RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Exe Sailing Club

RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Exe © Mike Acred

RS200 SW Ugly Tour at Exe © Mike Acred

Sunday the 8th September saw part 2 of the Exe Double Header, part of the RS200 SW Ugly Tour, sponsored by Westcountry Boat Repairs, following on from Saturday's event at Starcross.

Following on from victory for Pete Vincent/Victoria Upton the day before, the fleet were looking forwards to yet more close racing. The only problem there seemed to be was the forecast, it hadn't looked promising for Sunday all week, and the fleet wouldn't have been surprised had the wind failed to appear. However, thankfully, forecasts are very often wrong! So the fleet set sail and headed out to sea with a light breeze, all their toes and fingers crossed that the wind would continue and build a little

Race one saw victory for Jeremy/Becca Stephens travelling up from Penzance for the Exe event, with local boat Fred Mainwaring/Liz Teague in second, from Duncan/Lorna Glen another new face for the Sunday with the previous days victors Vincent/Upton taking fourth. The author of this report would love to elaborate further on this race, were it not for one small omission, the bung... An impromptu visit to Dawlish Warren beach was certainly unexpected and gave a moment of reflection on this Duckhams-worthy cock up.

Race two started in the continuing sunshine and a gently building 6-8kts breeze, with a very close top 3 boats, it was Mainwaring/Teague who overtook John Teague/Naomi Pound on the leeward mark gate to take the lead, with Stephens/Stephens very hot on their heels to take third place. Vincent/Upton showed consistency to take another fourth, with Henry Hallam/Ollie Croft showing equal consistency to take their second fifth place.

Race 3 saw the wind build slightly to 8-10kts, with a bit of a shift to the right, leading to the fleets only recall of the day and Race Officer Frankie Upton getting out the black flag to keep everybody in order. Getting away cleanly at the second attempt, Teague/Pound held a narrow lead from the first windward mark, to the finish to take the race win, with Mainwaring/Teague pushing hard for their second 2nd place. Glen/Glen took another third place, from Stephens/Stephens in fourth and Hallam/Croft taking another very consistent 5th place.

Into the final race and three boats could take the overall win, with Mainwaring/Teague in the strongest position. The wind again increased a bit more, to now give the fleet a real workout upwind with 10-12kts and a building chop adding to the gentle swell. Teague/Pound narrowly led from Vincent/Upton at the first windward mark, with Mainwaring/Teague pulling through on the run into second place. Dave/Jan Pointer had a strong run as well, to move into third place in the building breeze with Glen/Glen in fourth. Teague/Pound held onto their lead to take the race from Mainwaring/Teague.

The prize giving held upstairs in the bar, saw a delicious and now legendary spread of cakes, with a plentiful supply of tea to back it up for the hungry sailors. The overall win went to John Teague/Naomi Pound from Bristol Corinthian YC, with local Exe sailors Fred Mainwaring/Liz Teague taking second. Jeremy/Becca Stephens from Penzance SC rounded out the top three, with Duncan/Lorna Glen from Parkstone in fourth, and Pete Vincent/Victoria Upton from Bristol Corinthian/Exe in fifth.

The silver fleet victory went to Dave/Jan Pointer from Parkstone with fellow Parkstone club mates Tony Wilkinson/Kirsten Glen taking second. Bronze victory was won by the very consistent St Mawes team of Henry Hallam/Ollie Croft, with local Exe team of Louis Hokings-Cooke/Rob Adams taking second.

With that the fleet headed home after a much better than expected day on the water, given the forecast, having had some good racing courtesy of the slick Exe race team led by Frankie Upton. The finale of the Westcountry Boat Repairs RS200 SW Ugly Tour takes place at Chew Valley Lake SC on October 26th. There is still much to play for with all places in all the divisions up for grabs, don't miss it!

Overall Results: