41 boats including 25 visitors were welcomed by Parkstone Yacht Club for the West Country Boat Repairs Southwest Ugly Tour, this year combined with the SEAS and the Rooster national tour. The decision was made to take advantage of sailing out in the incredible Poole Bay and someone had clearly had a word with the sandbanks ferry operator, as conveniently it had broken down for the weekend! 

The fleet were greeted with a northeasterly breeze blowing straight off sandbanks beach, which made life difficult for PRO Bryan Drake and his team. Nevertheless they did a great job in getting the 4 races completed with very little waiting between. As well as the shifty breeze, the fleet also had an influx of jellyfish to avoid, which made things even more interesting. 

Race one got away cleanly with Tommy and Charlie Darling getting a great start and immediately getting a jump on the fleet, which they held to the finish. Maria and Alan who have taken a bit of a break from RS200 sailing showed that they haven’t lost their touch, and worked their way through the fleet to take 2^nd, with Olly Turner and “Sue” Mottershead managing to keep the right side of the line to take 3^rd. After their exploits at Salcombe, their new tactic was clearly to try and confuse the PRO by having each half of their hull a different colour.

Race 2 saw defending champions Alistair Norris and Helen Summersgill use their lightwind pace to take a well earned win, with the Darlings making another solid start to take 2^nd and Matt Mee and Emma Norris followed them home in 3^rd. Maria and Alan had followed up their 2^nd place with a 14th, so the event was still wide open.

The wind was still up and down for race 3 and the first 2 boats round the windward mark came from opposite sides of the course. Arthur Henderson and Amy Yeoman lead round the windward mark but were overtaken by Maria and Alan who sailed off to take their first bullet of the day.

As the fleet had been very well behaved all day, they thought it best to make up for it in the final race so after a few general recalls Race 4 got underway under black flag! Local 200 sailors Dave and Jan Pointer fell victim to this and lost what would have been a fantastic 8^th place. There were several boats that could take the title, so it was all to play for. Local Merlin sailors Jon and Mimi Gorringe lead at the top mark with another local pair Owain Hughes and Poppy Husband in hot pursuit. At the bottom gate, Gus and Ollie Dixon got through to second, while John Teague and Anna Horackova chose the other gate and made a nice gain to get past the Gorringes to take the lead. At the second top mark Jon and Mimi hit both the windward and spreader marks thinking that they were still allowed to! This allowed Owain and Poppy through to take 2^nd with Gus and Ollie having their best race of the day taking 3^rd.

On the final run, Maria and Alan did enough to get up to 4^th and win the event. The ever consistent Alistair and Helen in 2^nd and Tom and Charlie unable to follow up their 1^st and 2^nd in the final 2 races clung on to take 3^rd overall.

Back ashore, the sailors were greeted with Parkstones legendary hospitality, with everyone enjoying a well earned free beer and burger, along with a vast display of cakes baked by the Parkstone 200 fleet members. See you all next year.

Prize winners

1st - Maria Stanley & Alan Roberts

2nd Alistair Norria & Helen Summersgill

3rd Tom & Charlie Darling

4th Owain Hughes & Poppy Husband

5th Aurthur Henderson & Amy Yeoman

Rooster Endeavour Trophy - Pete Alvey & Andy Gordon

Rooster Midfleet Heroes - Ian Mairs & Jade Bowen

Silver Fleet - Alistair Hodgson & Joanna Worrall

Bronze Fleet - Amy Boyle & Josh Kendle

Report - Owain Hughes and Poppy Husband

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Photos from Owain Hughes