305 signed
out plus 15 Elites on Course D for a windier day’s racing….
For Day 3
there was a cracking forecast of a force 4 south westerly increasing
later. Imagine the race officers surprise
when at 10am it was blowing force 4 from the north west! Thankfully, by the Series A and B scheduled
start time of 12.10 the wind had backed to the southwest so the course was set
up on 245 degrees. This meant a start
line near Lowles, windward mark on the middle of the Winner Bank, gybe mark
between Mill Rythe and Pivot on the Pilsey Sands, and leeward marks near Camber
Pole.
At the
start the wind was about 12 knots but quickly increased and was up to 18+ knots
by the end of the race with the sea state becoming quite lumpy after the tide
turned at 13.30.
Today was
the day when going left up the first beat over the Winner bank did pay
handsomely as those that went right found out to their disbelief. “I
couldn’t even read their sail numbers” one Flying Fifteen competitor who went right was
heard to say after racing.
Once round
the windward mark the sailors were treated to wonderful full-on planing
reaches. It was a terrific sight to see the boats flying across the water and
the smiling faces (or were they grimaces of fear?)
There were
some exceptional performances and demonstrations of excellent boat handling
particularly in the asymmetric classes.
The 29er sailed by Alex Sydenham and Tristan Alheid was a stand-out performance
and they won this class by quite some distance. Clive and Helen Everest in their RS400 also
sailed impressively to win on the water and on corrected time. All the more impressive as they were in a
hiking boat racing against many trapeze boats in the slow asymmetric
class. In the Hadron & DZero fleet,
Gareth Tweedle (Emsworth SC) scored his second first to give him a strong lead.
The Finns have only 1 point separating the first three boats, with Martin
Hughes (Warsash) holding the overnight lead. Russell Peters and Zeb Elliot in
the Fifteens were only able to achieve another 2nd place against
Charles Apthorp and David Rickard’s second win, so the remaining races are
critical.
On Series B
the tussle between Ben Oakley (ESC) and Jonathan Bailley (Weir Wood) continues,
and in the Medium Handicap Tom Morris took his second first on corrected time
to secure the series. Similarly, Ollie Holden has secured the Aero 7s scoring
his second bullet, and in the Aero 5s Sarah Smith (HISC) secured her first win to
take the series. Ian Barnet kooks unassailable in the Solos. Russell Mead’s
(Lee on Solent) third win in his ILCA6 has similarly won the week.
On Series C,
with additional boats joining the fleet, Lauren Buckel (Mengeham Rythe)
consolidated her lead with two more first places, so with the current forecast
suggesting racing tomorrow is in question, Ella Gardiner and Henry Highman will
have their work cut out to overtake her. In the Oppies, Ian Coward (HISC) and
Robbie Mayo (Lymington Town) continue their fight with only one point between
them, after completing three races today.
It will be
interesting to see what the weather brings tomorrow for everyone with such a
foreboding forecast.
Robert Macdonald.
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