Oyster Regatta Palma - Patchy day 2 for the fleet

by Mike Owen on 4 Oct 2014 With a glance at the forecast before the start of the Oyster Regatta Palma 2014, the faint hearted might have tutted and raised eyes upwards beseeching at least sailable winds. But as so often in Palma, fact has been better than forecast. Race Day One came up trumps with two of the series’ sought five races completed in middle breezes, and today, Race Day Two, a patchy but practical north-easterly secured a further double with at day’s end four races now in the bag, leaving just one more to grab for the chance of a discard before settling this lively match playing out between the 26-boat fleet.

'It was a tough day,' said Race Officer David Tydeman, Oyster’s CEO, 'two challenging races, the first in the lighter morning wind short with no time for mistakes, and then a longer more complex course in the afternoon with time for it to go either way.'

That mix of races introduced a mix also into the results, defining winners and losers whether on the right or wrong side of the shifts, and now results in all three classes (split by boat size: Class 3 Oyster 45 to 575, Class 2 625 to 655, and Class 1 82 to 100) rests on tomorrow’s race. Perfect in regatta terms, suspense right to the end.

Out on the committee boat suspense and intake of breath came fast, though, today, as David Tydeman reported: 'After the Pantaenius Insurance prizes last night for good starts, oh boy, was it taken to the limit with in the morning’s race three Class 2 boats hitting the line all within three seconds, Oyster 625 Flying Spirit first across, just one second off, and in Class 1 the new 825 Reina four seconds free.'

The afternoon race four then saw Oyster 53 Spindrift cut the line tight for Class 3 while Flying Spirit led Class 2 again just one second short of the line, with on the next start Class 1’s Reina bursting through a hard fought positioning squabble with Starry Night of the Caribbean to squeeze a tight slot and a quick-fire two seconds to spare. Impressive all, and aggression’s not at all bad when practised well!

Talking with crew on Oyster 575 Boarding Pass III, the day sounded to have played out quite fairly, thinking the morning went ok and, though missing a few calls, better than the afternoon, particularly when the wind fell and kites for some stalled on the last reach before the final leg home. A pleasant surprise then when at the evening’s party at the hosting Real Club Nautico de Palma, owners Bill Munro and Susan Harris picked up the trophy for first in this Pelagos sponsored race. Behind in second, having picked up pace and forging a good lead for a very considerable chunk of the race was Paulina and Mariusz Kierebinscy’s Oyster 46 SUNsuSEA, which for those not getting it, is a disguised French Sans-souci – carefree!

In Class 2, as yesterday, in both races the two 625s Lady Mariposa and Guardian Angel took first and second, each now having taken daily double firsts, and within the first race today Lady Mariposa crossing the line just 30 seconds ahead before in the afternoon sailing a stunning race pulling a full 12 minutes corrected on Guardian Angel. Back to the morning, though 655 iSNL, formerly Black Pearl, took third while John Marshall enjoyed sailing his newly brokered Rock Oyster, a 655 also, into fourth place.

In Class 1, 825 Reina though taking line honours ended fourth also on corrected just eight seconds behind 885 Karibu in third while 82 Starry Night of the Caribbean pulled into second and Sir Frank Chapman on 885 Clare scooped top spot, later beaming as he collected his Dolphin Sails sponsored swag at the evening presentation.

In the afternoon, on-the-ball calls and really sweet work swung fortunes with Reina this time the clear winner not just one the water, a full 4-minutes-44 corrected in front of second placed Karibu. Cutting a swathe through the smaller boats advance party she sure turned heads and in some instances looked straight down on haircuts from her neatly laid overtaking lanes and tight mark turns. Clare this time came in third, while between fourth-placed Oyster 100 Penelope and Starry Night in fifth, just 12 seconds settled scores.

Behind Lady Mariposa’s and Guardian Angel’s irrevocable hold on Class 2, David and Joanne Furby sailed their, also 625, Vamos into a worthy third just 70 seconds behind.

Sailing an absolute blinder in Class 3 after a closely grouped start, Rory and Susie McGrath soon had to look hard and far behind from their 53 Spindrift for the rest of their class. Growing their lead over even other classes, at mark four of five they were incredibly third of full-fleet to round, ahead even of 885s Karibu and Clare. Quite something after more than an hour of racing. As the crew later said, 'Yep, we got some things right, particularly preparation. So many seem to wait to hoist until after the mark, we were clew tight and hoisting as we rounded, that’s maybe five boat lengths every time.'

That of course doesn’t account for everything but the effect is clear. However, avoiding those hoists completely, and still faring incredibly well, Class 3 colleague, the new-build 575 Silver Lining, might tempt some study. Judy and Max Morrison have sailed just two and a half months with her, though that does include 3000 miles straight from commissioning in Ipswich and then around the Med a while. Yet they have never raced anything other than in Max’s very early dinghy years, and are consistently placing well. Second this afternoon, third this morning, and two seconds yesterday, and all this on white sails only every time. The principle? As Max and Judy explain: 'It’s simpler… and we take long tacks. It takes a minute or more to tack and get going again properly and that’s a lot of boat lengths lost, so keep on going!' Max does confess though that those dinghy days seem to have left a good trace of what feels right and wrong. Whatever… seems to work!

It also demonstrates the wide take on the virtues and variety of Oyster sailing portrayed by the spread and wealth of experience within the fleet here. And this will again be put to the test tomorrow for the fifth and last race in the series, with the outcome of that and the discard it enables settling just who will be the Oyster champions in Palma this year. In Class 1 there’s just one quarter of a point between Reina, currently first, and Karibu, second, while in Class 2 there’s nothing at all between Guardian Angel and Lady Mariposa, they’re neck and neck. In Class 3 a bigger three and a half a points divides one and two, with, yes, the newbie Silver Lining currently front runner.

But series over that’ll still not be the end of it. If the weather holds, a final pursuit race is planned for a fourth day of racing on Saturday with ratings reworked to reflect the week’s actual sailing stats. And first boat home wins… first though there’s Event website