Hayling Island Sailing Club Christmas Cracker Pursuit Race 2019

by Paul Fisk 30 Dec 2019 05:24 PST 28 December 2019

HISC Christmas Cracker 2019 © Peter Hickson

34 boats of all shapes and sizes took part in the HISC Christmas Cracker Pursuit Race on Saturday 28 December 2019 in a light southerly breeze with an overcast sky.

First to start was Oscar Hoult in his Topper who struggled to make ground upwind over the adverse tide. Nick Rawlings led the six-strong Solo fleet around the weather mark having showed the way by short tacking along the Hayling Beach while his fellow competitors chose the Winner Bank. It wasn't long before David Sayce and Nick Rees in their Fireball overhauled the smaller boats to take the lead which they were to hold until the last thirty seconds of the 150-minute race.

Steadily making progress through the fleet were two RS21s - the latest keelboat from RS Sailing - one sailed by Paul Fisk, Simon Childs and Kato, tussling at close quarters all the way round the course with the other sailed by Henry Jameson, Joe Bradley, Louis Johnson and Freddy. In the meantime, Ian Swann in his RS700 was leading the charge of the late starting faster boats chased by Rob Gullan and Mari Shepherd in their RS800.

In a nail-biting finish, the RS21 of Paul Fisk, Simon Childs and Kato just managed to find a way past David Sayce and Nick Rees in their Fireball who had battled hard all the way up the final beat only to be agonisingly pipped at the final post. Third to finish was Henry Jameson, Joe Bradley, Louis Johnson and Freddy in the other RS21 who somehow managed to hold off the fast finishing Ian Swann in his RS700. Rob Gullan and Mari Shepherd rounded off the top five in their RS800.

HISC Christmas Cracker winners: Paul Fisk, Simon Childs & Kato - photo © Peter Hickson

Overall Results:

Pos	Class	Sail No	Helm	Crew	Club	R1	Pts
1st	RS21		Paul Fisk	Simon Childs Kato	HISC	1	1
2nd	FIREBALL	15112	David Sayce	Nick Rees	HISC	2	2
3rd	RS21		Henry Jameson	Joe	HISC	3	3
4th	RS 700	1022	Ian Swann		HISC	4	4
5th	RS 800	1124	Robert Gullan	Mari Shepherd	HISC	5	5
6th	FLYING 15	4004	Charles Apthorp	Charlie Apthorp	HISC	6	6
7th	FLYING 15	3736	Peter Bannister	Sue Bannister	HISC	7	7
8th	RS 200	880	Paul Hammett	Annie Hammett	HISC	8	8
9th	RS 800	885	Chris Feibusch	Zeb Elliott	HISC	9	9
10th	29ER	2816	Rupert Jameson	Ben Bradley	HISC	10	10
11th	FLYING 15	3564	Mark Nicholson	Amelia Nicholson	HISC	11	11
12th	FIREBALL	15149	Chirs Turner	Colin Parke	HISC	12	12
13th	OSPREY	1373	Richard Marshall	Richard	PYC	13	13
14th	FIREBALL	15150	Angus Hemmings	Steve Chesney	HISC	14	14
15th	OSPREY	1291	Alex Willis	Nick Willis	HISC	15	15
16th	RS 200	1429	Paddy Gamble	Edward Gamble	HISC	16	16
17th	SOLO	5569	Nick Rawlings		HISC	17	17
18th	FLYING 15	3591	Adrian Simpson	Carl	HISC	18	18
19th	SOLO	5781	Alex Butler		HISC	19	19
20th	SOLO	4214	Brenda Houl		HISC	20	20
21st	RS AERO 7	1672	Richard Bentley		FSC	21	21
22nd	RS AERO 7	2712	Greg Lamb		HISC	22	22
23rd	RS 800	949	Tracey Covell	Fred Covell	HISC	23	23
24th	FINN	22	A Wylan		MRSC	24	24
25th	INTERNATIONAL 420	55169	Hazel Jones	Martyn Jones	HISC	25	25
26th	FIREBALL	14887	Harry Payne	Tom Payne	MRSC/HISC	26	26
27th	F DUTCHMAN	382	Peter Barr	Richard Keevil	MRSC	27	27
28th	Supernova	1080	James Gerwat		Felpham SC	28	28
29th	SOLO	5334	David Steel		HISC	29	29
30th	SOLO	5495	Robin Gadd		HISC	30	30
31st	SOLO	5630	Greg Swift		HISC	31	31
32nd	RS 800	1140	James Hall	Zoe Niereen	HISC	32	32
33rd	FINN	88	Tom Rolay		MRSC	33	33
34th	TOPPER	46994	Oscar Hoult		HISC	34	34