Hazy but not lazy Day 5 of the Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series

by Louise Nicholls on 12 Apr 2017 Another day of varied racing conditions on Day 5 of the Helly Hensen Warsash Spring Series a light and hazy day for crews, but certainly not lazy.

A sunny spring day, 10 knots of SE breeze, swinging right to SW and increasing a couple of knots was the forecast, and as the committee boats arrived on station SE with up to 10 knots of breeze was what they found.

On the inshore White Group line IRC4 was sent away cleanly to their first windward mark, however the J70 start was a much more eager affair and with the fleet firmly over the line on the gun a general recall ensued.

To persuade the fleet that there were other places to start rather than the inshore less tide pin, race officer Peter Knight put more bias into the line and got the fleets away for an hour of close racing, with the numerous J70 fleet in particular enjoying exciting times through the leeward gate.

During the second race, however the wind hesitated so due to the dying wind, the decision was taken to shorten the course and the fleets were shortened to 2 or 1.5 laps, but still got a finish. When the breeze did fill in again it had moved to a SW sea breeze of 12 to 15 knots, and the committee boat moved inshore to start race three.

Again, the J70s were over eager and had to be recalled, but the use of the black flag installed discipline, and they restarted ok, other classes got away with individual recalls and enjoyed three short sharp laps with a steady sea breeze.

In the combined white group, Betty (J/80 Jon Powell) leads from Jester (J/80 Mike Lewis) with Cosmic (J/70 Patrick Liardet) in third place. Betty (J/80 Jon Powell) also leads the J/80 fleet with Offbeat (J/70 David McLeman) leading the J70 fleet and Trouble and Strife (SB20 Radley College) dominating the SB20 fleet. Radley College have now had a string of firsts in the SB20s in the Spring Series so far, and are working up towards the SB20 World Championships in Cowes in August.

Bettys J/80 tip of the day 'Don’t forget your pork pies on Saturday unless you really want an energy rush from double rations on Sunday'.

In IRC4 Prospero of Hamble (Sigma 33 Allan Fraser) had a good day, with a win in race five, pushing Silver Shamrock (Stuart Greenfield) into second place with Erik the Red (Bernard Fyans) in third, and then in race six Prospero came second to Silver Shamrock, with Erik again coming third. Overall, Silver Shamrock leads IRC4 with Erik the Red second and Challenger (J/24 Jim Anderson) in third place.

The Black Group started near Hillhead with a South Easterly breeze which started at five to six knots, building at times to 10. For the various classes a five to eight-mile race was set with a final beat to QXI international and a fetch to the finish at Deloitte Sailing Club buoy. For the majority of the fleets this worked well, but as the wind died, some boats in IRC1 and IRC2 and the J88 fleet, didn’t get around QXI against the tide and couldn't make the time limit.

The J/109s and IRC3 fleet were stranded between East Knoll and QXI international and some boats gained places (or didn’t lose them!) by kedging - not a skill you often see practiced in a Spring Series race. A few boats ventured south of the Bramble bank, either looking for breeze or carried down there by the tide, and eventually breaths of wind started easing in from the South West.

The two fleets together with some J/88s then parked up in a long line abreast wafting towards the mark, then drifting back in the hot sunshine, until the new South Westerly breeze got tired of this game and suddenly just filled in - this left the fleets all trying to round the mark almost simultaneously, but due to courtesy and common sense there appeared to be no collisions, and after a short beat to the finish the committee boat had the task of recording every finisher in a two minute window.

During a day’s racing like this, some boats have good days and some are bound to have bad days but our sympathy goes out to the J/88 with the lime green spinnaker who used it to lasso the windward mark.

With the breeze now filled in the Black Group committee boat moved to a new position near Jonathan Jansson buoy, and in the limited space and time available set a short windward leeward course as the breeze freshened to around 12 knots, and all classes enjoyed a short but sparkling final race.

In race 5 Zephyr (Steve Cowie) was a new winner of IRC1, with Lady Mariposa (Dan Hardy) second and Nifty (Roger Bowden) third, in race six Lady Mariposa (Dan Hardy) was equal first with Cobra (Mike Blair) and Jagerbomb Paul Griffiths third. Overall Night Owl II (Julie Fawcett) leads IRC1 with Kestrel (Simon Bamford) in second and Simples (Demian Smith) in third.

In IRC2 Sailplane (Rob Bottomley) Assassin (Mark Brown and Justin Leese) and No Retreat! (David and Jackey Riley) had a good day, with Sailplane coming first in both races, Assassin posting a second and a third, and No Retreat! Scoring a third and a second. Overall Sailplane leads the class with No Retreat second and Elaine (Milke Bridges) third.

The J/88s had Tigris (Gavin Howe) win the first race with J-Dream (David and Kirsty Apthorp) second and Sabriel Jr (Dirk and Dianne van Beek) third, in the second race J-Dream got to the front with Sabriel Jr second and Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat (Paul Ward) in third. Overall J-Dream leads from Tigris and Sabriel Jr.

In IRC3 race five Quokka (James Crew and Peter Rutter) had their doggedness near QXI rewarded with a first from Wahoo (Pure Lattitude) and J'Ronimo (David Greenhaigh), in race six. Xcitable (Peter and Sarah Hodgkinson) won from Scarlett Jester (Jamie Muir) and J'Ronimo. Overall Quokka leads from Scarlett Jester and J'Ronimo.

The J/109s had their ranks swelled this week with boats coming out for the championship weekend, giving good competitive racing. In race five Jirraffe (Simon Perry) won from Jukebox (John Smart) and Jybe Talkin (Christopher Burleigh). In race six Jukebox posted a well sailed first from Jiraffe second and Jumping Jellyfish (David Richards) third. Overall Jiraffe leads from Jynnan Tonix (Owain Franks) and Jago (Mike and Susie Yates) in equal second place.