 circuit. It was an early start for some of the eleven boats who made the trip from as far as Lymington and Dalgety Bay to join the 4 local boats. A special mention must go to Bjoern & Moana Monico who had travelled from Germany to purchase a new Hobie FX but when it wasn�t ready they bought an 800 instead! Those who made the effort were blessed with champagne sailing conditions, F3-4, brilliant sunshine and some very close racing. The race officer managed to squeeze a decent sized course in utilising the full extant of the reservoir and making pre-start manoeuvring between the line and shore pretty tricky. Race 1 and off the line it was Ian Martin/Claire Booth Sail4Cancer who got away best to lead round the windward mark with the chasing pack in close pursuit. Positions 2nd-6th changed frequently round the never-ending 5 laps with boats benefiting from the bands of wind filling down both sides of course. By the finish Martin/Booth had extended their lead to a comfortable victory with Nathan Bachelor/James Clark picking up 2nd, Spod and Jane Olive Sola/Harken 3rd and Ben Schooling/Tim Hirst 4th. Race 2 and it was again Martin/Booth who took an early lead hooking up a nice band of breeze which carried them into the mark. Half way up the second beat in 3rd place Schooling/Hirst were forced to take an early bath after the rig gave way spectacularly at the lower spreaders � a disappointing end to the weekend for them. By the end of the 4 laps it was again Martin/Booth who took line honours with Adrian and Julia Coatsworth sailing a great race to finish 2nd and the Olives again in 3rd. Race 3 and the breeze had built slightly to around 15kts and shifted to the left, which made a great spectacle (from the shore!) to watch the boats twin wiring round the narrow course. Another close battle ensued with Spod & Jane showing great boat speed round the drag race course to come out on top at the finish with Martin/Booth a close second and the Coatsworths sailing well to pick up 3rd. Saturday evening saw the majority of the travelled fleet converge at the quaint village of Appletreewick to sample the cherry beer in the local pub before retiring to the field/campsite for a reasonably early night. Sunday dawned overcast with a light breeze and occasional rain threatening to kill the wind completely. Racing was postponed for around an hour and by the start the breeze had filled in. The Olives took an early lead and pulled out a substantial gap until the wind switched off on the second beat and with the windward mark tucked close under the dam the rest of the fleet caught up. When the new breeze filled in from the left it was the Coatsworths who benefited first and managed to nip round the mark a sail off downwind into a convincing lead to take their first race win of the series. Ross McKerchar / Stu Gardiner from Dalgety Bay going great guns in the lighter breeze were next to pick up the shift and rounded just ahead of Spod to take 2nd with Spod having to settle for a frustrating 3rd, Martin/Booth 4th. The breeze built and stabilised for race 2 and by the second beat it was marginal twin wiring conditions. The battle of the grey kites ensued with Martin/Booth, McKerchar/Gardiner and locals Mike Saul & Sophie Hartley all contesting the lead. By the third lap Martin/Booth had pulled out a narrow lead but McKerchar/Gardiner sailed a superb last run to take line honours by ducking low for the line. Saul/Hartley showed good pace to maintain their third from the chasing Olives. The final race of the weekend saw the return of the sun to provide some near perfect sailing conditions. The Coatsworths rounded in 1st just ahead of locals Andrew Foulds & Oliver Dewhurst who sailed a great first beat. A tactical downwind leg followed which saw Spod round the gate narrowly ahead of Saul/Hartley and Mckerchar/Gardiner and these positions remained unchanged to the finish. Martin/Booth Sail4Cancer crossed in 4th but had already secured the event after the 5th race so congratulations to them for their first Fat Face RS800 circuit win. Spod and Jane Olive Sola/Harken were a point behind in 2nd. The third place position couldn�t have been closer between the Coatsworths and McKerchar/Gardiner, each having the same number of points, same 1sts, 2nds, 3rds, 5ths and 6ths, the deciding factor coming down to who won when they last met � McKerchar/Gardiner thus clinching it. In a testimony to just how close the racing was, 5th and 6th were also tied on points with Saul/Hartley just winning out over Batchelor/Clark. A big thanks must go to Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club who put on a fantastic event with some very close racing that made the travelling well worth while. Thanks also must also go to Fat Face for providing the prizes. Round 5 of the Fat Face circuit takes place a Paignton on the 17/18th June so I look forward (mast dependent) to seeing you all there!