Helly Hansen Spring Series at Warsash Sailing Club - Day 6
by Andrew Adams 1 May 2019 08:18 PDT
28 April 2019
Warsash Spring Series Day 6 Black Group
After "Storm Hannah" passed by on Saturday and all racing was cancelled, the pleasant sailing breeze and intermittent sunshine on Sunday, the last day of the Warsash Spring Series and Championship, was especially welcome. In a NW breeze of 12-17 knots, the race committee set up the start and finish lines on the Ryde Middle bank. Two races were sailed by all Black Group classes, with beats up to the south side of the East Knoll bank, and spinnaker reaches and runs back to various marks on Ryde Middle. Careful liaison with two other clubs running racing in the area ensured no clashes at marks between their different fleets.
The Performance 40 class was given a third race to catch up one of the four lost due to the weather on the previous day and this was a one-hour windwardleeward course in the same area. A different winner for each of their three races underlined what a closely contested class this is. In the end, and without any 1st places but including two 2nds in her scoreline, Juno (J/112, Christopher Daniel) took the class's Championship win by a single point from Nifty (King 40, Roger Bowden). However Nifty had the satisfaction of winning the separately scored and longer IRC 1 class Championship.
All the other results are decided too. In the two-weekend Championship, Bruce Huber's J/112E Xanabooo came out on top in the second largest class, IRC 2. Jiraffe (Simon Perry) again won the J/109s, as last year. Sam Laidlaw and Aguila was first in the Quarter Ton class. Pegasus DekMarx (Farr 30 Evo, Malcolm Wootton) took the nascent HP30 class.
At the end of the 6-week Sunday series, Rob Bottomley won IRC 1 for a second year with his Beneteau First 40 Sailplane. IRC 2 saw Davanti Tyres (J/112E, Chales Ivill) come out on top, also for a second year. Warsash Club member Aindriu McCormack was 1st in IRC 3 with his X-99 2XS. The J/88 Tigris (Gavin Howe) won the J-Sprit class, and finally Sigma 33 Stan the Boat (Toby Gorman) won IRC 4, repeating last year's narrow win over Ian Handley & Tim James' Mustang 30 Gr8 Banter.
A busy Warsash clubhouse after racing saw the last of the daily bottles of champagne handed out by race partner Tom Milne of Doyle Sails, and the much appreciated volunteer bar staff run off their feet by competitors and race volunteers alike!
Warsash Spring Series Day 6 White Group
After heaving a sigh of relief that racing on Saturday was cancelled on Friday, and the forecast was fairly accurate, 25 knots most of the day with a gust of 45 knots at midday, the last day of the Sportsboat Spring Championship started in 150 knots, which dropped to 10 during the 3 races, with unlike the previous weekend, a fairly steady direction.
The J/70 started under their usual 'U' flag, and in the first race Mjolnir was too keen and picked up a UFD. In the second race, over-eagerness prevailed and a quarter of the fleet decided that they would like a second attempt. Under the black flag the fleet was almost as keen, but got away cleanly.
Marshall King (Soak Racing)continued to show his dominance of the event with a 2, 1 & 3 on the day, to win the event with 6 firsts in the 10 races that were sailed. Doug Struth (DSP) and Paul Ward (Eat, Sleep, J, Repeat) continued the battle for second and third right up to the finish of the last race. Paul saved his best to last and finished with a first. On paper, Doug should have had it easily, but did not have such a good last race and came in 8th. When the single discard was taken into account they were tied on 31 points; the tie being broken in favour of Paul who had managed 2 firsts on the first day.
With smaller numbers, and a long line, the SB20s has a set of close, but clean starts. As with the first week one boat dominated with three firsts; this time it was Tom Clay (Whyaduck) who took three firsts. Peter Noe (6a Vision Homes), Andrew Bell (Dark and Stormy) and Lizzie Farrington (Sail Navy) between them took the second and third places.
With mainly seconds and thirds, Peter Noe took the championship win with Andrew Bell in second and Radley College (Trouble & Strife) in third.
www.warsashspringseries.org.uk