Fed Week Results 2006

	Event	Class	Results
S E R I E S 1	1	Fast Asymmetric 899 & below	HERE
	2	RS 700	HERE
	3	Med’ Asymmetric 900 ~ 1009	HERE
	4	RS400	HERE
	5	Fast H’cap 1035 & below	HERE
	6	RS Elite	HERE
	7	Flying Fifteens	HERE
	8	Finn	HERE

S E R I E S 2	9	RS200	HERE
	10	Laser	HERE
	11	Wayfarer	HERE
	12	Medium H’cap 1036 ~ 1175	HERE
	13	Laser Radial & 4.7	HERE
	14	Solo	HERE
	15	RS Feva	HERE

3	16	Topper	HERE
	17	Slow H’cap 1176 ~ 1449	HERE
	18	Optimist	HERE

Fed Week 2006 – Monday

Some 370 dinghies starting Fed Week faced an early 1000 hrs start and were greeted by a good 10 knots of breeze from the north. With good cloud cover,the wind held, strengthening by a further 3 to 4 knots and backing slightly

during the race. Despite a strong flood tide under the starters all classes in Series 1 started without recall, although Series 2 fleets had to be postponed whilst the line had to be adjusted.

Both Series 1 & 2 had a new northerly course providing close racing for all classes. In the Fast Asymmetric fleet the two Int 14s of Bruce Edginton and Andy Partington had a great tussle with Edginton coming out on top. Tim Dickinson showed a clean transom to the other RS 700s whilst the ISOs and 29er 725 in the Medium Asymmetric held battle on the water The closest finish was between the RS 600 and a new Dutchman in the Fast Handicap with the FD13 taking the gun by one second, to be outclassed by MRX 3618 Maurice Cleal (Wembley S.C) on handicap. The Finn’s had their largest entry for some years with Neil Robinson taking the race. Family Durrant (HISC) held the lead over Mike Dawe in the RS Elites, and Andy Jameson in the Flying Fifteens used his kite well on the first reach to gain and hold the lead from John Bovis and Mike Cave, who is sailing his 40th Regatta Week.

Ellie and Janet Martin in RS200 (617) have taken the first race in the 43 strong RS 200 fleet whilst Robert Godwin, HISC took the gun for the Lasers. The Solos, with a large entry of 39 boats succumbed to Keith Videlo from Frensham Pond.

In Series 3 Ann Brand (Papercourt) took the Topper gun, ahead of Slipper helms Luke Austen and Kieran Wood.. Gil Carter in his Lymington Scow from Mengeham has taken the first race in the Slow Handicap, and Anthony Parke also from Mengeham leads the 15 strong Optimist fleet.

Fed Week 2006 – Tuesday

An 8 to 10 knot Nor Easter wind with a sea breeze forecast for the afternoon greeted the Fed Week sailors for their second days racing. It was to prove a tricky day but Race Officers Greg Wells and Pam Marrs decided to go with a North Easterly course and after a 5 minute postponement managed to get all fleets away for Series 1and 2 without recall..
The wind held for an hour providing competitors with challenging conditions and plenty of place changing. However after 2 laps the breeze started to fade, and play tricks.

In the Fast Asymmetrics Mike Webber- Walton in his 49er 530 shot in to first place to take the gun, closely followed by Tim Penfold in his Int. 14 1466,who despite three capsizes, won on corrected time. Likewise Tim Dickinson swept passed Peter Greenhalgh in his RS 700 to record his second win. In the Medium Asymmetric the ISO 1037 Andrew & Vicki Gould, (Slipper S.C) went one better and managed to hold all the 29ers to record their first win of the week. The RS400s had a mammoth day on the water but again Roy & Louisa Sievers (528) held their nerve and skill to win, crossing the finish line in the lightest zephyrs whereas the middle fleet boats finished on a plane with the new sea breeze filling in behind them. Tim’s father, Tony, used the Penfold magic to pip Mike Dawe for the gun, in his Elite, .The closest finish of the day was between Andrew Jameson crewed by birthday boy James Grant, and Roger and Barbara Palmer in the Flying Fifteens. when Andrew took the gun by 1 second.

