Opening Races at Raymarine Warsash Spring Series

by Warsash PR on 14 Mar 2006 .


























This year’s Raymarine Warsash Spring Series started on a bitingly cold day with a Force 4 south-easterly breeze that cut into any exposed flesh like a surgeon’s scalpel. But this did not deter around 1,000 sailors, keen to throw away the winter cobwebs and start the new season, even if they were happy to see the snow clouds remain over the Isle of Wight rather than the Solent.

The Black Group start was set east of the Brambles and a strong west going tide helped to keep the boats behind the line throughout the sequence. In IRC3, three boats broke away from the main fleet and they produced the closest racing of the day.

Flair IV, Jim MacGregor’s Elan 40, is again matched against Peter Rutter’s Elan 37 Quokka. Although Flair IV managed to nudge ahead and take line honours by 25 seconds, when the handicap calculations were completed, she slipped to second place leaving Quokka with a win. Russell Hodgson, helming the new Veneziani Deliverance (Dehler 36) was just five seconds behind in third place.

In a change to previous years, the J109s are racing on level terms as a separate class and Zelda was the winner by over two minutes. In the mixed Bowsprit boats only Paul and Marie-Claude Heys on their J105 Java had managed to keep up with the bigger boats as they reached the first windward mark at South Ryde Middle.

Taking a big chance, they were one of the few to fly a spinnaker on the next reaching leg across the Solent. Using her smaller fractional sail, Java converted her third place to a healthy lead at the second mark, followed by a good gybe set to a larger running sail which secured her both line honours and victory on corrected time.

Nearer the entrance to Southampton Water, the White Group sportsboat fleet were set windward/leeward courses which proved testing for the first weekend of serious racing and the tide caused confused wave patterns.

It was to prove a day for double winners in four of the five classes. The largest class afloat was once again the Laser SB3s, and they proved the exception.

In the morning race, veteran of the class Jerry Hill in Three Sad Old Blokes held off the challenge from Ben Duke in WKD to win by 15 seconds.

Another clean start in the afternoon saw James Howells in Monex first to the top mark. He kept the lead during the long leg to the spreader mark, but then a poor spinnaker hoist sent him down the fleet.

Over the next legs, Calum Smeaton in Loco and WKD worked their way up the fleet and whilst Monex held off WKD, Smeaton managed to take the lead on the final beat.

Back at the clubhouse, Fiona Pankhurst, Raymarine’s International Marketing Manager, was present for the champagne prizegiving to the week’s class winners. The Raymarine Warsash spring Series continues on Sunday 19 March.

Raymarine Warsash Spring Series
Provisional Results Sunday 12 March (Week 1):

Black Fleet:
IRC1 Werewolf Farr 45 Jerry Otter
IRC2 Playing Round Beneteau 40.7 Peter Robson
IRC3 Quokka Elan 37 Peter Rutter
IRC4 Glide-X X-332 Ian Dawson
IRC5 Exeat Westerly Storm Guy McBride

Bowsprit Java J-105 Paul & Marie-Claude Heys
J109 Zelda Mike Ewart-Smith & Ben Richards
Sigma 38 Beefeater John Dunnet

White Fleet:
Hunter 707 Race 1 This is Jeff Messers Sanders, Hall, Hunt & Barber
Race 2 This is Jeff Messers Sanders, Hall, Hunt & Barber
Cork 1720 Race 1 Key Yachting Paul Hughes
Race2 Key Yachting Paul Hughes
Laser SB3 Race 1 3 Sad Old Blokes Jerry Hill
Race 2 Loco Calum Smeaton
J-80 Race 1 Jevan Robert & Jonathon Fox
Race 2 Jevan Robert & Jonathon Fox
Sportsboat Race 1 Billy Sonar Duncan Bates
Race 2 Billy Sonar Duncan Bates