The RS600 fat face series at Weymouth and Portland sailing club

Turning up on Saturday morning at WPSA and opening the door of my van and having it ripped out of my hand prove to set what was to be one of the windiest days of the circuit yet 27 constant and mid 30 gusts. Sadly it seemed for the committee boat that it was much too windy to do any sailing even with lots of purswation from most of the fleets during the day.

  So after three hours  of standing round its safe to say that most of us were getting board so we found things to mess around with and keep our selves amused, one of these was seeing how fast we could get out of a mountain board while only using the wind sadly it was way to confined to use the kites so started off with towels and got board of that and wanted more controlled power so move onto a sail bag with two tiller extensions in it and opened it out which gave lots more power and speed.

Once the race committee finally gave up on racing they cancelled the day which was long in coming, we ran to reception and signed the disclaimer form to say that we were all mad and went for a sail there were only 5 600s that went out after the long and boarding wait with all the other fleets just standing on the bank watching.

In the evening we all descended on the cove inn on Portland were it all started quite polite and peace full for the main course but then it started to get rowdy and uncouth, with pudding stealing and beer flavoured vinegar drinking much to the amusement of the rest of the pub, also some heated debate from both side of the fence on the 600 foiler which is proving a very touchy subject on both sides.

  Once we all left the pub a merry few (Olly, James, and Paul) went and joined the wedding reception that was happening in the sailing club and crawled back to the cars in the early hours of the morning to get a little sleep.

Sunday broke with some very sore heads but the wind had dropped and the racing was on. The first race started promptly with a strong force 3 with a nice 2 to 3 foot chop with gentle rain. Olly Straker took the lead and held it till the end with Ian Marshall in second and Andy Heissig in third.

Race 2 started shortly after with the wind dying rapidly and the rain getting heavier. Ian came in first chased by Jamie Mawson and Olly in third.

Race three the wind had dropped right down and trying to gat the edge Jamie tried to change his rig position and with one little gust lost the lot over the side into the water causing much laughter for the rest of the fleet. Once the race started the rain was so hard that the marks were hiding in the distance and a add a few lumps of lightning into the race as well and it proved quite interesting Ian once again came first with Guy Lonsdale closely following and David Anna in third.

Sadly for such a high profile club this event will be remembered for the social not the sailing.