Results / Fat Face Racing Circuit Bristol Corinthain YC - 25/03/2006

The 2006 Fat Face circuit started on March 25/26th in a similar fashion to the way 2005 finished, cold breezy weather and a Tim Greenwood port end flyer. The forecast warm sunny weather did not materialise and the sailing was conducted in heavy rain. The course was shared with a large fleet of RS200�s creating an interesting game of downwind chicken. Race 1 and Greenwood�s start gave him a lead throughout the first few laps, closely followed by Jonathan Nuttall, a newcomer to the Vareo, Jim Hood and Richard Kemp-Salt. Greenwood never managed to break away and when the race was shortened Nuttall managed to sneak past on the line, followed by Hood and Kemp Salt.. Race 2 and the rain had reduced the wind, giving the lightweights a boost. Jamie Morgan, the only youth in the fleet emulated Greenwood�s start and gained a big lead, until he was eventually caught by Greenwood, obviously annoyed by the previous race. Greenwood pulled away followed by Morgan and Nuttall. Eddie McDonald produced a excellent 4th Race 3 and Morgan got another great start, but was overhauled in the freshening breeze by Nuttall who pulled away to win from Geoff Shaw who produced a superb 2nd just holding off Greenwood who pulled from 7th to 3rd on the last run. Hugh Wray-McCann sneaked past Morgan into 4th. This left Nuttall in the lead after day 1 with Greenwood second and the others fairly well bunched. Day 2 and storm clouds shrouded Cheddar Gorge. Race 4 started in light winds but on the first run a sudden increase in wind strength left numerous capsizes, including the race leader Greenwood who injured an ankle and retired for the rest of the day. Morgan took advantage for his first win followed by Nuttall, Kemp-Salt and Scott Butler. Race 5 and normality was resumed with Nuttall and Kemp-Salt pulling away, Shaw taking 3rd and McDonald 4th. Nuttall held on to win to guarantee his overall win. Race 6 and with Nuttall taking a swim in the blustery conditions Kemp- Salt won by a distance followed by Morgan, Shaw and Hood. The victory gave Kemp-Salt overall 2nd place with Morgan 3rd and Shaw 4th. With the exception of the carnage in Race 4 the racing for the Vareos was competitive throughout the weekend, proved by the fact that all bar one had a top 4 finish, and the 6 races had 4 different winners.