Royal Lymington Yacht Club Monday Night Dinghy Late Series - Day 2

Lymington Monday Night Dinghy Late Series day 2 © Ann Brunskill

Race officer Ken Hay and his team judged the fickle north-westerly wind to perfection in the courses they set for this week's Solent House Dental Centre Monday Evening Dinghy race.

Class 3 did well in the running start, with all the boats right on the line when the gun went. Henry Collison extended his series lead with another win over Tim Hire and Jonny Tait.

In the 16-strong Class 2, four boats had good clear starts, with a noticeable second row behind them. However only Peter Blick and Ali Husband in their Vision managed to turn that initial advantage into a top-three position at the finish, as Ian Sanderson's Blaze pulled past into first place on the long run down the river and John Claridge and Pete Sanders' Seafly made the most of the shifty beat back to the finish to take second place on corrected time.

The RS400s dominated Class 1. Keith and Julie Willis took up their customary starting position right on the eastern bank of the river and took advantage of clear wind to stretch out a substantial lead over the chasing Martin boats. Rob and Jan Martin then turned on their legendary speed to overtake and built up an almost four-minute lead, with John and Pam Martin taking third place ahead of the four trapeze boats.

The gentle straight down the river and meant a running start for the 23 Scows. From the River gate mark the fleet set off on a long broad reach towards the SW, to a mark very few had ever rounded before. The flood tide was slackening and those who took the direct course were not disadvantaged.

Then came a tricky beat back up into the entrance of Oxey Lake and around the buoy at the head of that channel. Karl Thorne sailing Wild Rose and crewed by Astrid Berners-Driscoll picked the shifts perfectly, to round the windward mark first, with Mike Urwin, sailing Nutshell close behind.

The main gainer, though, was Splinters, sailed by Paul Putt with Nicole Putt as crew. They came from well down the fleet at the leeward mark to take third place, pushing Wizard (Rory Paton) down to fourth.

After a close reach along the sea wall to rejoin the river the race finished with a beat back up to the Club line. The leaders maintained their positions but in the bunch behind there was much changing of places, which is what makes for a good race.

Full results