RS Aeros at the Lymington Dinghy Regatta 2015

by Peter Barton on 21 Jul 2015 Ten RS Aeros entered in the annual combined club Lymington Dinghy Regatta. With medium winds forecast nine of the ten boats opted for the medium ‘Seven’ rig and even so, the fleet chose to join in with the large 39 boat medium handicap rather than having their own start.

Unlike the forty four boat Lymington RS Aero Open meeting this weekend was blessed by the conditions getting steadily harder, with the wind steadily increasing each day and tide turning, rather than being at is most testing on arrival!

The first race got underway in 10-12 knots on a trapezoid course, with Alex Hayman setting the president for the weekend and sailing away from the other RS Aeros to take the win, with Phillip Gwyther just pipping Karl Thorne for second place. With the breeze increasing to 15-20 knots and the tide changing to be wind against tide the race committee reset the course to keep the fleet in the less choppy conditions. Again Alex sailed to the victory with Karl second and Phillip third. Race three became more interesting with Alex going for a swim on the first run to let most of the fleet through him. As Alex chased down Karl for the lead, the extra lap helped him pass Karl for first and again Phillip came in third.

Day two was forecast to be lighter but as the sun came out the breeze increased. Alex went on to win all three races again with Karl stamping his authority on the second place, by completing a hat-rick of second places in the increasing breeze. With a steady 20 knots gusting 25 knots at times the fleet slowly depleted, but Phillip managed to grab another two thirds before missing the final race.

This time the RS Aero club prize goes to The Royal for taking out the top two spots.

Thanks go to all those involved in organising the regatta from the Royal Lymington Yacht Club, and Lymington Town Sailing Club.

Top five RS Aeros

1st Alex Hayman RLymYC (4th overall)
2nd Karl Thorne RLymYC (8th overall)
3rd Phillip Gwyther LTSC (12th overall)
4th Nick Ingram LTSC
5th Adrian Baker LTSC