Sunshine start of Harken June Regatta on Day 1

by Louay Habib on 11 Jun 2017 The Royal Southern Yacht Club's Summer Series continues with the Harken June Regatta. A variety of boats, including XOD, Sportsboats, classics, cruisers, and IRC racing yachts enjoyed champagne conditions on the first day.

Bright sunshine and a brisk southerly wind piped up during the course of the day to nearly 20 knots. Six teams excelled today on the first day of the Harken June Regatta, returning to the Royal Southern unbeaten: Royal Southern Yacht Club Commodore, Karen Henderson-Williams, racing Dehler 37 Illywhacker, Malcolm Wootton's Farr30 Pegasus, Andy and Annie Howe's J/97 Blackjack II, Dirk and Dianne van Beek's J/88 Sabriel Jr, Jonathan Powell's J/80 Betty and Andy Hamlett's XOD, Satu.

Royal Southern Yacht Club Commodore, Karen Henderson-Williams, was racing Illywhacker with friends and family, including her parents. “There are three Flag Officers from the Royal Southern Yacht Club in our class, and we were all going for it, so it was very nice to win today.” smiled Karen. “Our boats are designed as cruiser racers and we are all enjoy races around the cans in some great conditions in blustery and variable conditions. What is really nice about the Summer Series is we are looking after all levels of sailors, in a huge variety of boats, with two separate race courses. I found out that we had children racing today on Lady Penrose, and they were probably wide-eyed with it. Back at the club after racing, there is a really good buzz, which is really nice to see.”

The Royal Southern Yacht Club's renowned race management team was out in force, organising two racing areas in the Central Solent. In the Black Group, race officer Philip Gage marshalled four IRC Racing classes, J/88 One-designs, and the Cruiser Class. Whilst race officer Tony Lovell was in charge of the J/70s, J/80s Mixed Sportsboats, and XODs in White Group.

Black Group

IRC One

Two King 40s designed by Mark Mils lead the class. Roger Bowden's Nifty is just a point ahead of Blair and Beckett's Cobra. Cornel Riklin's J/111 Jitterbug is third.

IRC Two

Malcolm Wootton's Farr30 Pegasus took line honours in every race and scored three bullets after time correction but it was far from easy, every race went to the wire. After IRC time correction, Pegasus' biggest win was just 45 seconds. Roger Phillips Designstar is second in IRC Two after three races, just two points ahead of fellow J/109 competitor, Simon Perry racing Jiraffe.

IRC Three and Four

Andy and Annie Howe's J/97 Blackjack II, won all three races. Peter Parker's Sigma 33, Stan the boat, is second and Claire Dresser's Sigma 362, Lady Penrose is third. In the J/88 Class, Dirk and Dianne van Beek's Sabriel Jr, showed great speed and tactical awareness, especially upwind, to win all three races today. Second after three races is Tim Tolcher's Raging Bull, and third is Paul Ward's Eat,Sleep,J,Repeat. In IRC Four, Anthony and William Tahourdin's x-95 Thistle VI leads with Fenton Burgin's International 6 Meter, Sioma, second.

Cruiser Class

Royal Southern Yacht Club Flag Officers filled the podium. Commodore, Karen Henderson-Williams, racing Dehler 37 Illywhacker, won both races. Vice Commodore, Graham Dixon, racing Elan 40 Magic was second, and Rear Commodore House, John Rutherford, finished third.

White Group

Jonathan Powell's J/80 Betty is a proven winner and showed a clean pair of heels to the fleet, winning all of today's races. However, Chris and Hannah Neve's No Regrets and Nick Haigh's Slightly Steamy, were desperately close to finishing the day on a high.

In the last race, No Regrets was just five seconds behind Betty and Slightly Steamy were just inches behind, overlapped with No Regrets as they crossed the finish line. Terence O'Neill's Aqua J had a consistent set of results, propelling the team to third on countback. In the XOD Class, Andy Hamlett's Satu enjoyed a close match race with Diana Wilson's Mischief. Satu won both races but only just, in the second encounter of the day 16 seconds was the slender margin.

Ben Mansfield's Yeti got the better of Philip Chandler's BlackJax in the J/70 Class. In the Mixed Sportsboats Class, four SB20s top the leaderboard after three races. Charles Whelan's Here comes Bod leads, Tom Clay's Whyaduck is second, just one point ahead of Steve McLean's Sponge Bob Peter Noe's 6a Vision Homes is fourth. In the 1720 duel, Steph Merry's Midnight Cowboy, holds the bragging rights over Michael Livingstone's Rum and Cork.

Racing at the Royal Southern Yacht Club's Harken June Regatta concludes tomorrow. A stiff southwesterly breeze is forecast, which may build during the day.