RS800 Fat Face Circuit – Eastbourne Sovereign SC

by RS media on 29 Jul 2008 Round 5 of the RS 800 Fat Face series was staged at one of the fleets’ favourite venues – Eastbourne Sovereign SC. Ben McGrane and Olivier Vidal were the eventual winners after a final race face-off with Justin Deal and Ollie Page.

A SW sea breeze of 18-22 knots greeted us, fantastic wave jumping conditions! Ben McGrane & Olivier Vidal (Selden) led Justin Deal & Ollie Page (Fat Face) round the top mark followed by locals Andy Jeffries & Toby Wincer, finally winning by a big margin from Ian Martin & Adam Broughton (Magic Marine).

For races 2 and 3the tide turned and the sea flattened off, and sailors let the boats 'rip' on the off-wind legs. Deal/Page showed the fleet round, from McGrane/Vidal in race 2 and Ben Schooling & Tim Hirst in race 3.

Saturday evening saw 'salty sea tails', fantastic food, a quiz, disco and lots of beer - the classic British sailing club evening! Sunday morning came around too quickly, the sailors tucked into full English breakfast as the sea breeze built and worked its magic. The battle at the front resumed with McGrane/Vidal winning from Deal/Page, third place taken by Neil Baker & James ‘Uzi’ Hughes.

Race 5 saw the breeze increase to 16 knots Deal/Page won from McGrane/Vidal and Tom Halhead & Christian Humphrey.

With Deal/Page and McGrane/Vidal on equal points, it was down to the final race. McGrane/Vidal took control from the start and led to the finish in difficult and changeable conditions, taking the event by a whisker from Deal/Page setting up a mouth-watering finale to the Fat Face series at Exe SC. Halhead & Humphrey finished third. 1st in the Silver fleet were Simon & Jo Skinner in 13th.

Another great weekend of 'champagne conditions', thanks to Eastbourne for the special blend of sea sailing and friendly atmosphere.

The fleet now focuses on the RS EuroCup at Garda. Fraglia Vela Riva host over 70 RS800s - the biggest entry ever - the racing is set to be epic!

RS800 - Final positions

1st 1147 Ben McGrane Olivier Vidal CVLSC 7
2nd 1133 Justin Deal Ollie Page Lancing 8
3rd 1114 Tom Halhead Christian Humphrey Bristol Corinthian YC 21
4th 1128 Andy Jeffries Toby Wincer Eastbourne Sovereign 25
5th 1121 Ben Schooling Tim Hirst Helenburgh SC 26
6th 1130 Neil Baker James Hughes Thorpe YC 29
7th ???? Chris Webber Jim Balwin OCSS 35
8th 1144 Ian Martin Adam Broughton 38
9th 1011 Alex Cherry John Clifton Wierwood SC 44
10th 1072 Brett Elway Jay Bick Stokes Bay 53
11th 1136 David Pike Fiona Lockwood Eastbourne Sovereign 55
12th 1059 Rob Style Ben Lister RTYC 69
13th 919 Si Skinner Jo Skinner OCSS 70
14th 907 Edd Whitehead Karen Baker Parkstone YC 72
15th 953 Andy Pickrell Jonathan White Wilsonian 73
16th 1047 Simon Grundy James Holmes RCYC 73
17th 1132 Mick Whitmore Sarah Smith 84
18th 961 Philip King Tom Trueman Oxford 92
19th 899 Andrew Gould Tom Kennedy Emsworth Slipper 93
20th 1116 Adrian Coatsworth Julia Coatsworth Ahon Water SC 93
21st 1089 David Giles Colin Hatton Eastbourne Sovereign 98
22nd 881 Andy Cornah Orwin Murray 107 YC 101
23rd 1099 Daniel Hare Jamie Hare Blackwater SC 103
24th 991 Malcolm Streeton Miles Roebuck Hayling Island 111
25th 886 Simon Conway Tim Ellis Weston 113
26th 1113 Alastair Shires Penny Shires Stokes Bay 113
27th 925 Simon Jenkins Neil Arnott Eastbourne Sovereign 114
28th 983 Ant Harvey Mike Stone Mumbles 120
29th 1119 Aaron Barden Rob Hopper 129
30th 1075 Ross McKerchar Micky Boughton Oxford 141
31st 1124 Daniel Azzopardi Nick Jerkins Stokes Bay 144
32nd 1010 Chris Bailey Matt Bailey 148
33rd 944 Vince Hayter Sally Hawkins Warsash 166
34th 873 Mark Duckworth Emma Clarke Burghfield 175
35th 1127 Derek Buchanan Elaine Buchanan Oxford 185
35th 1122 Ian Parris Sam Proctor Wilsonian 185