Friday and Sunday Series action at RSYC

by Phil Riley on 4 Jun 2013 In the 1989 motion picture 'Field of Dreams' the farmer, played by Kevin Costner, is inspired to build a baseball pitch in a remote cornfield by a voice insisting 'If you build it, they will come’. Needless to say, despite initial skepticism, they do.

Similarly, the Royal Southern Yacht Club's innovative and on-going short-course racing series - in the form of the Gaastra Friday Evening Racing and Harken Sunday Morning Racing - has started to attract a following.

After what has been a somewhat uncertain start to short-course racing - largely down to unseasonal weather and sailing calendar clashes - the Gaastra Friday Evening Racing series got off to a flying start with a nine-boat entry split between XODs and those racing under the RYA's new National Handicapping for Cruisers (NHC) rating.

Race officer Serena Alexander set a course up Southampton Water and was able to react promptly when tide and a declining breeze made the Netley mark overly ambitious, amending the course mid-race to send the fleet around the Greenland channel mark.

In NHC the newly-arrived MG26 quarter-tonner Bad Toad took the win ahead of the J80 Rioja and, in an indication of the variety that can be accommodated within the handicap system, Jonty Sherwill's dayboat Cockleshell narrowly edged ahead of the J80 Boysterous helmed by the Club's Sailing Secretary Natalie Gray.

It's worth noting that Bad Toad's impressive victory by over 10 minutes on corrected time could be harder to come by next time out as the NHC system, like a golf handicap, modifies ratings to promote a level playing field.

No such concerns in the level-rated XOD fleet, where Stuart Childerley brought Palassie home ahead of Diane Wilson's Mischief, Mos Fitzgerald's Kathleen and Gerry Golding's Pepper. David Oddie also turned out in Magic Dragon before retiring during the race.

'I think the concept is fantastic to start the weekend with a sail,' said Stuart. 'Windward-leeward, round the cans, up the river, I don't care. Just 45 minutes of sailing, straight in to the bar, social, start the weekend. Fantastic.'

It was a view echoed by Bad Toad's Paul Gifford: 'The boat's been based on the east coast and we've just brought her over here and got her ready, so this is the first race we've been able to do. I really like evening racing, it's a really good way to start the weekend. We're keen to do whatever we can, whenever we can.'

Next up for the Gaastra Friday Evening Series racing is 7th June.

The Harken Sunday Morning Racing Series got off to a quieter start, possibly subject to a hangover effect from the previous day's J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race which may have distracted potential competitors.

Nonetheless, Cockleshell and Rioja again took to the water, with the Sunday morning racing initiative getting enthusiastic support.

'We thought the short course racing concept was very good,' said Rioja's Debbie Steel. 'There are actually four owners of Rioja and we all regularly race in the Winter series and the Spring series, and we thought it was a really good idea to do Friday night sailing as well as Sunday morning on days we wouldn't be competing in other events.

'We were really pleased to see the Club launch the events and we are pleased to support them. There were not so many on Sunday, but there was breeze and lots of sun, so shorts on and no oilies to be seen. It was lovely and a great day to be out on the water.

'We would like the word to get out there more and we hope the Club will pursue the idea. It's good to see an initiative and if you don't try you don't know.'

Jonty Sherwill, who took the win, added: 'The Sunday Morning Racing Series is a great idea, it's fun and friendly and, with lunch available back at the Club, it's ideal for families.

'The sponsorship from Harken adds style and some nice prizes and with the racing being run using the RYA's new National Handicapping for Cruisers everyone should have a chance of winning. It's worth pointing out that the series is for any kind of monohull, not just cruisers, and you can use spinnakers if you want.

'On Sunday we and the J80 had a wonderful sail around a sensibly short course but we need a few more boats out to boost the competition and I'm sure that will happen as word spreads and the season hots up.'

The Harken Sunday Morning Racing Series is back on the water on 9th June.

The 2013 Racing Programme and entry details are available on the Club's RSYC website