Late Autumn Series at Liverpool Yacht Club - Day 5

Impact on day 5 of the Liverpool Late Autumn Series © Andrew Napper

The 12th December threw out a carbon copy of the previous conditions experienced in the 2011 Fareastsails.com Late Autumn Series; clear, cold, sunny and little in the way of wind.

The Officer of the Day, conscious of the sunset time, elected to get Class 2 underway whilst waiting for some of the Class 1 boats to arrive on the course. A near perfect start from Skukusa saw them lead up river toward the Garston Channel.

Seaker lead the Class 1 start. Not perhaps as brave as the Skukusa effort, but enough to get their nose in front and keep it there, running down the handicap clock as the failing wind filled spinnakers only occasionally.

Skukusa reached the first mark closely followed by Quattro. The tide took the 2 leaders passed the mark despite efforts to make progress further inshore. Impact, arrived third at the mark, rounded neatly and moved into first place. Their progress improved as the tide turned almost on demand, giving them a sizable lead on the approach to the second mark. The Race Officer decided to shorten the course at this point. A nail biting leg to the finish line ensued with Quattro slowly reeling Impact back in. Quattro eventually pressed ahead to the finish line, throwing Impact the gauntlet of 3.5 minutes to get there if they wanted first place. This was no mean feat in the conditions, but they managed it with a little to spare.

Mighty Max and Ulula had passed Seaker on the final approach to the first and last mark for Class 1. The rest of the fleet rounded in time to avoid the tidal gate being shut on them, thus giving the advantage to the slower rated boats. Ulula managed to get in closer to the wall, and ghost forward of Mighty Max. As well as a small increase in wind speed, the tide was now starting to ebb in earnest, upping the apparent wind. Ulula crossed the line first, Mighty Max second and Another Nod's third. However the rest of the fleet were close behind. Seaker and Daydream Believer finished almost immediately after the first three with Rebel and Ragtime soon enough to be seen clearly before the fall of night.

With 1/2 a point in it for Class1, next week will see the battle of the early birds.

Day 5 Results:

Class 1
1. Seaker (Beneteau 25) Dave Unthank
2. Ragtime IV (Half Tonner) G. Whittaker, D. Martin
3. Daydream Believer (Beneteau 34.7) Jim Cartwright

Class 2
1. Impact (Impala) Paul Boycott
2. Quattro (Sigma 33) Steve Harrison
3. Skukusa (Impala) Stuart Lofthouse