1DL - Southampton Pro-Am Tournament

Tuesday 12th May saw the inaugural Pro-Am Landyachting tournament, held at West Quay Retail Park in Southampton. A number of famous names from the sport of sailing turned up to 'have a go' at this new and exciting sport. Eddie Warden-Owen, yachting legend, Steve Hayles from Silk Cut, Guy Baron, Americas Cup regular and Nick Bonner, Hamble skivy were all there to represent the sailing professionals.

With 10 races to count and each team with one pro and one amateur, half of the races had to be sailed by each team member. With no discard every last point was going to be vital!

First up were the pro’s who with almost no landyacht experience turned the first race into a kind of demolition derby. Nick Heather, putting in a surprise appearance and granted temporary Professional status, managed to keep clear of the fleet and take line honours in the first two races. Steve Hayles who had been practising hard with Ben Cookes GBR 314 was picking up the idea pretty quickly and managed to bang in a second and third. At this point Eddie Owen still seemed to have a few problems with the concept of sheeting out in the gusts resulting in a lot of running by his partner Ian Moore to right the trusty ITA1. Guy Barron showed excellent speed but had trouble with temperamental steering on GBR 1.

After two pro races it was the turn of the owners to show their prowess, and the standard podium battle ensued. Racing could have gone any way between Ian Moore (ITA-1), Ben Vines, (GBR-999) & Mark Jardine (GBR-1) and was decided on the last run with Moore taking the gun. The fourth race saw the return of Craig Mitchell, going for a port tack flier. Unfortunately the rest of the fleet were at the pin on starboard, causing a scene reminiscent of the car chase in the Blues Brothers. Jockey Wilson managed to keep clear of the carnage to take an easy win.

Race 5 saw the return of the professionals, now practised and experienced after watching the landyacht veterans. Eddie Warden-Owens Ultra 30 experience was starting to show with excellent downwind speed, giving him a commendable second. A dismasting during the prestart of the next race limited him to a fourth in race 6 with Steve Hayles taking the first true professional victory.

In the next amateur round series leader Jockey Wilson hit the line at full pace, but although you are allowed to hit the marks, in tests lamp post have been found to be stronger than landyachts and as Jockey hit the pin at about 10 knots his dreams of victory, as well as his carbon axle, were shattered. Ian Moore consolidated his position with two bullets, with Mark Jardine riding shotgun with two seconds.

Steve Hayles had truly mastered the sport by this stage taking a convincing win in the 9th. Eddie Owen took second giving the Italian syndicate a 4 point lead going into the final race. Offers of wallet padding to knoble ITA 1 in the final race seemed to go unheard and Ian Moore sailed a conservative race to take the overall win.

Overall Results: