FED Week kicks off with sun and strong breezes

by Rob McDonald on 14 Aug 2007
Chichester Harbour Federation Regatta raced from Hayling Island Sailing Club, started in bright sunshine attracting over 380 entries for the first day across the eighteen classes.

For the early starters in Series 1 the south westerly 15 knot breeze was 235 but backed to 220 for the later fleets. The first mark was Calvert and provided a long beat against a strong flooding tide. Without exception every boat in every fleet sailed straight over to the East Head shore to cheat the adverse tide, suggesting that everyone has now read Roger Palmer’s bible on how to win at Fed Week!

In the Fast Asymmetrics the two Interntional 14s of Andy Partington and Mike Lennon quickly established a strong lead which Andy extended to the finish, to remain 1st on corrected time. Following the 14s on the water were the RS800 of Nick Peters and Caroline Litchfield and the Musto skiff of Richard Lovering.

In the RS700’s Jerome Baker sailed an excellent race to win convincingly. In the Medium Asymmetrics the conditions favoured the Laser 4000’s and 29ers and, after a great battle the Laser 4000 of Anna Perkins and Oli Woods took the gun on the water from the 29er of Becky Hyde and Gemma McIntyre, who won on corrected time.

A smaller than usual but nonetheless highly competitive RS400 fleet saw a great race between 528, Roy and Louisa Sievers from Thorney Island and 461, Paul and Matt Stainsby from Queen Mary with the latter taking the gun by just a few seconds.

In the fast handicap the race was dominated on the water by Tim Weedon’s RS300, who beat Contender 2191 Richard Keevil and Christian Reynolds, RS600 980 on corrected time.

The Elites saw a good win for Mike Mountifield sailing No 6 with Paul Carpenter and Greg Lamb.

Miles Odell and Andy Streeter made a perfect start in their Flying Fifteen at the pin end, giving them an early lead which they held comfortably to the finish. There was a close battle for second between Mike McIntyre and Andrew Jameson which Andrew took by just a few seconds.

A welcome sight was the entry of 21 Finns, all making a text book start on the line at the gun. John Tremlett 642, making his regular Fed week appearance, powered through to take the win by a sizeable margin.

On Series Two the steady wind strength and direction with strong adverse tide ensured all classes started without recall. The largest fleet of The Regatta, The RS200s, took almost 5 minutes to clear the line, with most boats across all fleets taking in excess of two hours to complete the course.

In the Solo fleet there was a great tussle between the leaders of Tony Catchpole, Tim Randall, Nick Rawlings and David MacGregor, all HISC with MacGregor eventually taking the gun when Tony Catchpole had a swim on the last beat.

In the Handicap fleet the 420 of Georgie Andrew and Millie Parkin, HISC was first across the water and on corrected time. The Fevas of Alex Poyner and Holly Tucker, 1582, ESC and Chris West and Lucy Goff, 1185, DQSC beat the father / daughter combination of Rob and Harriet Cage, 1545, from Bewl Valley.

Most enjoyed an exciting sail but for some the increasing wind strength and choppy waters proved a struggle.

The new course configuration on Series 3 with the start one side of the committee boat and the gate / finish line on the other, worked well. A fairly large triangular course was set for the first of two races, with all boats away cleanly for the first race.

The strong breeze meant that the Toppers only took about 10 minutes to complete the first triangular circuit. With Toppers and Slow Handicap finished, the Oppies still had a round to complete, so their course was shortened.

The second start was set with a slightly longer line and more port bias. The Toppers had a very close start with one OCS who duly came back. The Slow Handicap started conservatively whilst the Oppies were all on the line at the start, similarly with one OCS.

This time all classes completed both rounds. One Optimist executed a spectacular nosedive on the final run, recovered thanks to a courageous bailing effort, and managed to finish successfully.

FED Week Leading positions - day 1

Fast Asymmetric
1 1503 International 14 Andy PARTINGTON Tom PARTINGTON HISC
2 1527 International 14 Mike LENNON Rob WELLS HISC
3 314-MUSTO Musto Skiff Richard LOVEING HISC
4 1121 RS800 Nick PETERS Caroline LITCHFIELD HISC
5 886 RS800 Simon CONWAY Tom O'NEILL Wembley
6 889 RS800 Alex NEW Tim MILLER Locks

Laser
1 168090 John FIFIELD ESSC
2 173302 Tom TREDRAY Emsworth
3 164469 Daniel SCOTT Wembley
4 166567-MON Robbie MACDONALD Frensham Pond
5 165440 Mike REDPATH Frensham Pond
6 182479 Matthew HOLDEN Locks

Wayfarer
1 8199 Duncan COLIN-JONES Robin GADD HISC
2 7628 John HARTLEY Robin FORREST HISC
3 7688 Nigel DOE Cindy CLEMENTS HISC
4 10208 John REYNOLDS Martin TICE Locks
5 28 Chris TYLER Jake REYNOLDS ESSC
6 9710 Peter BINNING C / A NICHOLSON DQSC

Medium handicap
1 52566 420 Georgie ANDREW Milli PARKIN HISC
2 21731 Laser 2000 Chris DAVIES Ingrid DAVIES Portchester
3 50884 420 Simon TOWNSEND Jack TOWNSEND Emsworth
4 21155 Laser 2000 Bill DAWBER Jim NORFOLK DQSC
5 21627 Laser 2000 Jonathan CUNNISON Cathie CUNNISON Emsworth
6 210 RS VISION Dan JARMAN Josh PHELAN Locks

Laser radial
1 161579 Radial Roger HOUSTON MRSC
2 178347 Radial Clare WHITEHILL Papercourt
3 183492 Radial Matt HILL Frencham Pond
4 112105 4.7 Matthew COLSON HLSTC
5 137440 Radial Chris SAUNDERS Hawley Lake
6 173341 Radial Emily BOYCE PSC

Solo
1 4776 David MCGREGOR HISC
2 4699 Nick RAWLINGS HISC
3 4279 Melvyn COOPER HISC
4 4444 Tim RANDALL HISC
5 4746 David MOSELEY HISC
6 4381 Tony CATCHPOLE HISC

RS Feva
1 1582 Feva XL Alex POYNER Holly TUCKER Emsworth
2 1185 Feva XL Chris WEST Lucy GOFF DQSC
3 1545 Feva XL Rob CAGE Harriet CAGE Bewl Valley
4 2480 Feva Holly WATSON Brittney MACKINLAY HISC
5 696 Feva XL Jess LAVERY Phillipa LAWSON Emsworth
6 1691 Feva XL Tim GRATTON Chris TAYLOR HISC

Topper
1 45337 Michael KING ESSC
2 42208 Mark OAKEY Portchester
3 45970 Daisy WYLAM Bosham
4 29343 Laura GLOVER Littleton
5 45968 Ben CHRYSTALL DQSC
6 44426 Adam OAKEY Portchester

Slow handicap
1 22296 Mirror David F JONES Conway PARKE MRSC
2 416 Scow Gil CARTER MRSC
3 8340 Laser Pico Alexandra NOTLEY MRSC
4 371 Comet Mino Carol CARTER MRSC

Optimist
1 5455 Anthony PARKE MRSC
2 5689 Jemimia LAWSON Emsworth
3 5468 Niall HOUSTON HISC
4 5271 Jamie CATCHPOLE L&LSC
5 5510 Amy POLGLASE HISC
6 4728 Ruth ALLAN Emsworth

RS700
1 974 Gerard HUGHES HISC
2 884 Jerome BARKER HISC
2 969 Andy BROWN HISC
4 970 Tim POLGLASE HISC
5 875 David ACRES ESSC
6 839 Simon LYTTON HISC

Medium Asymmetric
1 872-29ER 29ER Becky HYDE Gemma MCINTYRE HISC
2 4540 Laser 4000 Anna PERKINS Oli WOODS ISC
3 553 ISO Richard LEWIS Matt LEWIS ESSC
4 1037 ISO Andrew GOULD Vicky GOULD ESSC
5 1321 29ER Ed FITZGERALD Liam ARROWSMITH ISC
6 4561 Laser 4000 Helen HARBOUR David HARBOUR HISC

RS400
1 461 Paul STAINSBY Matt STAINSBY QMSC
2 528 Roy SIEVERS Louisa SIEVERS TISC
3 1167 Paul CHILDS Hanna BURYWOOD Burghfield
4 792 Nick ELLIMAN Roger ELLIMAN CYC
5 657 Alex JOHNSON Angela JOHNSON Emsworth

Fast Handicap
1 482 RS300 Tim WEEDEN TISC
2 2191 Contender Richard KEEVIL Langstone
3 980 RS600 Christian REYNOLDS Locks
4 278 International Canoe Simon ALLEN HISC
5 529 Osprey John DAVIS Ben DAVIS TISC
6 1165 Osprey Anthony REEVES Rebecca REEVES TISC

RS Elite
1 6 Mike MOUNTIFIELD Paul CARPENTER & Greg LAMB HISC