FAST40+ Spring Regatta – Hitchhiker declared winner

by Fast40+ Class on 30 Apr 2017 Hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club, the wind gods blew too hard on the second day resulting in racing abandoned for the last day, meaning that the results from the first day of racing stood for the regatta.

Bas de Voogt’s Carkeek 40+ Hitchhiker was declared winner of the FAST40+ Spring Regatta at a prize giving ceremony hosted by the Royal Southern Yacht Club. Stewart Whitehead’s Carkeek 40+ Rebellion tide on points with Hitchhiker but was second on count back.Tony Dickin's Jubilee was in impressive form, scoring three podium finishes to end the regatta just one point off the lead in third.

Winner Hitchhiker, Bas de Voogt, 7.0 pts (1,1,5)
“We didn’t expect 2 bullets on our first day out yesterday after such a rough start to the season (boat damage) so that was a great start to our first event of the year. We were just ready in time after motoring the boat from Holland, thanks to Morty for lending us a mast, we arrived in Cowes on Monday, mast in Tuesday, managed a practise on Friday! We have the same crew as we used to sail together on the Ker 43 mostly offshore. Its so great to have such close competitive racing with the Fast 40+ Class. We have Nick Rogers onboard as tactician this year who brings with him fantastic local knowledge. I have sailed a fair bit in the Solent having done my first Cowes Week in 1982. All in all a great week-end and we are very happy with our win.!”

Second place Rebellion Stewart Whitehead also on seven points with 2,4,1
“This was our first outing of the season so happy with our result. It was great to test the boat out after a number of modifications but we only managed one day of training before this week-end. Our aim was to get more stiffness in the boat which we can now feel, in certain modes it felt great but everyone is using these build up events to tweak and test things so we have more to test and learn for sure. We’ve made a few crew changes to get a heavier crew onboard - we probably have 75-100 kgs more onboard than last year. That is helping our righting moment as we felt a bit lightweight compared to some of the other boats last year. We also have Campbell Field on board as Nav bringing with him a wealth of added experience. Anyway great racing with seven boats out - should be exciting when we get to 12 on the race course!”

The next FAST40+ Class event will be the first scoring round of the 2017 FAST40+ Race Circuit, The Royal Ocean Racing Club’s Vice Admiral’s Cup, 19th – 21st May 2017.