April - May

On Tuesday night, 17 boats took to the water for the evening points race at Downs SC in gentle conditions. The race officer set 2 courses, a larger one for the fast handicap boats and a smaller one for the slow. In the fast handicap there was a close battle between Ed Styles and Simon Cory, and although Chris Stubbs was first to finish in an RS400, it was the Buzz of Ed and Sarah Styles that took the honours. A similar close battle took place in the slow handicap with Steve Restall winning out over Frank Catt.

Results Fast Handicap 1st Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 2nd Simon Cory and Annie Smith (Buzz) 3rd Chris Stubbs and Sally Waite (RS400) 4th Martin Wyman and Chris Dutton (Buzz) 5th Tony Cook (Contender) 6th Jeremy Blackman and Julia Brazil (RS500)

Slow Handicap 1st Steve and Judy Restall (RS200) 2nd Frank Catt and Nathan Brazil (RS200) 3rd John Wilkinson and Will Hardy (Albacore) 4th Roger Phillips and Deb Harris (Laser 2000) 5th Rob Freeland (Laser) 6th Chris Martin (Laser)

The Bank Holiday weekend saw a busy program at the Downs SC. On Sunday, the 2nd race of the “Lets Get Racing” series took place with 16 entries including many with novice helms crewed by expert coaches. The Buzz of Clare Hansell and Simon Cory was again to the fore, who won the race after passing Steve Stagg with Martin Wyman in third.

The wind dropped slightly for the Sunday Points race and in the Fast handicap it was a battle of the Buzzes with five boats in contention. The leading bunch of Ed Styles, Simon Cory and Chris Dutton pulled out a good lead by the end of the race and finished in that order with Ed just taking the honours after a photo finish on the line. Clare Hansell again did well to take 4th place.

In the slow handicap, Frank Catt took the honours ahead of Roger Phillips and Atticus Hansell.

Results Lets get Racing 1st Clare Hansell and Simon Cory (Buzz) 2nd Steve Stagg and John Cass (Buzz) 3rd Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman (Buzz) 4th Neil Rison and Frank Catt (Laser 2) 5th Dave Webb and Chris Shelton (RS400) 6th Sebastian Hansell (Topper)

Sunday Points Fast Handicap 1st Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 2nd Simon Cory and Annie Smith (Buzz) 3rd Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman (Buzz) 4th Clare Hansell and Zara Brazil (Buzz) 5th John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz) 6th Chris Shelton and Dave Webb (RS400)

Slow Handicap 1st Frank Catt and Neil Rison (RS200) 2nd Roger Phillips and Atticus Hansell (Laser 2000) 3rd Rosie Lord (Topper) 4th Michael Tobin and Elizabeth Wilkinson

Monday proved to be the most eventful day of the weekend as 12 boats competed for the Allen and Ron Williams trophies in a long distance race. The event started quietly enough with a long reach against the tide to Kingsdown. Ed and Sarah Styles pulled out a good lead ahead of Simon Cory and Chris Dutton. The fleet then turned round the leeward mark and began the beat back towards the Bank Buoy. An ominous ridge of dark clouds had formed inland and brought with it a sudden increase in wind strength,

The waves began to build and by the time the boats approached the windward mark the wind strength had reached Force 6. The followed a wild ride across the waves and a fast run back down to Kingsdown under spinnaker. This set the pattern for the next 2 laps with just a slight lull on the third lap before the wind strength built up once again. The strenuous conditions led to several capsizes and five boats retired, leaving just two to finish in the slow handicap and five in the fast. There was no significant damage until the end of the race when Ed and Sarah Styles suffered a broken mast.

Results Allen Trophy 1st Simon Cory and Annie Smith (Buzz) 2nd John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz) 3rd Nigel Cureton (Contender) 4th Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 5th Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman (Buzz)

Ron Williams Trophy 1st Steve and Judy Restall (RS200) 2nd Chris Shelton (Phantom)

The introduction of Race Training attracted a large entry of 25 boats for the first race at Downs SC on Sunday. Some of those attending had not raced before and many were teamed up with expert coaches to benefit from 1:1 tuition. Organiser Chris Shelton gave a comprehensive briefing including the course, start signals, finishing and rules. The attendees were then teamed up with their coaches for the race. The weather was very obliging with sunshine and a light Northerly breeze. After several rounds of the triangular course, the winner was Claire Hansell, crewed by Simon Cory in a Buzz. All the participants enjoyed the experience and vowed to return next Sunday to do even better. Some stayed on for the points race which followed whilst in other boats, the coaches swapped back to their more accustomed positions at the helm. This boosted the entry up to 30 boats.

