Brooks Macdonald Warsash Spring Series 2014 - Day 5
by Flavia Bateson 14 Apr 2014 11:37 BST
12-13 April 2014
It was a busy time for Warsash Sailing Club on 12th/13th April with racing on both days for the opening of the Brooks Macdonald Warsash Spring Championship and the fifth Sunday of the Spring Series.
As the weather became warmer, entry numbers have increased so that some 140 boats were out to enjoy the full schedule of racing. During the two days, the race officers ran over 50 separate races – a challenging but rewarding weekend all round.
Day 1 Brooks Macdonald Warsash Spring Championship (Saturday 12th April 2014)
For Black Group, the south-westerly breeze started light but built by the end of the afternoon to a brisk 17 knots. Four races were scheduled and completed, largely using windward/leeward courses.. Royal Southern YC member Michael Bartholomew was last year's winner of the top-prized Brooks Macdonald Trophy, having won both the Spring Series and Championship in his Mills 40 Tokoloshe. This year he is campaigning Tokoloshe II, a GP42. Although the boat had been out practising on previous weeks, whilst awaiting a new keel and rudder, this was their first taste of competition and they started well, winning the second and third races in IRC1. Race 1 went to Antix (Ker 39) skippered by Anthony O'Leary, who will head the Irish team in the Commodores' Cup, and Race 4 to Hooligan V11 (Ker 40 – Edward Broadway). It was an excellent day for Adam Gosling's Yes! (Corby 36) which, after a disappointing initial race, finished with three wins.
In 2013, Warsash Sailing Club decided to open the Spring Championship to all IRC handicap classes. Although entries were modest for the smaller boat classes last year, IRC3 and IRC4 entered excellent fleets this time. A clutch of Sigma 38s came to join IRC3 and Nigel Goodhew's Persephone was pleased to count two wins; the others going to Malice (HOD 35 - Mike Moxley) and Diamond Jem (J/109 - Robert Stiles) which finished the day with a two point lead. The ratings in IRC4 ranged from the GK24 Doom Bar at 0.814 to La Nef, John Noe's X-332 at 0.974. Honours were shared between Illegal Immigrant (Quarter Tonner - William McNeill) and Whooper (Laurent Giles one off sloop - Giovanni Belgrano). Iain MacKinnon's Tigh Soluis II headed three of the four races for the J/109s with Jubilee (Tony Dickin) taking Race 1.
The White Group committee boat set up station in what might be regarded as their usual spot near Meon buoy close to the entrance of Southampton Water. The weather did not turn out as forecast with a shifty breeze reaching 20 knots at times. The stronger wind caused some equipment failure. The SB20 Slinky broke a spreader resulting in a very bent mast and Juicy (J/80) finished flying their mainsail from the head and clew only when the tack and bolt rope gave way. Nonetheless, four races were completed. It was a clean sweep for Ian Atkins, out for the first time in the J/70 class, with Boats.com and for former SB20 World Champion Jerry Hill in Sportsboatworld.com. In the J/80s Aqua-J (Patrick Liardet) and Betty (Jon Powell) each took two wins.
Brooks Macdonald Warsash Spring Championship Day 2, Spring Series Day 5 (Sunday 13th April 2014)
For Black Group, Sunday's wind started in the north and went light before switching eventually to the west, then south-west at 10/12 knots. Two races were planned for each class and the committee boat anchored near Flying Fish buoy. A 10 mile course was set for IRC1 and IRC2 with shorter courses for the remaining classes. Boats in IRC1 pushed their start, with many over the line early. Several collided with each other and the committee boat. After a general recall, the restart, subject to the "Z flag", meant an extra penalty for being early and this time the class got away. There were individual recalls for several classes but all boats returned to start correctly. By the time IRC3 got underway, IRC2 were coming downwind close to the line. One of the many temporary wind shifts meant that for a couple of classes the first leg became biased with little tacking to the windward mark at Wilson Covers. This was where IRC4 joined the parade, having started earlier from a separate line. Most skippers went for a white sail reach to the spreader mark at Hill Head buoy, though a few sailed high hoping to use their kites. After that all the spinnakers went up, followed by a game of tactics – whether to gybe and stay out of the tide or go straight to Sunsail. The majority stayed on the bank but there was more wind in the main channel, where some made significant gains.
Aiming to complete two races, the start sequence for IRC1 began as IRC3 was crossing the finish, so a certain amount of dodging was necessary. Courses involved a couple of windward/leeward legs then a long tactical downwind leg against the tide when all the boats hugged the Lee-on-Solent side before crossing south to North Ryde Middle. The breeze picked up and backed on the way across. There was then another tide versus wind decision before the finish just west of Bart's Bash.
In IRC1 Local Letterbox Zero II (James Gair) took the first race whilst Tokoloshe II scored another win in the second, leaving her one point ahead of Antix in the Spring Championship. Salvo (Peter Morton) is steaming ahead on Series points in IRC2 and will take some catching. At this stage, when one discard applies, Stiletto (John Barratt) was able to discard a fourth place to score nothing below third and leads IRC3 in the Series. Newcomer Aguila (Sam Laidlaw) broke the trait for a different winner each week in IRC4 by posting two wins but Toby Gorman holds the top spot in the Series skippering Stan the Boat. There will be a right royal tussle next week between J'Ronimo (David Greenhalgh) and Menace (Tim Rees, Derek and James Morland) for the remaining podium places.
White Group experienced shifty conditions too with the breeze moving through 110 degrees during the day and ranging between 10 and 15 knots. The first race had to be abandoned for all classes after one lap but with some nifty relaying of courses, all three races were completed. CRO Peter Knight felt competitors had coped admirably well at the starts given the wind against tide situation, most boats were on the line every time with no need for general recalls. In the SB20s Jerry Hill in Sportsboatworld.com made it a clean sweep with seven wins from seven races over the weekend. Going into the second week of the Spring Championship, he holds a 10 point lead over Whyaduck (Tom, Richard and James Clay). Ian Atkins' run of success in the J/70s was halted by Django (Malcolm and Tristan Jaques) in two races. There was close racing in the J/80s and a dead heat between Betty (Jon Powell) and Boysterous (Ali Hall) in the first race, each scoring 1.5 points, with Juicy (Allan Higgs) only 24 seconds adrift in third place. Jasmine (Douglas Neville-Jones) came to the fore in Race 2 and Rock and Roll (Gillian Ross) in Race 3.
It was a good sunny day to enjoy Warsash Sailing Club's riverside garden after racing where Jonathan Broad, Investment Manager from Brooks Macdonald, presented champagne to the weekly class winners and WSC member Aron Wellband from the SB20 Flutter won the jacket donated by SLAM UK. The event now takes a break for the Easter holiday and returns on 26th/27th April for the grand finale of both the Brooks Macdonald Warsash Spring Series and the Spring Championship.
www.warsashspringseries.org.uk