Lymington Town Sailing Club Hamble Scramble
by Robin Milledge 9 Sep 2014 15:04 BST
6-7 September 2014
The final races of the Lymington Town Sailing Club Cruiser Racing Series, sponsored by Societe Generale Private Banking Hambros took place on the weekend of 6th & 7th of September.
The Hamble Scramble, the traditional season opener, which was abandoned in May due to gale force winds was instead re-run in near calm conditions which saw the fleet drift east to the Hamble River on Saturday afternoon under spinnakers and a flood tide.
Starting from 'Baverstock', the Club's Solent Committee boat, the fleet had a short beat to Pennington, followed by a run to Hamstead Ledge, then East Lepe where the race officer wisely decided to shorten the course and send competitors directly to the finish at Coronation, just to the South of the Hamble River entrance.
With berths booked at Port Hamble, competitors enjoyed a hearty meal at The Olde Whyte Harte in Hamble Village.
Sunday morning dawned with a very light easterly breeze and fog. With visibility down to half a mile in patches competitors gathered back at Coronation for the start of the return leg. A simple course was set, with a reach to Cutter and a run back to Lymington.
A couple of boats had a close encounter with a large container ship, whilst crossing the Thorn Channel, but other than this the passage was marked by very light conditions and a strong ebb tide, leading to some interesting manoeuvres, including the odd pirouette.
Final results saw Pat Stables and Nigel Hunter's Trapper 28 Googleye, achieve first place on both legs, whilst Nigel Walbank's Parker 21 Breeze was third and second, Nick Ingram's Folkboat 'Otter' fourth and third and Rob & Marcia Milledge's Contessa Catherine, second and fifth.
SGPB Hambros LTSC Cruiser Racing Series Overall Results: (top three, 5 races)
1st Googleye - Pat Stables & Nigel Hunter
2nd Contessa Catherine – Robin, Marcia & Simon Milledge
3rd Otter – Nick Ingram