Lymington Town Sailing Club Cruiser Racing Series - Race 3
by Robin Milledge 25 Jun 2019 21:45 PDT
23 June 2019
The third race in the LTSC Cruiser Racer series took place on Sunday 23rd June, with four boats coming to the start line off Baverstock. Race Officers Rob & Jan Martin set an excellent course in the Western Solent, with a series of windward - leeward legs over a distance of around ten miles.
With the breeze from due east, Adrian Bateman, sailing his J80 'Just Do It' with a crew of mercenary Merlin Rocket sailors, chose to start at the pin end of the line and reach inshore out of the flood tide. They were soon out of sight, leaving Google-Eye, Contessa Catherine and Molly 5 in a close downwind battle to the first mark.
With his usual family crew at the Aero Southern Championships, Steve Homeward was sailing single handed on his catamaran Molly 5, and made a conservative start but quickly caught the two smaller yachts. The three then continued to sail in close company around the course, rounding Black Rock buoy within a couple of minutes of each other.
As the breeze picked up by a few knots, Molly 5 stretched out a lead over Contessa Catherine, with Google-Eye hanging on close behind. At the finish Just Do It just did it to finish first on corrected time, with Pat Stables and crew on Google-Eye taking second from Rob & Marcia Milledge on Contessa Catherine in third, just two seconds ahead of Molly 5 on corrected time.
The next race in the series takes place on Sunday 21st July. Entries are open to all yachts over 18ft LOA, all details are on the website ltsc.co.uk/sailing-documents. Racing is low key and intended for all abilities.