Six Vareo sailors arrived on a beautiful sunny morning at Bartley SC to find a very light breeze for the final of the Fat Face Racing Circuit.

The first race was scheduled for 1100 and about five minutes before that Nick Crickmore arrived. After some speedy Vareo teamwork he was on the start line in time, completed a daring port-tack start and led the fleet from start to finish around the club course. Martin Barrett’s was the only other competitor to be anywhere near him but the rest of the fleet were catching up fast as the wind filled in from behind.

After lunch, when most were praying for more breeze, race 2 saw similar wind conditions but with a windward/leeward course. Crickmore had another good start but faded as Mark Hazeldene stormed into an unassailable lead fairly closely pursued by Chris Larr. Patience being the most necessary virtue as the wind did very strange things particularly near the windward mark.

With two races completed and two winners and the minor places well distributed, there was everything to sail for in Race 3. Again Hazeldene and Larr disappeared into the distance but Barrett managed to find a gust on the run to gain over 200 metres and take the lead which he held to the finish – just.

Overall Results

1st Martin Barret, Craven SC

2nd Chris Larr, Grafham Water SC

3rd Mark Hazeldene, Burghfield SC

4th Nick Crickmore, Waverly and Oulton SC

5th Jim Hood, Weston SC

6th Geoff Shaw, Roadford SC

7th Eddie McDonald, Burghfield SC