Poole Yacht Racing Association - Spring Pursuit Race
by Lis Bennet 22 Apr 2013 06:21 AEST
21 April 2013
Sunday 21st April dawned bright & sunny for the first race on the 2013 PYRA Calender, the Pursuit Race sponsored by Poole Harbour Guide. Sixteen boats came out to race in the bay, fifteen under the VPRS Rating system, and one multihull under MOCRA.
The forecast wind was due from the South West, which looked good for using fixed marks (as many of the racing marks were still ashore). As it was there was a zephyr from the South when Ken Morgan (RO for the day) set the course. The breeze then filled in from the west, so the course ended up as fairly fetchy.
The breeze was around 10-12 knots for most of the race, increasing after the finish to around 17 knots. There were some fairly large wind shifts.
One observation from the committee boat was that many skippers were cautious and dropped their kites very early on the first run back to Vinyl Solutions mark. "The boats bunched up surprisingly quickly, and near the finish there was some exciting jostling for places", said Ken Morgan.
In the last moments Blue Jay, the J109 helmed by Alan Bennett, overtook Quadraphenia, an Albin Nova 33, sailed two up by Clive & Theresa Lawrence, and rated for non spinnaker for this race. Ian and Lyn Foster (also two handed) in the élan 31 Kudos, again came up quickly on Quadraphenia but didn't quite make it with half a boat length to catch at the finish.
We had some close racing and the close finish is testament to the efficacy of the VPRS rating system.