Land Union September Regatta 2022 at Royal Southern Yacht Club
by Louay Habib 27 Sep 2022 10:13 PDT
24-25 September 2022
The Royal Southern Yacht Club Summer Series came to a spectacular conclusion with the Land Union September Regatta held 24-25 September. The final regatta of the four-event series was blessed with magnificent racing, superb shoreside entertainment and outstanding prizes, including a holiday with flights, superb accommodation, and entry to the world famous Munich's Oktoberfest. Den's Deck was transformed into Oktoberfest on Saturday with complimentary beer and sausages and an Oompah Band!
Full Results: yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm?eID=14996
The Land Union Raffle for a complimentary city-break to Munich for the Oktoberfest was held on Sunday. The winners were Mike Moxley's Malice, Sture Wikman's Vitres and the Royal Thames Academy J70, skippered by Bethan Matthew.
Antigua Sailing Week's Rana Lewis awarded the regatta experience of a lifetime; an all-in trip to Antigua including; flights, Dream Yacht Charter, and boat entry to Antigua Sailing Week. Norths Sails Ian Walker joined the prize-giving team with North Sails prizes awarded to race winners and a timely reminder that September is a great time to order new sails for next season!
Land Union have supported the September Regatta for three years and the hundreds of sailors who take part thoroughly enjoy the shoreside entertainment. After the first day of racing, sailors return to find Den's Deck at the Royal Southern Clubhouse transformed into Oktoberfest with complimentary German Beer and Sausage supper.
Ian Atkins' GP42 Dark 'N' Stormy with five bullets and a second was the victor in the thirteen-strong IRC One Class. Second in class, and top Cape 31, was Johnny Cooper's Fanatic. Third in IRC One was Rob Bottomley's Mills 41 Sailplane 3.
Dark 'N' Stormy was the overall winner of the Land Union Regatta and was awarded the all-in-trip to compete at Antigua Sailing Week.
"I have been to Antigua many times but never competed at Antigua Sailing Week," commented a delighted Ian Atkins. "The only problem is that we can't fit all of the Dark 'N' Stormy crew on one Dream Yacht Charter boat, but I am sure we can remedy that! This has got to be one of the best prizes at any UK regatta this season. A big thank you to Antigua Sailing Week and of course the Royal Southern which has produced a top class Summer Series."
In the Performance 40 Division of IRC 1, the winner was Rob Bottomley's Sailplane 3. Second was Richard Powell's First 40 Rogan Josh. Third was VME Racing's Mills 39 Zero II skippered by James Gair, just half a point ahead of Tim Webb's Swan 45 Luna.
In the HP30 Class, Jerry Hill's Farr 280 Moral Compass won all four races but for a smaller class size Jerry Hill's team would have been going to Antigua Sailing Week. Second was Lucian Stone's Fareast 28 Vendetta and third was Andrew Peake's Fareast 28 Resolute.
In IRC Two, John Howell & Paul Newell's A35 Arcus won three races to win the class. Mike Bridges' JPK 1010 Elaine Again scored two race wins to finish second by just one point. Mike & Susie Yates's J/109 JAGO was third.
In IRC Three, David Greenhalgh's J/92 J'ronimo scored three race wins to win the class. Three generations of the Greenhalgh family attended the regatta including David' wife Judith and their three professional sailor siblings Libby, Peter, and Robert, plus the Grandchildren! Second in IRC Three was also a family-affair with the Handley & James Families racing Mustang 30 Banter. Oliver & Sam Love's SJ320 Frank 3 was third. Competition was so tight in the class that two races resulted in ties after IRC time correction.
In the J/111 Class, Chris Jones & Louise Makin's JourneyMaker 2 edged out their friends and rivals Anthony & Sally Mack's McFly. JourneyMaker 2 won the final race to win the class by a single point. Louise Makin was also awarded a Locman watch by Antigua Sailing Week as the best female skipper.
In the J/70 Class, Boysterous skippered by Ian Wilson was the winner. The Boysterous crew was without doubt the most senior crew in terms of age and experience. Past J/70 Corinthian World Champions are Ian Wilson and Marshall King, Past Corinthian National Champion Patrick Liardet and none other than this month's reigning Open European Champion, Johnathon Calascione. To add to the A-Team prowess multi-world champion Geoff Carveth also put in a shift on the first day! Second in the J/70 Class was Kai-Uwe Hollweg's Lightfoot, beating his friend and CEO at Land Union Lutz Strangemann racing Geisha, which won two of the eight races and was third in class.
The J/70 UK Class introduced a new Mixed + Division at the Land Union Regatta, where at least half the crew must be women. The inaugural event winner was the Royal Thames Academy Team skippered by Bethan Matthew. Second was Ian Poynton's Powder Monkey and third was Paul Wollmann's Royal Thames Charter.
Last but my no means least, a big Royal Southern welcome to the Oxford University Yacht Club's SB20 OUYC, with Andrew Sturt on the helm with a crew of Ryan Ghent, Helen Jones, and Abi Lister.
With the 2022 Royal Southern Summer Series now concluded, the Overall Series prizes and trophies will be presented at the prize-giving dinner on Saturday 12th November. Plans are in place for a superb celebration held at the Royal Southern Clubhouse on the banks of the River Hamble. Booking is strongly recommended to avoid disappointment. For more details go to: www.royal-southern.co.uk