For this race, a longer course was set for the Fast Handicap boats, whilst the slower boats continued around the smaller course further inshore. Richard White and Martyn Styles were again to the fore, along with the Buzzes of Ed Styles and Simon Cory, the latter recovering from a premature start. The Hornet of Mark and Clinton Styles was also going well. After a long beat out to sea against the tide, there was a tight reach towards the pier, followed by a run back down to the finish line. At the finish Ed and Sarah Styles took the honours ahead of Richard White and Martyn Styles with Simon Cory in third place. In the Slow Handicap, Roger Phillips won the battle of the Laser 2000s and edged Chris Shelton into second place. Nathan Brazil, crewed by Ken Gray did particularly well to finish in third position in a close-fought race as the participants put into practise what they had learnt in the morning.

Results Fast Handicap 1st Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 2nd Richard White and Martyn Styles (RS400) 3rd Simon Cory and Annie Smith (Buzz) 4th Mark and Clinton Styles (Hornet) 5th Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman (Buzz) 6th Mike Heeley and Mark Hall (RS400) Slow Handicap 1st Roger Phillips and Atticus Hansell (Laser 2000) 2nd Chris Shelton (Phantom) 3rd Nathan Brazil and Ken Gray (Laser 2000) 4th Seb Hansell (Topper) 5th James Blackman (Laser Radial) 6th Alex Greaves (Laser Radial)

Downs SC held a Topper Open Meeting on Sunday which attracted 14 entries. Two races were completed in the morning but with the wind picking up the fleet came into lunch and did not go back on the water again as the thunder and torrential rain came through flooding the green at the back of the club. This must have been the first time the club became at risk of being flooded from inland rather than the sea.

First place went to Julia Beck from Papercourt who won both races ahead of Alex Le Gussick from Wilsonian in second and Matt Thomas from Papercourt in third.

The best Downs entry was Nathan Brazil coming 4th. On Tuesday there was a diminished entry due to the high winds, but these eased enough to allow the race to go ahead. Results:

Thursday saw a similar picture with the high winds during the day dropping away in the evening.

2006 National Champion Simon Cory from Deal, crewed by Annie Smith, won the Buzz Open Meeting at Downs SC, but only after fighting off a strong challenge from Pete Lindley and Matt Chapman from Chew Valley. The event, which was sponsored by the Wet and Windy Company who are the main suppliers of the Buzz sailing dinghy, was held over the Bank Holiday weekend in testing conditions.

On Saturday a strong North-Easterly had built up a large surf on the beach and the race officer Roger Phillips sensibly postponed the start until 3pm, by which time the waves had subsided. The first race was won by local sailors Tim Ellis and Mitch Webb, who had swapped from their usual Laser 4000 into a Buzz kindly provided by Wet and Windy. Pete Lindley was second with Simon Cory only mid-fleet, however the wind dropped slightly for the next race and this time Simon took the honours with Ed and Sarah Styles in second and Pete Lindley in 3rd. Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman were leading for the first lap until an unfortunate collision with the committee boat dropped them back to 4th. The fleet of 14 boats then returned to the beach for a well-earned barbecue.

On Sunday a strong and gusty South-Westerly had begun to build up some large waves for the start of the first race. Ed, Simon and Pete were again to the fore but they were joined by some new faces including John Cass and Julia Brazil who were revelling in the boisterous conditons.The new Hyde sails were proving their worth in the stronger winds with Pete Lindley and Matt Chapman showing impressive upwind speed. They took the 4th race after Ed and Sarah Styles had won the third. By the the start of the 5th and final race the wind had increased to a Force 5/6 with occasional gusts up to 7. This took its toll on the fleet with only 6 finishers in the last race, the rest of the fleet retiring to the safety of the shore through exhaustion or gear failure.

Fittingly the last race was won by Simon and Annie and with it the overall prize. Winners received vouchers from Wet and Windy, presented by commodore John Sharvill.

