Sep 20, 2020

A gusty north easterly breeze kept all the competitors on their toes for the first day of racing at the Land Union September Regatta. Up to three races for all classes were held in the Central and Eastern Solent. Today’s winners in the Black Group were; Alex Locke’s Toucan, David Bartholomew’s Tokoloshe 3, Christopher Daniel’s Juno, Gordon Craigen’s Jacana, Howell & Newell’s Arcus, Claire Dresser’s Lady Penrose and Graham Nixon’s Magic. In the White Group there were wins for Jonnie Goodwin’s RYS Team and Simon Patterson’s Standfast in the J/70 Class. Gary Rossall‘s Little X was the winner of both races in the XOD Class.
Results Land Union September Regatta

In the SB20 UK National Championships, seven windward leeward races have now been completed. John Pollard’s Xcellent is top of the leaderboard, Simon Russell’s Sportsboatworld is second. McAdam & Whelan’s Breaking Bod is third.
Simon Russell looks after the SB20 Fleet as Director of Sportsboats World. “John (Pollard) has been dominating in the UK SB20 fleet for a number of years, but we like to think we have given his team a run for their money,” commented Simon. “With the Covid-19 situation, most of the SB20s have not been racing this year, so it’s fantastic to see a large fleet getting together. Breaking Bod is also going well and there is really close racing right through the class.”
Results SB20 UK National Championships

In the HP30 Class, Glyn Locke’s Farr 280 Toucan had a stellar day, winning all three races. Lucian Stone’s Fareast 28 Vendetta is second and Mike Lewis’ Lutra 30 Jester is third.

“A super puffy day with 20-degree wind shifts either way plus the wind speed was up and down as well,” commented Alex Locke, helm for Toucan. “We were a bit rusty as a crew, but we held it together and put in some good manoeuvres. The Race Committee did a great job getting three races in, and it was nice to go around the cans at the end after two windward leewards. It was a really interesting day and really good fun.”

In IRC 1, the 16-strong class had three races today. David Bartholomew’s Cape 31 Tokoloshe 3 won the first two races and leads the big boat division. James Gair’s Mills 39 Zero II put in a consistent performance to finish the day in second. Rob Bottomley’s MAT 12 Sailplane is third by one half of a point, caused by a race-tie with Cornel Riklin’s J/111 Jitterbug. Christopher Daniel’s Juno won the last race of the day, but a retirement in Race 2 puts the Performance 40 National Champions out of the chocolates for now. Michael O'Donnell’s J/121 Darkwood is just off the podium after three races, and will be looking to have a great last day to threaten the leaders.
