2014 Glyn Charles Pursuit Race at Hayling Island Sailing Club
by Sarah Johnson 21 May 2014 18:58 AEST
17 May 2014
Sunshine and light winds prevailed for the Glyn Charles Pursuit Race which took place at Hayling Island Sailing Club on Saturday 17th May 2014.
88 entries took to the water for the annual race which tries to take in as much of Chichester Harbour as possible to remember and celebrate the life of Glyn Charles, the talented sailor and Olympic helmsman, who was tragically killed at the age of 33 whilst competing in the Sydney to Hobart Race in 1998.
Despite a promising forecast, an hour's postponement was needed to allow the wind to fill in, causing concern for the local Solo fleet, who feared potentially unfavourable tides as the early starters with the faster boats benefiting from the building ebb later in the race. As it turned out, this scenario did not prevail. The first beat against the tide set the running order at the outset, as the right side was heavily favoured; enabling the Solo fleet to catch and overtake some of the RS Fevas before the first mark. A long (very long!) downwind leg with the last of the flood ensued. As the start sequence ran, the faster boats looked in vain for the forecast breeze, and those anticipating planing downwind were to be disappointed.
The race progressed with the Solos gaining the lead; overtaking the Mirror and RS Teras with half an hour still to run. Anxious glances astern showed no sign of the anticipated stampede of faster boats, however the final 15 minutes resulted in a classic example of a pursuit race finish. A phalanx of Flying Fifteens was moving swiftly forward, preceded by some RS200s but Chris Powles had skilfully built a lead amongst the Solos and now looked uncatchable.
In a close finish, it was Chris Powles of HISC who took the gun, followed swiftly by James and Will Rusden from Lymington in an RS200. A gaggle of HISC Solo sailors followed, with Rob Hack in 3rd followed by Nick Peters and Greg Lamb. Richard Lovering and Matt Alvarado were the first Flying Fifteen over the line in 6th. The Youth prize went to Elliott Wells and Jake Todd in a RS200.
Many thanks are due to those who supported the event; Rooster, RS Sailing and Pinnell & Bax, and of course the competitors who not only enjoyed a great day on the water but also helped a most worthwhile cause. All proceeds from the race go to the John Merricks Sailing Trust.
Full results from the event can be found here.
Hayling Island Sailing Club hold eight Open Charity Pursuit races throughout the year with the best four results counting towards the overall series result. With three events completed so far this year, Solos are currently dominating the leader board with Nick Peters lying first overall followed by Ross Harvey and Greg Lamb. Steve and Sarah Cockerill are the top placed Merlin but all is still up for grabs and judging by last year's final result its likely be a mixed bag of classes in the top ten positions.
The next Open Pursuit race will be the Spring Pursuit Race taking place on Monday 26th May 2014 with the first start at 12.00. Entry is available on the day at the HISC office and full details can be found at www.hisc.co.uk