In the Fast Handicap RS600 980 Christian Reynolds sailed an excellent race to hold off much faster boats and win across the water, finishing third on handicap. The Finns had amazing changes of fortunes with No 55 John Tremlett shouting with delight to take the gun,, while Neil Robinson , yesterday’s winner, had a shocker!

On Series 2 only the Fevas had one OCS, but unfortunately 1193 Will Thomson also returned but still managed to finish in third place. An inspired decision by the Race Officer to shorten the Solos saved them from a tedious slow beat against an ever strengthening ebb tide. The sea breeze filled in to enable the tail end of all classes to finish with a flourish, although the medium handicap finish times became a lottery, with today’s results changing the fortunes for many of yesterday’s winners.

Series 3 had their first day of 2 races, with most keeping out of the tide to take advantage of the shifting wind. In the Optimists 5455 Anthony Parke (MRSC) won race 2 easily and just held Nial Houston 4182 HISC as the wind died for the finish of Race 3. In the Slow Handicap Ellie Lytton in Mirror 68265 won Race 2 and Gill Carter in the Scow, Race 3. The Toppers continued their close and well fought racing with Kieran Wood 33934 (Slipper) taking Race 2, and Ann Brand 34829 Race 3.

The Clubs have made their team selections but the upset of the fluky wind today may be enough to cause an upset for many of the favoured helms.

A north westerly force 3 was forecast and a north-westerly force 3 gusting 4 is what was delivered! However a rain squall half an hour before the first start did send some competitors for a premature swim on their way to the start line! On Series 1 Course A gave a good shifty beat with the tide to Channel Mark from a start line set on the Winner bank in the vicinity of Treloar. Good discipline from all but 3 boats respecting the strength of the tide and the 1 minute round the end flag ensured clean starts all the way through. Conditions proved ideal for the Int. 14’s in the Fast Asymmetric fleet who were all a good distance ahead after the first lap but 3 of the 4 had navigation problems and had to retire. This left Barrie Edgington and Andy Rice in 1478 with a significant lead, which they continued to extend to the finish.

Tim Dickinson once again excelled in the 700’s but this time a fine performance by the ever improving Andy Brown gave no leeway for error. The Medium Asymmetric’s quickly spread over the course with the 29er of Sophie Jones and Sam Tozer obviously enjoyed the breeze and shifts (similar to sailing on Papercourt) to take line honours, finishing well over a lap ahead of some other boats in the same fleet. The RS400 fleet enjoyed a race of much place changing, particularly over the long beat to Marker. Again it was Roy and Louisa Sievers in 528 who were in the lead at the finish of their shortened course, providing some relief for the those poor hiking crews!

The Fast handicap had some new entries today including the International Canoe of Simon Allen, a perennial winner of many major handicap events, and indeed today was no exception as he stormed into a huge lead by the finish and thus upset the form of the MRX’s who found the windier conditions less to their liking. In the Elites, the Dawe/Lamb/Carpenter boat finally managed to do what they had threatened over the previous two days, to win the race comfortably, delighting at the shortened course. The Flying Fifteens saw Andrew Jameson/ James Grant take their 3^rd gun of the week despite a strong challenge by Mike and Caroline McIntyre crossing the line only seconds behind. Gill Browning emerged from hibernation to take third place. The Finns enjoyed excellent tactical racing, proving once again how this class thrives in shifty conditions to provide close competition. This concluded with an excellent finish between 55 and 99 with JohnTremlett executing his “shoot” to the line to perfection, to win by just a metre from Henry Bagnall.

On Series 2, The Solos had a general recall after pushing the line, but had a clean black flag second start. The tension continued through to the last beat when Ian Barnett and Keith Videlo crossed tacked continuously with Barnett finally crossing the line a quarter boat length ahead, to take the gun.

