April - May

Regatta week ended as it had started with a blustery breeze and a lumpy sea although you did not always appreciate the conditions from standing on the shore line. Tuesday evening saw the start of the sailing regatta with a good fleet contesting for the Beauchamp Vase. Holes in the wind around the course meant that the crews had to keep a watchful eye on the changing wind patterns in order to take the best line. The combined experience of Richard White and Martyn Styles sailing their RS400 eventually giving them the honours on both the finish line and on handicap with Ed and Sarah Styles in a Buzz and Mark and Clinton Styles in their Hornet a traditional boat in second and third place respectively.

On Wednesday night the Bank Buoy Scramble was held with competitors having to race out around the Deal Bank Buoy and back to the beach. This is normally a lemans style start with the crews holding the boats in the water while the helms stand at the top of the beach, running down the beach and jumping in when the gun goes, but the weather conditions this year meant that a normal line start on the water had to be used. With a fair wing the leg out to the Bank was interesting and fast with a beat back to the beach which was also made interesting with the boats having to contend with the wakes of the lifeboats and fishing boats performing along the shore line as they raced to the finish line. Simon corry and Nathan Brazil eventually winning in a Buzz followed by Richard and Martyn in their RS400 the winners of Tuesdays race, in third place Chris Dutton and Martyn Wyman also in a Buzz.

The Strong winds again on Saturday saw a number of retirements from the Vancouver cup a long distance race again including the Deal Bank in the Course. John Cass and Julia Brazil had been in contention for honours for most of the race but a mistake on the penultimate leg saw them take a swim and loose them their place. Tony Cook however revelled in the strong breeze and used his weight to advantage taking the honours in his Contender followed by Simon Corry and Annie Smith a change of Crew and Ed and Sarah Styles both sailing a Buzz.

On Sunday morning the competitors were faced with large rollers hitting the beach which made launching difficult so it was decided the run all three races back to back. Simon Corry and Annie Smith sailing a Buzz taking first place in the fast Handicap fleet and Chris Shelton in his Phantom winning the slow handicap fleet.

Despite the conditions not a single race was lost all week and our thanks go to Vicky one of the Carnival Prices for presenting the prises.

1st Richard White and Martyn Styles RS400, 2nd Ed and Sarah Styles Buzz, 3rd Mark and Clinton Styles Hornet.

1st Simon Corry and Nathan Brazil Buzz, 2nd Richard White and Martyn Styles RS400, 3rd Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman Buzz.

1st Simon Corry and Annie Smith Buzz, 2nd Ed and Sarah Styles Buzz, 3rd John Cass and Julia Brazil Buzz.

On Tuesday night the strong South-Westerly winds had dropped for the evening points race at Downs SC and coupled with a strong tide flowing towards Dover this made for a tricky offwind leg for the slow handicap boats. Several boats had to go back at the start after being over the line and the Buzz of Simon Cory was first to the windward mark followed by Chris Dutton. Ed Styles made up much ground on the subsequent legs and finished in second place. In the slow fleet, Chris Stubbs took the honours ahead of Chris and Frank Catt.

Results Fast Handicap 1st Simon Cory and Claire Hansell (Buzz) 2nd Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 3rd Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman (Buzz) 4th John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz) Slow Handicap 1st Chris Stubbs and John Sharvill (Laser 2000) 2nd Chris Catt (Europe) 3rd Frank Catt and James Blackman (RS200) 4th Nathan Brazil (Topper) 5th John Wilkinson and Will Hardy (Albacore).

On Tuesday night there was a moderate sea breeze for the evening points race at Downs SC. This tended to die away during the race and coupled with a strong tide flowing towards Ramsgate, made for a tricky windward leg. The RS400 of Chris Stubbs was quickly away at the start followed by the Buzz of Simon Cory. Ed Styles made up much ground on the subsequent beat and the order at the front remained the same for the next lap. However it was all to be in vain for the Buzzes at the finish when they were penalized for being over the line at the start. In the slow fleet, Chris Catt took the honours ahead of his father, Frank.

