Lymington Festive Stadium Racing
by RS Aero UK Class Association 19 Dec 2022 22:05 NZDT
17 December 2022
Lymington Festive Stadium Racing © Richard Russell
15 RS Aeros pitched up for the annual Lymington Festive RS Aero Stadium Racing, all excited and with a spring in their step - like Christmas come early! We could not have been more fortunate with the conditions as the week's frost finally thawed that morning to give a balmy 7'C and sunshine! With a sheltered medium breeze everyone opted for RS Aero 7s enabling Class racing all together in one fleet.
The racing was situated at the top of the Lymington River opposite the pontoons and Clubhouse. Spectators could watch the quick-fire short course racing with plenty cheering & heckling whilst enjoying a glass of mulled wine and mince pies!
The wind direction was perfect to enable a good start line from the pontoon across the width of the river and first upwind leg before a downwind slalom. PRO Keith Willis periodically raised and dropped the 'RRS42 Relaxation' flag to allow free propulsion, which proved a fine way to warm the fleet up and give them a thorough workout - it was interesting to see who the best 'legal cheaters' were and the variance in techniques! Those techniques were also evolving, for better and worse, after the between race mulled wine shots, served to passing RS Aeros from the pontoon.
Over five 15-minute races and no discards Andrew Frost (Sutton Bingham) came out on top winning 3 races, just ahead of Peter Barton (Lym Town) who won 2. 3rd place went to Will Taylor (Lym Town) with Iona Willows (Lym Town) top female in 8th. Random wrapped Christmas present prizes went to everyone at the award ceremony and in line with the Class' Sustainability goals two 'new' recycled 25-year-old trophies were awarded, initially presented at the 1997 Laser 4000 Europeans at Como.
The day's festivities continued onto a historical guided tour of Lymington's cobbles and refuges before a late evening curry for 18! Thanks to everyone for a fun day, especially to the volunteers running the racing!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1st | 3875 | Andrew Frost | Sutton Bingham SC | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| 2nd | 3597 | Peter Barton | Lymington Town SC | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 13 |
| 3rd | 1551 | Will Tailor | Lymington Town SC | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| 4th | 1209 | David Ellis | Lymington Town SC | 7 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 23 |
| 5th | 2936 | William Homewood | Lymington Town SC | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 26 |
| 6th | 2550 | Chris Jones | Sutton Bingham SC | 5 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 30 |
| 7th | 74 | Noah Rees | Lymington Town SC | 6 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 33 |
| 8th | 3330 | Iona Willows | Lymington Town SC | 11 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 40 |
| 9th | 2318 | Karl Thorne | Lymington Town SC | 8 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 45 |
| 10th | 2949 | Jenny Bennett | Lymington Town SC | 12 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 48 |
| 11th | 3815 | Richard Mayo | Lymington Town SC | 9 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 48 |
| 12th | 2204 | Alan Markham | Lymington Town SC | 10 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 58 |
| 13th | 3397 | Matt Perkins | Lymington Town SC | 13 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 63 |
| 14th | 1316 | Robert Willows | Lymington Town SC | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 72 |
| 15th | 2503 | Dan Bird | Lymington Town SC | DNC | DNC | DNC | 14 | 14 | 76 |