On Series 3 the wind gusting up to 20 knots, and with 30 degree wind shifts, proved challenging. In the Optimists, 5455, Anthony Parke, made it five wins in a row, sealing the series victory with two days in hand. In the Toppers, 27676, Oli Partington and 34829, Ann Brand, shared the honours with wins in races 4 and 5 respectively, and the competition remains wide open. In the slow handicap, Daniel Druce and Matthew Coulson in Topaz Duo 706 won both races, which has given them the series lead, but Elli and Jackie Lytton in Mirror 68265 are in hot pursuit and still have 3 races in hand..

A forecast West North Westerly, force 4 to 5, enabled all the race officers to use the fourth different course of the week, ensuring the competitors were kept on their toes. Will Friday bring yet a final fifth change, which would surely be a Fed Week first? The series 1 start line was set very close to the east head shore but a 30 degree wind shift from 305 to 275 forced a postponement to allow the line to be moved closer to Ellanore. A deliberate starboard bias on the start line in anticipation of competitors opting for the East Head shore on the first beat, enticed many to play the Thorney shore, with the committee boat end of the line being very busy for the early starts. Despite moving the pin forward for the subsequent starts the fleets still opted for the Committee Boat end.

In the Flying Fifteens, Mike and Caroline McIntyre spotted the port end bias and crossed well ahead of the fleet. Alas, if only they had opted for the East Head shore as this is where the gains were to be made. Keith Walker in his RS800 went via East Head and to round the windward mark clear ahead in the Fast Asymmetric fleet, but a spinnaker trawl and a failing jib sheet shackle put paid to his chances, leaving the Int.14 of Andy and Tom Partington to build up a massive lead over the chasing RS 800’s of Mike and Emma Lennon and David Sayce, being crewed by Graham Simmonds.

As the race progressed the wind increased occasionally hitting 25knots so a decision was made to shorten the 700’s, Elites, Fifteens and Finns. Despite the conditions the small fleet of 700’s kept fairly close and at the finish the first two, Alister Richardson in 950 and Andy Brown in 969 crossed the line within 20 seconds of each other. The 29er of Sophie Jones once again revelled in the fresh winds and took the gun for the third time this week but not too far behind was the ISO 1037 of Andrew and Vick Gould and it was this team who won on corrected time, setting up a great last day finale.

The 400’s had a bit of a gruelling day and their numbers were certainly depleted by the stronger wind. A new winner came to the fore, Dick Holden and Kenny McGoran in 428, clearly a team that likes a blow. With their mix of trapeze boats, sliding seats and hiking boats the Fast Handicap fleet had a huge spread between first and last with the poor hiking boats finding the long beat up to Mill Rythe East quite a slog. Not so for the International Canoe of Simon Allen who was clearly enjoying it and recorded his 2^nd gun in a row, although not too far behind were the RS600 of Christain Reynolds, the Osprey of Roger Kent and the FD of Andrew Turner. Just prior to the Elite start there was a huge 30 degree lift which exposed the Durrants in number 10, who were forced the wrong side of the committee boat by Mike Dawe, who went on to a secure his second clear win. The Durrant’s did well to recover to 2^nd.

In the Flying Fifteens. Roger Palmer chose the East Head shore and led for the first part of the race but was overhauled by the heavyweight teams of Jeremy Davy/Dave Lucas and then James Grant/Andy Jameson with James Grant eventually pipping Jeremy on the finish line. The Finns saw a different winner today, Ed Greig in 625, with the consistent Henry Bagnall, securing second place.

On Series 2 Nick and Kate Peters in the RS 200 left the remainder of the fleet well behind, revelling in the stronger breeze. Robert Godwin in the Lasers easily stretched out his lead to secure a third win, and the series. Joe Henry similarly led the Radials, but failed to sign out to race and had to take a 20% penalty. In the Medium Handicap, of the depleted fleet that started, even fewer managed to sustain the course with Laser 2000 Martin Allen (Langstone) emerging victorious on corrected time. In the Solos with half the fleet staying ashore, Keith Videlo secured a second win against Ian Barnet leaving Friday’s race to decide the series.

The Series 3 fleets struggled in the strong winds with only a handful of finishers across the three events and the Race Officer postponing their second race to Friday.

A windy day with a lot of capsizes but a big well done must be given to those who persevered to the finish and in particular to the rescue boat volunteers, without whom there would not be a Fed Week.