| A good turnout for the second of the Club's Regattas |
Royal Southern Y.C. June Regatta, 27th & 28th 2009
Report & Images by Eddie May |
| My philosophy teacher always said that it was best to tell the bad news first and then everything else would seem better. It was a shame that the June regatta, one of the club's most popular events, conflicted with the Laser SB3 National championships at Falmouth. As a result most of the very strong Solent Fleet were away. As a balance to this the racing on Saturday included the 3rd leg of the IRC Solent Championship and the J-109 class raced with the club as part of their Saturday Series. |
IRC 1 start. |
| On Saturday morning P.R.O. Peter Bateson set up a starting line near the Universal Marine buoy for the Red Fleet, the IRC classes, and the wind was steady enough for him to send IRC 1 away on time at 10:30 for a beat over to West Ryde Middle. The IRC 2 & 3 classes started together and at least one boat had to return, having been adjudged OCS. Finding the right place to start was vital. It was necessary to tack onto Port as soon after clearing the start line as possible. A couple of boats in the final start, the IRC 4 & Club classes, tried to start near the ODM and were swept away by the fierce East going tide, never to be seen again, at least for the first race. |
Peter Jackson's Stimson 42 'Icom Assassin' had established a good lead in IRC1 and on the leg back to East Bramble managed to fly her asymmetrical spinnaker all the way. The next boat was Mark Chatfield's IMX-40 'Cajou' and they had a more difficult task to keep the symmetrical spinnaker full. Dropping the kite early and rounding up neatly they managed to cut the deficit to 50 metres.
By now the wind was becoming very erratic with boats seeing 30 degs differences within a short distance. 'Assassin' slowly pulled away and was never troubled taking both line & handicap honours. Behind the big boats the smaller boats struggled even more to make progress. The course was shortened at the Burgess Salmon buoy but even so a number of boats failed to reach the finishing line before their respective time limits expired. |
There followed a period when everyone settled down for lunch. The committee boat moved to Hamble Yacht Services buoy in anticipation of the 'sea breeze' arriving. Over on the Green Line course near the mouth of Southampton water the morning had passed without sufficient breeze for P.R.O. Tony Lovell and his team to lay a good course. By 12:15 the wind had filled in sufficiently for racing to start.
Two club members Bruce Jubb ('Johnny Blue II') and Mike & Sarah Wallis ('Jahmali') were among the first to show in the J-109 race having got into clear air from the start line. 'Jahmali' edged ahead on the beat and extended that lead on the run back to the bottom mark. Then in the space of a minute the whole complexion of the race changed. A slow spinney drop allowed the following pack to round up inside 'Jahmali' and having entered the manoeuvre first she came away from the mark in 6th place. Although they regained one place they couldn't catch the others. Roger Philips helming 'Designerstar II' took the gun from Jean-Yves Tabourot on board 'Basic Instinct'. |
| The J-80 and Laser SB3 fleets started together and in the light winds there was very little to choose between the two designs. In the first race Club member Julian Bates helming 'Bjornslippy' was into the back markers of the J-109s by the first mark and he finished a convincing distance in front of the others. The next two races were sailed in a better breeze and it was another team of club members, Allan Higgs & Cressida Robson, sailing 'Juicy' who took both guns to lead overnight. |
| Bruce Huber from the Squadron sailed 'Grey Goose' to the front of the SB3s in Races 1 & 2 but did not complete the final race and, unfortunately, he couldn't race on Sunday. This left it as a straight battle between 'WooHoo!' (Messers Aldwinkle, Davidison & Stannard) and 'Skallywag' (James Ford) for the rest of the weekend. Honours were evenly divided with both boats winning two races each but 'WooHoo!' won on countback. |
Back on the keelboat course racing resumed at 14:00 and in a much steadier breeze. Michael Bartholomew's King 40 'Tokoloshe' made a good start in IRC 1 and capitalised on this to reach the windward mark first. 'Assassin' had been left at the line and the crew were always playing catch up. They managed to overtake most of the class but could only finish 2nd behind 'Tokoloshe'. Dirk van Beek finished close enough behind in his Bavaria 42 'Sabriel' to take 2nd place on handicap. In the morning race in IRC 2 the Bateson Family entry 'Starspray' had taken line honours but had been relegated to 2nd on handicap by Timon Robson sailing his First 34.7 'As if by Magic'.
In the afternoon the Batesons made the best of the first beat to round just ahead of 'White Cloud' (John & Alison Donnelly). These two slowly pulled ahead of the rest. At the line the closest finish of the day was recorded when 'Magic' beat 'Extra Djinn' (Neville Hodkin) by less than a boat's length for 3rd place. |
Starspray leads White Clound into the top mark. |
Sunday's weather was overcast and sultry but more importantly the wind was far more consistent, light SouthEasterly. This allowed both Race Officers to complete all the scheduled races. In IRC 1 honours were again shared between 'Tokoloshe' & 'Assassin'. Home club sailor Andrew Webster sailing 'Circus' had finished consistently and took 2nd place behind 'Tokoloshe'. In IRC 2 'Magic' took both races with 'Extra Djinn's' two 2nd places enough to move Neville up to 2nd place behind Timon. IRC 3 provided the closest overall finish. Mike Tattersall hit a purple patch with his X-99 'Electra' and won the 2nd race on Sunday and both the Sunday races to finish one point ahead of the Southern's Robbie & Lis Robinson's 'Hot Rats'.
Another boat to win three of the four races was the Laser 28 of Rupert & Kathy Smalley in IRC 4. Behind them Bernard Fyans ('Eric the Red') and Richard Hollis ('Crakajax') swapped places all weekend and finished 2nd & 3rd. |
Overall Winners:
IRC 1 Tokoloshe Michael Bartholomew Royal Southern
IRC 2 As if by Magic Timon Robson Hamble River
IRC 3 Electra Mike Tattersall R.N.S.A.
IRC 4 The Flying Fish Rupert & Kathy Smalley
Club Implacable Trevor & Phillippa Pountain Royal Southern
Laser SB3 WooHoo! Aldwinkle, Davidson & Stannard Royal Southern
J-80 Juicy Allan Higgs & Cressida Robson Royal Southern
XOD Leading Wind Keith Hughes Royal Southern
J-109 Race Day
1st Johnny Blue II Bruce Jubb Royal Southern
2nd Designerstar II Roger Phillips
3rd Jahmali Mike & Sarah Wallis Royal Southern |
Bruce Jubb won the J-109 class. |
Electra won IRC 3. |
Leading Wind was the leading XOD. |
| Report & Images by Eddie May |