Medway Yacht Club Cruiser Class Spring Series Race 2

Toucan during Medway Yacht Club Cruiser Class Spring Series Race 2 © Mike Wood

A 13 nautical mile course around the navigation marks was set with the start line at Medway Yacht Club. In the period before the start the wind appeared only at 10 knots in the lee of the hill to north but the prospect in the gusts was going to be up to 25 knots. A stark difference from the 5-6 knots in Race 1.

Six yachts ranging from the Clubswan 42 Mercury with Ross Eldridge and team, some fresh from the Cape 31 regatta in Cowes, to the 30ft Scampi Chips with Robbie Stewart and team started in one start. With the tide flooding in all morning and the course downriver the south shore looked like the place to be. Chips took this route closely followed by "Zephros" (Dehler 34) with Tim French at the helm. The rest of the fleet stayed in the deeper water for this first part of the race.

As the river turned to the south Mercury was first to fly a reaching kite and as expected accelerated away from the rest of the fleet. The remaining five boats retaining their white sail format crossing the tide to the shallow water off Hoo Island and continued in the shallow water to keep cheating the tide to Buoy 24. This mark was the first mark of the race and heralded the first beat through Pin Up Reach to buoy 23. Mercury with her deep keel kept to deeper water whilst Chips kept on port tack from the mark rounding taking advantage of the flood tide coming in Yantlet Creek to claw to windward. Zephros and Aquila (Elan 333), Jo Bolton, felt that the opposite shore would work better but sadly lost distance to both Mercury and Chips.

Long Reach was a close fetch to buoy 16; Chips was overtaken by Aquila with all boats steering to the north shore to find shallow water. Buoy 16 was a right turn to go up Half Acre Creek to Otterham Fairway buoy. Wind was gusting 20 - 25 knots now up the transom. The leg was reasonably short so no spinnakers were flown. The beat out of the creek against the tide saw Chips follow Aquila round the turning mark and continue on port tack in shallow water.

Mercury was some distance ahead going up the two mile beat to the north with a rounding at buoy 13. With her draft it meant short tacking to get to the deeper water in the main channel. Aquila tacked off but Chips and Zephros continued in the shallow water. Ruby Tuesday (Hanse 320) and Toucan (First 31.7) had dropped back from the group of three but were giving it all. Chips overtook Toucan for a short while to buoy 13 but was passed in the last tack to the mark.

Back upriver now with the tide behind us and a long leg to buoy 18 with the wind behind saw spinnakers flying on the front four boats. The speed over the ground gave some exciting moments. A short dog leg to buoy 17 meant the spinnakers were dropped and the leg up Long Reach under white sails. The last leg was another down wind leg so for the front four boats out popped the spinnakers to the finish at buoy 25. Ruby Tuesday and Toucan were sailing with white sails only. Mercury was nowhere to be seen, taking line honours, and the three boats who had raced together finished with Aquila ahead of Chips and then Zephros.

Using the YTC Rating system the results for all six boats were calculated together either with a spinnaker rating or a white sail rating. Chips won on corrected time with Zephros second and Aquila only 16 seconds adrift. Mercury took fourth, Ruby Tuesday on corrected time took fifth ahead of Toucan.

Results can be found here.