Jackson Yacht Services Bay Race Series overall

by Bill Harris on 15 Oct 2016 The Royal Channel Islands Yacht Club’s annual Jackson Yacht Services Bay Race Series, held in St Aubin’s Bay on Sunday October 9th was the final regatta of the year for the Island’s sportsboat, cruiser, dayboat and sport catamaran classes.

Conditions could hardly have been better; the forecast that had promised moderate to strong northeasterly winds throughout the week proved to be spot on. Racing in this beautiful arena is always at it’s best in these conditions, the lee of the Island providing plenty of shelter giving rise to just a slight to moderate sea. The overcast sky that endured throughout the morning gave way to brilliant warm autumnal sunshine throughout the afternoon.

Jersey’s clubs opted for dual scoring at the beginning of the year, sports-boats and cruisers have been racing under NHC and, for those with ratings, IRC too. Sunday’s results produced a few variations between the two systems, especially in class one.

It was the keenly raced cruiser and dayboat classes that endured the morning’s gloom but this did nothing to spoil the enjoyment of some excellent competitive racing. The class A (NHC) cruisers were first away, accompanied by a sole sportsboat, soon followed by the first class B (NHC) start in the first of two back-to-back races ‘round the cans’.

The course lay from the committee boat to the Vrachière buoy, in the northeast of the Bay, with a port hand turn taking boats to the St Aubin’s race mark and southwestwards to the mile-distant Grunes du Port buoy followed by a beat to the Vrachière buoy, back to the Grunes du Port and finish.

Allen Brown and partners’ Melges 24, The Dog’s ……..!, led the way throughout the nearly one hour race to take line honours and the first race of the day with Rhys Perkins and partners’ Archambault A35, Abracadabra, second (first IRC) and David Myatt’s elegant International 8-Metre, Erica third (second IRC). Darren Stower’s Projection 762, Crumpet, was fourth (third IRC). Race two saw The Dog’s finishing first but slipping to third on corrected time with Erica (first IRC) the clear winner with Crumpet finishing second (fourth IRC). Abracadabra was fourth (second IRC). Erica won overall in both NHC and IRC with The Dog’s second and Crumpet third (third IRC).

Sailing the same course as the bigger boats, Julian Barber’s Farr 727, Super Q, had a clean sweep in class B (NHC), winning both races in both NHC and IRC. Chris Fritot’s Sonata, Rondo, almost pulled off the same trick in second place but returned a third in race one under NHC. Tom Vallois’ Sonata, Moonlight Sonata, chalked up a second place (third IRC) in race one and a fourth in race two (third IRC) to take third overall. Fresh to bay racing, Micheal Foreman’s Starlight 35, Wandering Star (formerly Cambina), was fourth.

The small fleet of day boats were away on the first of their three races shortly after the first class B start, sailing around a windward/leeward-triangle course. Mike Harrison’s tiny La Rocque OD beach boat, Jigsaw, won the first two races with Malcolm Annan’s Oysterman, Jamesina, second in the first race and Ben Jones’ Cornish Coble, Baloo, third. Race two saw Jamesina and Baloo swap position whilst race three saw Jigsaw heading off homewards and a win for Baloo ahead of Jamesina. Although not competing in the third race, Jigsaw’s wins put her just ahead of Baloo to win the series, albeit on equal points. Jamesina, with just one point more, was third.

The first of the sport catamaran races started shortly after midday, heralding the sun’s arrival. If the conditions were great for the cruisers, they were super-great for the cats as the F18 boats made their way to the start line for the first of their three races. Andy Hart set the pattern in the first race sailing Hobie Wildcat 517 to the first of three wins.

Adrian Jesson followed suit to notch up three second places with Wildcat 565 after some fast and furious racing whilst Steve Longstaffe had three third places on Wildcat 243.

Jersey is, incidentally, home to one of the biggest Hobie fleets in Europe with its sailors, both adult and junior, competing in national, international and world events.

Fourteen Hobie 16s made up the open sport catamaran class on this occasion, creating their customary blaze of colour and excitement in the Bay. Competition in this class is really keen, particularly amongst the more ‘senior’ members of the fleet. However, the younger element, those who have come up through the Club’s cadet Dragoons in particular, are beginning to make themselves felt in this august company.

In this class, the day went to Peter and Kate Scriven’s Sidewinder, victorious in races one and three and second in race two. Gordon Burgis and Kenny Snell’s Pure Energy won race two after a less than desirable result in race one, finishing the day with a third in race three to come second overall. Grant Neale and Karen Larose’s i-Gatto with two thirds and a fourth came third overall, on equal points with Pure Energy. Aaron Le Cornu’s Top Cat achieved a second place in race one.

The RCIYC cadet Dragoons came to the line for the first of their three starts once the first Hobie 16 race was away. Gemma Newman and Else Blakeley, sailing Dragoon 1078 sailed well to win all three races. Finlay Arenz’ and Alex Cooper, sailing Dragoon 1076, were second in races one and two whilst Emma Blake and Owen Harper on Dragoon 1077 were third.

Racing came to a close shortly after 3.00 p.m. The place prize giving was held in the Clubhouse, St Aubin, in the evening, when RCIYC Rear Commodore Ian Flambard welcomed and thanked Jackson Yacht Services and the competitors and organisers alike for their contribution to a really memorable event. He especially welcomed sponsor Mr Mike Jackson who added his thanks and spoke of the event’s long history before proceeding with the presentation of the place prizes. The perpetual trophies will be presented at the Club’s annual prize giving on 11th February at the Hotel L’Horizon.

The Club is delighted to announce that Jackson Yacht Services will, again, sponsor the Bay Race Series in 2017.

Principal results:

Cruiser class one
NHC
1 Erica - David Myatt (4)
2 The Dog's ........! - Allen Brown 7 partners (4)
3 Crumpet - Darren Stower (6)

IRC
1 Erica (3)
2 Abracadabra - Henry Perkins (3)
3 Crumpet (6)

IRC sportsboat and Class one cruiser combination
1 The Dog’s ........! (3)
2 Erica (4)
3 Abracadabra (5)

Cruiser Class two
NHC
1 Super Q - Julian Barber (2)
2 Rondo - Chris Fritot (5)
3 Moonlight Sonata - Tom Vallois (6)

IRC
1 Super Q (2)
2 Rondo (4)
3 Moonlight Sonata (6)

Dayboat Class
1 Jigsaw - Mike Harrison (6)
2 Baloo - Ben Jones (6)
3 Jamesina - Malcolm Annan (7)

Sport catamaran – Hobie Tiger and Wildcat
1 Wildcat 517 - Andy Hart (3)
2 Wildcat 565 - Adrian Jesson (6)
3 Wildcat 243 - Steve Longstaffe (0)

Sport catamaran - Hobie 16
1 Sidewinder - Peter Scriven (4)
2 Pure Energy - Gordon Burgis (10)
3 i Gatto - Grant Neale (10)

Sport catamaran - Dragoon
1 Dragoon 1078 - Gemma Newman (3)
2 Dragoon 1076 - Finlay Arenz (10)
3 Dragoon 1077 - Emma Blake (12)