Results Fast Handicap 1^st Chris and Helen Stubbs (RS400) 2^nd Dave Webb and Henri Giboin (RS400) 3^rd John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz) 4^th Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman (Buzz) 5^th Mark Styles and Heike (Buzz) 6^th Tony Cook and Nigel Cureton (International 14) Slow Handicap 1^st Chris Catt (Europe) 2^nd Frank Catt (RS200) 3^rd Stuart Bradbeer (Laser) 4^th Peter Hyett (Laser 2000) 5^th Paul Harris and Roger Phillips (Laser 2000) 6^th Steve Overall (Solo)

Downs Sailing club held a family fun and training event this weekend. A key part of this was to help young people develop their skills afloat handling the club's safety boats. Training took place off the Club on Friday evening, followed by a passage to Sandwich quay for lunch on Saturday. On Sunday we held heats for the RYA/Honda youth Rib driving competition. The results were very close and the winners are now representing Downs SC at the regional final next weekend in Newhaven. Results. 13-16 age group 1st James Blackman, 2nd Atticus Hansell, 3rd Olivia Feeney. 8-12 age group 1st Sebastian Hansell, 2nd George Hyett, 3rd Max Shelton.

Thanks to the sponsors for this event Ripple vale school and Glendale Lodge Residential Home.

On Tuesday night the strong winds of the weekend appeared to have died away for the evening points race at Downs SC. However, just before the start, storm clouds appeared along with a strong Westerly wind gusting up to Force 7. The first two legs were reaches out to sea followed by a beat back inshore. Ed and Sarah Styles in a Buzz and the Laser 4000 of Mitch Webb and Tim Ellis were first away followed by Simon Cory, however a strong gust caught the latter at the gybe mark, leading to a capsize. Further back, Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman found a lift on the 2^nd lap which allowed them to pull away from the Buzz of John Cass and the Contenders of Nigel Cureton and Tony Cook. In the slow fleet, Chris Catt took the honours ahead of Roger Phillips.

Results Fast Handicap 1^st Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 2^nd Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman (Buzz) 3^rd Simon Cory and Claire Hansell (Buzz) 4^th John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz) 5^th Mitch Webb and Tim Ellis (Laser 4000) 6^th Nigel Cureton (Contender) Slow Handicap 1^st Chris Catt (Europe) 2^nd Roger Phillips and Debbie Harris (Laser 2000) 3^rd Paul Harris and Seb Hansell (Laser 2000).

On Tuesday night 9 boats took to the water for the evening points race at Downs SC. The strong Northerly wind had subsided but left behind large waves which made launching very difficult. The RS200 of Steve Restall was pitchpoled by an unusually large wave which resulted in a broken mast. The course involved a reach out to sea followed by a beat towards Ramsgate with the tide. Ed and Sarah Styles stayed close enough to the RS400 of Chris Stubbs to win on handicap. In the slow fleet, Roger Phillips took the honours

Results Fast Handicap 1st Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 2nd Chris Stubbs and Frank Catt (RS400) 3rd John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz) 4th Martin Wyman and Chris Dutton (Buzz) 5th Mark and Clinton Styles (Hornet) 6th Henry Giboin and Jason Hansell (Buzz) Slow Handicap 1st Roger Phillips and Debbie Harris (Laser 2000) 2nd Paul Harris and Seb Hansell (Laser 2000).

Due to the blustery South-Westerly wind, race officer Chris Shelton set a small course close to the shore for the 1st race at the Downs SC on Sunday. This enabled all the "Lets get Racing" participants to get afloat and compete. The short course meant plenty of work for the crews on the spinnaker leg, but it was the Toppers of Sebastian Hansell and Ken Gray that took the honours on corrected time, with the best of the doublehanded boats being James Hales and Frank Catt in an RS200.

The course was enlarged for the Points Race with a tight reach out to sea followed by a beat with the tide. In the Fast Handicap, Mark and Clinton Styles led from the start, despite the best efforts of Chris Dutton and John Cass to catch up. In the Slow Handicap, the Phantom of Ian Willoughby took the honours, with the Topper of Rosie Lord in 2nd place, Ken Gray again did well to claim 3rd.

