The whitsun Bank Holiday weekend saw an excellent turn out of 36 Fireballs for the the second event in the Typhoon Super Series and a warm up for the nationals which are to be held in Exmouth during August.

On Saturday the fleet was greeted with sunshine in abundance and a steady Force 2-3 which increased as the day went on. The fleet got away at the second attempt and it was situation normal at the first mark with D-J Edwards and Vyv Townend leading from Stevie Morrison and Jonny Mildred. The course was short so the fleet was still tightly bunched Edwards/Townend covered Morrison/Mildred hard on the second beat which allowed the charging Dave Wade and Richard Wagstaff through to second at the top mark.

Morrison/Mildred grabbed second back on the run and the places remained the same to the finish with the first six boats finishing within 20 seconds. The second race was held over a longer course in a solid Force 4 with nasty chop. At the first mark Derian Chandler led from Nigel Potter and Rob Gardner with Edwards/Townend third from Morrison/Mildred. By the bottom of the course Edwards/Townend had the lead from Morrison/Mildred, these places remained the same until the final beat when Morrison/Mildred used there extra upwind power to take the lead which they held until the finish. Andy Smith/James Goldsmith took third from Potter/Gardner.

Sunday dawned overcast and the fleet were greeted with a lighter first race. Port tack was the one to be on at the start and at the first mark Edwards/Townend once again led from Morrison/Mildred with the bunch close behind. The breeze did some funny things during the rest of the race but at the finish in a very light breeze Edwards/Townend won by nearly seven minutes from Morrison/Mildred with Smith/Goldsmith again third.

So to the final race with only Morrison/Mildred able to beat Edwards/Townend. The breeze had increased and settled down by the start and the fleet got away first time. Morrison/Mildred led at the first mark but close in second was Edwards/Townend. The course was fairly one sided and try as they might Edwards/Townend couldn’t get past which meant that at the end of the event by virtue of winning the last race Morrison/Mildred won from Edwards/Townend (their first defeat in an amazing two years).

The generous prizes donated by Typhoon were awarded on a raffle basis which meant that everybody had a chance of winning something, with a brand-new racer drysuit going to 16th placed crew Diane Gill.

Overall Results

1st Stevie Morrison and John Mildred

2nd DJ Edwards and Vyv Townend

3rd Andy Smith and James Goldsmith

4th Malcolm Davies and Russell Thorne