Results / RS Vareo Fat Face Racing Circuit Burghfield SC - 17/04/2004

13 Vareos arrived at the one day Fat Face open at Burghfield SC to find conditions very much to their liking, and quite a contrast to the Winters at Draycote earlier in the season. The sun shone, the water was tollerably warm and the wind blew F3-4 and increased slightly during the day. Andrew Leigh, the Race Officer, set an upwind/downwind course - livened up by the fact that 2 of Burghfield's islands were exactly between the upwind and downwind marks! This made choosing your course and picking the right tack or gybe event more critial than normal, and those who dared to approach the islands were often rewarded with appreciable shifts. Race 1 was in the least wind of the day and was a chance for most of the fleets to navigate around the islands and find the best wind. The race was won by Martin Barrett (Craven SC) with Richard kemp- Salt (Brightlingsea) second. Richard made up for this slight abberation by finishing first in Race 2 and Race 3 - in stronger, more shifty winds - to win overall. Robin Sanders (Chase) had a very consistent series to finish second overall, with Martin Barrett eventually ending third. Races 2 and 3 saw plenty of capsizes and shifting of positions as those lucky enogh to catch a really good gust accelerated down the course to the bemusement of those only a few yards to either side of them. Thanks to Burghfield SC, the race team and rescue drivers for an excellent day's racing, and a special thanks to Ian Bullock OOD who did stirling duty moving trolleys and helping the singlehanded fleets launch and recover their boats.