Results: Lets get racing 1st Sebastian Hansell (Topper) 2nd Ken Gray (Topper) 3rd James Hales and Frank Catt (RS200) 4th Neil Rison and Nigel Cureton (Laser 2) 5th Pat Harris and Clinton Styles (Laser 2000) 6th Martin Wyman and Chris Dutton (Buzz) Fast Handicap 1st Mark and Clinton Styles (Hornet) 2nd Chris Dutton and Martin Wyman (Buzz) 3rd John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz) 4th Eric Styles and Joy Clark (Hornet) 5th Mike Heeley and Anne Weatherley (RS400) Slow Handicap 1st Ian Willoughby (Phantom) 2nd Rosie Lord (Topper) 3rd Ken Gray (Topper) 4th Frank Catt and James Hales (RS200) 5th Peter Hyett and Gareth Waldron (Laser 2000) 6th Peter and David Harris (Laser 2000)

The weeks racing at Downs SC started on Tuesday with strong breezes which continued through out the race. The Buzz class yet again dominated the fast handicap fleet with first place going to Simon Cory and Clare Hansell in a Buzz, second Chris Dutton and third Ed Styles both in Buzzes.

The slow handicap fleet was won by Steve and Judy Restall in an RS200 Frank Catt and Nathan Brazil in an RS200 2nd and Chris Stubbs in a Laser 2000 3rd.

There was no racing on Thursday due to no wind but by Sunday it was back again with a strong Force 4/5 breeze from the SW.

Sunday’s race was a 3 hour pursuit race which saw the slower boats starting off first. First away was the Laser Radial of James Blackman but in the strong wind it was not long before the faster boats managed to catch up. Although the Buzzes shot to the front it was not long before the RS500 borrowed from Jeremy Blackman and sailed by Chris and Nikki Catt closed the gap and by the last 2 laps had taken the lead where they remained to the finish.

On Tuesday night just 6 boats took to the water for the evening points race at Downs SC in testing conditions. The Northerly wind reached Force 6 at times and large waves had developed offshore. Simon Cory was leading the fleet until a capsize on the 2^nd lap caused him to fall back. The Contenders of Tony Cook and Nigel Cureton were coping well with the tough conditions, the former taking the honours ahead of Eric Styles and Henry Giboin in a Hornet.

Results 1^st Tony Cook (Contender) 2^nd Eric Styles and Henry Giboin (Hornet) 3^rd Nigel Cureton (Contender) 4^th John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz) 5^th Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 6^th Simon Cory and Claire Hansell (Buzz)

On Sunday, the 3^rd race of the “Lets Get Racing” series took place with 14 entries. The Buzz of Clare Hansell and Simon Cory again took the honours, ahead of Guy and Dick White in an RS400. 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. However, the first two places went to Richard White in an RS400 and Eric Styles in his Hornet, the former having pulled out a big lead. In the Slow Handicap, Chris Shelton pulled out a good lead in his Phantom with Frank Catt in 2^nd place.

Results Lets get Racing 1^st Clare Hansell and Simon Cory (Buzz) 2^nd Guy and Richard White (Buzz) 3^rd Jason Hansell and John Cass (Buzz) 4^th James and Frank Catt (RS200) 5^thAnne Weatherley and Peter Hyett (Laser 2000) 6^th Eric Styles and Joy (Hornet)

Sunday Points Fast Handicap 1^st Richard White and Martyn Styles (RS400) 2^nd Eric Styles and Joy (Hornet) 3^rd Simon Cory and Annie Smith (Buzz) 4^th Chris Dutton and Nathan Brazil (Buzz) 5^th Ed and Sarah Styles (Buzz) 6^th John Cass and Julia Brazil (Buzz)

Slow Handicap 1^st Chris Shelton (Phantom) 2^nd Frank Catt and Sarah (RS200) 3^rd Roger Phillips and Atticus Hansell (Laser 2000) 4^th Ken Davis and Sebastian Hansell (Laser 2000) 5^th John Sharvill and Tim Waite (Laser 2000) 6^th Peter Hyett and Anne Weatherley (Laser 2000)

June - July 2007 11/6/07 17/6/07 24/6/07 30/6/07 8/7/07 15/7/07 24/7/07 31/7/07