A total of 13 Vareos arrived at the one-day Fat Face open at Burghfield SC on Sunday to find conditions very much to their liking – the sun shone, the water was tolerably warm and the wind blew Force 3-4 and increased slightly during the day.

Andrew Leigh, Race Officer, set an upwind/downwind course – livened up by the fact that two of Burghfield’s islands were exactly between the upwind and downwind marks! This made choosing your course and picking the right tack or gybe event more critical than normal, and those who dared to approach the islands were often rewarded with appreciable shifts.

Race 1 had the least wind of the day, a chance for most of the fleets to navigate around the islands and find the best wind. The race was won by Martin Barrett (Craven SC) with Richard Kemp-Salt (Brightlingsea) second. Richard made up for this slight aberration by finishing first in Race 2 and Race 3 – in stronger, shiftier winds – to win overall.

Robin Sanders (Chase) sailed a consistent series to finish second overall, with Martin Barrett eventually ending third. Races 2 and 3 saw plenty of capsizes and shifting of positions as those lucky enough to catch a really good gust accelerated down the course to the bemusement of those only a few yards to either side of them.

Overall Results

1. Richard Kemp-Salt

2. Robin Sanders

3. Martin Barrett

4. Dave Machin

5. Christopher Freohlich