The RS200 Fat Face Racing Circuit went north to County Durham for a great event on 7-8 June. A total of 31 boats from the Isle of Wight to Kinross enjoyed an event of two halves; it is difficult to think of two days with such different weather. Saturday had loads of sunshine and a very blustery Force 5 from the south-west. Sunday was grey with a feeble Force 1-2 from the east; the racing finished in heavy, dank, drizzle. Whilst many boats reflected the change in the conditions it made no difference to the top three boats whose close tussle went down to the wire.

Race 1 was action-packed over a real crash and burn short course Pete Vincent/Harriett Edwards and Cliff/Becci Milliner had turns in the lead but with such shifty conditions and a tight chasing pack it was not a day to lead. Jon Lewis/Millie Parsons took the lead at the last windward mark to win from the Vincent/Edwards team with the fast finishing Ian Pickard/Laurie Dunn combo third. Vincent appeared to have race 2 in the bag with a big lead but a horror third beat saw him drop to fourth. David Giles/Fiona Clark won from Pickard and Lewis. Race 3 saw Lewis pull well clear but had to work very hard to hold on when Pickard closed on to his transom for the final lap; Giles was well clear in third with Vincent fourth.

Giles and Clark had a great start to Sunday leading race 4 throughout with Jon/Chris Blundell second, Vincent third and Katie Masterson/Fiona Foulkes having a really good race in fourth. The Blundells and Vincent worked the right side of the beat in the middle of the race 5 to good affect. The Blundells won with Vincent just claiming second by half a boat length from Lewis with Giles fourth.

Lewis just led by a point from Giles into the final race with Vincent 2 points behind needing a second and to be ahead of the other two. The Blundells were off to flying start and led at mark 1, Giles and Vincent were in the top 5 with Lewis well out of contention. A navigation error by the Blundells let Giles and Trudie Danbury/Bert through at the first leeward mark. The third beat saw the Blundells take the lead again with Vincent in close company. The final run started with the order of Blundell, Giles and Vincent with Giles in overall control. The wind now really faded with boats struggling to set kites. Patrick Altoft and Debbie Greenland in 5th saw new breeze first and gybed to win. Giles survived a nervous finish to claim second from the Blundells to claim overall victory to complete a clean sweep at all the Fat Face inland circuit venues this year.

Overall Results

1. David Giles and Fiona Clark Weir Wood (5.1.3.1.4.2) 11pts

2. Jon Lewis and Millie Parsons Burghfield (1.3.1.5.3.8) 13 pts

3. Pete Vincent and Harriett Edwards Bristol CYC (2.4.4.3.2.6) 15 pts

4. Jon Blundell and Chris Blundell Hallamshire (8.27.12.2.1.3) 26 pts

5. Patrick Altoft and Debbie Greenland Ripon (11.5.7.6.9.1) 28 pts

6. Ian Pickard and Laurie Dunn Bristol CYC (3.2.2.11.18.11) 29 pts

7. Paul Plestead and Sharon Plestead Winsford (7.7.13.9.6.5) 34 pts

8. Cliff Milliner and Becci Milliner Cotswold (4.6.11.13.8.7) 36 pts

9. Josh Gebhard Steve Evans Derwent (16.11.8.7.7.9) 42 pts

First youth 10. Trudie Danbury Bert Ryder Bristol CYC (6.9.5.21.19.4) 43 pts