Spod Olive and Guy Fillmore are RS800 Champs

by RS media on 28 Feb 2007 The 2007 GUL RS800 Winter Champs took place at Datchet Water over the weekend of 24/25 February.

A good turnout of 25 boats braved the early season cold weather and rain showers, and battled it out with some close racing on the water. However the race for the title became a two horse race early on between Spod Olive & new crew Guy Fillmore and Pete Barton & Roz Allen.

Race one saw the leaders get away from the pack over the four laps with Olive/Fillmore winning ahead of Barton/Allen. Last season’s circuit winners Justin Deal & Sarah Marriott came in 3rd with Dom & Jenny Johnson taking 4th, whilst certain members of the fleet showed early season rustiness by causing carnage at the leeward mark!

The top two places remained unchanged for the second race, followed by Charlie Roome & Steve Hall picking up a useful third, with Jamie Reid & Ed Clay taking fourth. After a quick pitstop to allow the 600’s to finish, the final race was underway to ensure the competitors could get in to watch England’s thrashing in the rugby.

The final race was a rapid quick fire three laps, with masses of place changing as the gusts blew down one side of the run or the other, meaning the results were never certain until you had crossed the finish line. The same group filled the top places as in the previous race, whilst Mick Whitmore & Sarah Smith put in a credible 5th, and David & Fiona Sayce completed a consistent day to hold 3rd overall overnight.

Sunday dawned with slightly less breeze, and most definitely colder. Spod & Guy proved that even preferring the ladies toilets to the men’s and going to a wedding on Saturday night respectively couldn’t halt their immaculate preparations, and filed a 1,2,1 to tie up the event, ahead of Barton/Allen (1,4,4) in a safe second overall.

Short quick fire races were the order of the day, and those who had starred the previous day were joined by the fast improving Laurie Fitzjohn-Sykes and Dan Allin, who posted a 4th and a 2nd, interspersed by what would have been another good result if they’d managed to stay upright on the final reach.

Both Roome/Hall and Reid/Clay conspired to kill off any chance of a podium finish in the last race, and after two separate incidents they were left spinning whilst the fleet sailed away around them! Deal & Marriott showed they hadn’t lost their knack of posting consistent results to finish 3rd overall after several general recalls towards the end of the second day.

It was good to see such a decent turn out so early in the season for a fleet that seems to all come out to play once the ice has gone, which bodes well for the rest of the year. Several people who have had the winter off will start to be a force to be reckoned with, along with new teams like Jane Olive & Nicky Griffin who showed they will be up there challenging as the season goes on.

RS800 Results:
1 RS800 1083 Spod Olive Guy Fillmore Stokes Bay 5
2 RS800 1016 Peter Barton Rozalyn Allen Royal Lymington YC 11
3 RS800 1054 Justin Dear Sarah Marriott FPSC 24
4 RS800 964 Charlie Roome Steve Hall DraycoteWater SC 28
5 RS800 932 Dom Johnson Jenny Johnson Downs SC 32
6 RS800 874 Jamie Reid Ed Clay OCSS 33
7 RS800 943 Laurie Fitzjohn-Sykes Dan Allin Dittisham 35
8 RS800 1087 Mick Whitmore Sarah Smith Eastbourne Sovereign SC 36
9 RS800 881 Audrey Cornah Orwin Murray Netley SC 40
10 RS800 918 Jane Olive Nicky Grffin Stokes Bay 45
11 RS800 989 Ben Schooling Olive Payne Datchet Water SC 51
12 RS800 1116 Adrain Coatsworth Julia Coatsworth Waldringfield SC 59
13 RS800 1047 Simon Grundy Andy Nutton 64
14 RS800 1050 Lamie Hilton Tom Street Datchet Water SC 65
15 RS800 985 David Sayce Fiona Sayce Hayling Island SC 69
16 RS800 987 Simon Coleridge Tim Collins R.O.R.C 69
17 RS800 1074 James Ross Heather Back Weston SC 74
18 RS800 1109 Paul Taylor Julie Taylor Datchet Water SC 78
19 RS800 1055 Greg Liggins Dan Perry Rutland SC 84
20 RS800 1089 Ian Martin Aaron Barden Bough Beech SC 96
21 RS800 908 Henry Hoskins George Hoskins Datchet Water SC 102
22 RS800 919 Simon Skinner Jonny Blackburn Datchet Water SC 123
23 RS800 1105 Nicholas Hand Jane Smithlich Wimbleball Lake SC 130
23 RS800 914 Andy Bryson Tom Foster Netley SC 130
23 RS800 923 Giles Bradford Helen Farr RNSA 130

NEXT EVENT:

FIRST FAT FACE CIRCUIT EVENT, CHEW VALLEY LAKE SC - 10 – 11 March.

More Details: http://www.rs-association.com