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	Pts
1st	1089	Simon Cory	Annie Smith	Downs SC	8
2nd	7	Peter Lindley	Matt Chapman	Chew Valley SC	9
3rd	969	Ed Styles	Sarah Styles	Downs SC	9
4th	1100	John Cass	Julia Brazil	Downs SC	16
5th	763	Stuart Bailey	Zoe Noble	Wilsonian SC	17

After an unpromising start with drizzle and low cloud the skies cleared and a freshening Northerly breeze provided good sailing conditions. The steep beach and occasional large waves made launching and recovery interesting, but once out on the water the conditions were excellent with good waves to surf down on the off-wind legs. The race officer set a triangular course with the first leg a beat towards Ramsgate. Richard White and Martyn Styles were first round followed by a group of boats which fought for position on the reach out to sea. Simon Cory and Annie Smith came out best to round the wing mark in second position. On the following leg Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman made up ground to reach the leeward mark in third place. These positions held for the remainder of the race despite a strong challenge from Ed and Sarah Styles. Best of the slower boats was Chris Shelton, followed by Frank Catt.

Next weekend Downs SC will host a Buzz Open Meeting with visiting boats expected from around the country.

Results 1st Simon Cory and Annie Smith (Buzz) 2nd Richard White and Martyn Styles (RS400) 3rd Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman (Buzz) 4th Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 5th Chris Shelton (Phantom) 6th Frank Catt and Seb Hansell (RS200)

A moderate Southerly breeze and bright sunshine attracted 21 entries for the fourth race of the Spring Series at Downs Sailing Club. The race officer set a figure of eight course with a long run against the tide. Richard White and Martyn Styles were again to the fore, along with the Buzzes of Ed Styles and Simon Cory. On the run, John Cass and Julia Brazil found a good shift on the port gybe which allowed them to overtake the other Buzzes. Further back, the RS200 of Steve and Judy Restall was keeping in sight of the faster boats. The wind increased on the second lap which allowed the boats to surf down the larger waves. At the finish Richard White took the honours ahead of Ed and Sarah Styles with Simon Cory in third place. Nathan Brazil sailing a Topper did well to finish in 6^th place.

Results 1^st Richard White and Martyn Styles (RS400) 2^nd Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 3^rd Simon Cory and Annie Smith (Buzz) 4^th Steve and Judy Restall (RS200) 5^th John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz) 6^th Nathan Brazil (Topper)

Chris Shelton from Downs SC returned to Bewl Valley for the Phantom Open on 22nd April and repeated his success of the previous year.

The day was warm and sunny with a light breeze which increased steadily as the day progressed. There were some large shifts in the wind with neither side of the beat being the obvious favourite. The fleet got away for the first race with local Roger Brown leading for the first triangle but being overhauled on the first run by Shelton who maintained his lead to the finish. Bob Barris finished third with newcomer to the class Peter Cook fourth.

Sailed back to back, Shelton lead from the start of the second race, but the remaining places were keenly contested with a lot of place changing. However at the finish the result was a carbon copy of race one: Shelton, Brown, Barris and Cook.

Over lunch the wind was a good force 3 but had eased a little at the start of the last race. Shelton took a good lead which he held comfortably to the finish. Barris seemed to be very secure in second with Cook and Brown playing catch-up. They very nearly did on the last run with less than 50 yards between the three of them at the finish.

Glorious sunshine and a light Northerly breeze attracted 22 entries for the third race of the Spring Series at Downs Sailing Club. Richard White and Martyn Styles were first to the windward mark, followed by Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman. After a reach out to sea, the places remained the same, but there followed a large pile-up at the wing mark with many boats claiming water making the mark rounding difficult against the tide. Ed and Sarah Styles managed to find a way through and rounded the leeward mark in third place. Mike and Jenny Heeley also made up ground along with the Laser 4000 of Mitch Webb and Rick Clemence. The three Buzzes of Ed Styles, Simon Cory and Chris Dutton had a close contest throughout the race and finished in that order. Behind them Chris Shelton was going well in his new boat and took third place overall on handicap.

Results 1^st Richard White and Martyn Styles (RS400) 2^nd Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 3^rd Chris Shelton (Phantom) 4^th Jeremy Daniels (Streaker) 5^th Simon Cory and Annie Smith (Buzz) 6^th Mike and Jenny Heeley (RS400)

April – May 2007 15/4/07 22/4/07 29/4/07 6/5/07 13/5/07 20/5/07 28/5/07