Solo Southern Series Open at Mengeham Rythe Sailing Club

Oli Wells during the Mengeham Rythe Solo Open © Graeme MacDonald

Mengeham Rythe Solo Open © Graeme MacDonald

Twenty-six competitors from as far afield as Salcombe and Northampton came to the line for Mengeham Solo open meeting as part of the Southern Series on Saturday 23rd September.

This was part of a double header weekend with the HISC open on Sunday and worked really well. Hopefully something the fleet can repeat next year.

Saturday provided near perfect harbour racing conditions with 8-12 knots of breeze gently backing over the course of the afternoon. Old school Olympic triangle/sausage was the course for the day and proved to be expertly laid by PRO Greame MacDonald and his super-efficient race team.

Race 1, and hot off the back of second place at the recent Chi Race Week, Guy Mayger led the fleet to the windward mark using his (relatively) local tidal knowledge. From there a slight(!) navigational error saw Guy sail too high on the first reach handing the lead to Vince Horey with Fraser Hayden holding third followed by a tightly packed fleet close behind. As the race progressed Vince had the pace downwind, enough to win, whilst Guy used his height upwind to keep things close. Also showing strong downwind pace was Graham Cranford Smith in his lovely new ship which allowed him to pull through to third ahead of Fraser with Graham's Salcombe colleague Roger Lumby taking fifth place.

Race 2 saw Oli Wells come into the fold showing good pace in the JP P&B Solo. Vince was also in the mix along with HISC regulars Tim Polglase and Nick Rawlings. Oli and Vince had a right old ding dong battle just in front of the gaggle behind, with everyone hoping Vince wouldn't get the win (we love you really Vince!) so the series would go to three races. Clearing his head of the previous night's "training session" in London, Oli grabbed the win with the remaining places unchanged, but incredibly close as we have all come to expect from the Solo fleet.

Race 3, and a showdown was on the cards with Vince, Oli and Guy all able to take the event if they were able to get the race win, although Graham and Tim held handy third places so could also get in the mix. Almost as if written in the script the three main protagonists arrived at the windward mark together with Guy just in the lead, but the fleet greatly compressed as everyone had started to work out the tide.

Downwind and the two P&B Team sailors Vince and Oli wriggled passed Guy before the three engaged in another tacking truel (a three-way duel if you're wondering) on the upwind. Behind the dodgy three, but only by a matter of a few boat lengths, the fleet was also engaged in a mighty tussle with points so close that any of the next 10 boats able to get to fourth place overall.

Close racing during the Mengeham Rythe Solo Open - photo © Graeme MacDonald

As the windward leg approached all three of the leading group held the lead at some point as the now slightly shifty breeze dealt out +/- 10 degree opportunities. Doug Latta, Ray Collins, Alex Butler and Fraser fought it out for 4th place on the water with Doug taking some distance from the others on the final lap.

Downwind again, and Vince held a boat length lead over Guy with Oli another couple back. Try as they might there was nothing they could do to catch Vince and he took a well-deserved race win and with it the overall prize. Oli and Guy ended up with 4 points apiece with Oli having the better of the tie break. Graham held onto 4th overall with Doug finishing 5th.

A fantastic day's racing was topped off with the de-rigueur afternoon tea and cakes, with the good members of Mengeham putting on an excellent spread to challenge those seen at Papercourt, Portchester, Chichester and Felpham.

Some fleet members also took to a serious rehydration session in preparation for the next day's event at HISC!

Overall Results: