Solo Offshore Racing Club Solent Shakedown Race

SORC Solent Shakedown Race © Kirsteen Donaldson

Zonpuka during the SORC Solent Shakedown Race © Kirsteen Donaldson

SORC Solent Shakedown Race © Kirsteen Donaldson

SORC's first two Inshore Races of the 2015 season formed the aptly named 'Solent Shakedown', as the challenging conditions tested the fleet, and whether they had read their sailing instructions. There was stiff competition on the water, and if the Gnome (awarded for the best faux pas while racing) hadn't been deported back to France there would have been even stiffer competition to win him.

Race 1

Rain greeted the skippers and the race committee and their French guests on the beach at Gilkicker for Saturday's race - a beat to East Bramble, followed by a 12 mile run to New Grounds buoy, just short of Nab Tower, and a final beat back to Gilkicker via Horse Sand Fort (as Nigel on Fastrak infamously may know his way through the submarine barrier, but no-one else does, the fort was designated as a starboard mark). With a foul tide, and port biased line, the majority of the fleet approached along the line from the shore, allowing Pete Newlands on the First 40.7 Anticipation and Exocet, Deb Fish's Sun Fast 3200, to sneak through a gap at the outer end and cross the fleet on port. David Cowell's Hanse 291,Seahorse, was well positioned to do the same but the smaller boat had to duck the Sun Fast 3600 Fastrak, leading the pack sailing down the line. The skippers short-tacked along the shore, cheating the tide, until they reached the layline for East Bramble.

Rob Craigie on his Sun Fast 3600, Bellino, led the fleet round East Bramble, closely followed by Anticipation and Fastrak. Bellino, was the first to hoist a kite, shortly followed by SORC's veteran racer, Chris Rustom on Ding Dong, and then Exocet and stunning all purple Figaro II, Rare. Many boats opted for white sails in the breeze which Giles Mayley on the JPK 960, Zonpuka, later described as 20 gusting 15, in that it was a steady 20 kts with the odd lull! Exocet had an exciting run, with Deb wrapping her spinnaker on her first gybe, then having to dodge a big ship passing through the forts. Ding Dong was the first to reach the leeward mark and executed a good drop a mile away from the buoy. Bellino struggled to tame his big asymmetric when the boat inadvertently rounded up during the drop, allowing the chasing Sun Fast 3600's, Fastrak and Ninjod under white sails, to overtake, in a version of the race between the tortoise and the hare. Rare also lost time with a big wrap on the final approach to New Grounds.

Meanwhile, the Class 2 boats were having their own excitement. Frederick Waniart, sailing his 1/2 Tonner Maeva obstructed John Corden's Scampi 1/2 tonner Kipper, earning a costly penalty. Tony Rowe's Dehler 36 Fantasea misjudged a port-starboard crossing with Zonpuka, with Giles desperately struggling to free his mainsheet and bear away just in time to avoid T-boning Tony.

Chris sailed Ding Dong well to take line honours, finishing after 3 hours and 55 minutes, shortly followed by Pete Newlands on Anticipation. Pete had left the finish mark, Darling Associates, to port rather than starboard but swiftly realised his mistake and unwound to finish correctly. Fastrak followed closely behind leading the marauding pack of three Sun Fast 3600's home, ahead of Paul Brant's Ninjod, who finished 4 seconds ahead of Bellino on the water, but 10 seconds behind on handicap. The two Sun Fast 3200's, Exocet and Roxanne, were next to finish. The closely matched Seahorse and Maeva had their own private duel, sailing the majority of the course just 100m apart until Frederic took his 360 degree penalty on the approach to the finish, losing an estimated 400m in the process. Frederic was clearly dizzy after his spin as he too failed to finish correctly, only realising his error several minutes later after being informed by Seahorse.

The fleet then headed into Haslars for a well deserved beer, interrupted only to dash and take the lines of the later arrivals. Kass arrived to report her own disaster during the race - a crate of condiments had made a bid for freedom during the first beat, and a jar of blackberry jam had smashed leaving halyards, reefing lines and the floor of Zest covered in broken glass and sticky jam! Kass reported donning the heavy duty Marigolds to clean up mid race - surely a first for SORC? When the results were calculated, Seahorse took the overall victory, less than two minutes ahead of Anticipation, leaving both Pete and Frederic rueing not having read the SI's properly. Fastrak came third, then Exocet fourth, with just 15 seconds separating the boats in 5 and 8th place - amazingly close racing!

Race 2

After Saturday's excitement, the race officers set a shorter course for Sunday's race comprising a reach to Royal Thames, beat against the tide to Salt Mead, then a run downtide to Quinnell. With winds gusting 30 kts forecast from midday, a handful of skippers decided not to race on Sunday, but the J105 Juliette, Sun Fast 3200 Fluke and Lagoon Catamaran Monocle joined the fleet to make up the numbers. Fantasea and Anticipation got cracking starts, and the skippers then settled down to the sport of avoiding all the fully crewed racing fleets charging around the Solent, many with spinnakers barely under control.

With the Bramble Bank directly on the rhumb line to Royal Thames, the fleet stayed high of the rhumb line, with a view to staying South of the sandbank. Bellino took the early lead, with Exocet and Anticipation in pursuit until Rob discovered to his cost that the Bramble Bank extends further South than charted, perhaps due to the impact of the Hoegh Osaka earlier in the year (Bellino and skipper are both fine). Exocet led the fleet around Royal Thames, a few boat lengths ahead of Anticipation. With the wind now over 20 kts, it was hard work short tacking up the shore to avoid the worst of the foul tide. Anticipation pulled ahead, leaving Exocet, Juliette and Roxanne crossing tacks in some incredibly tight racing. Simon Mitchell on Roxanne was more aggressive in going inshore which paid dividends, gaining a clear lead, while Juliette and Exocet remained neck and neck. Anticipation called his tack across the tide to the Island shore perfectly, laying the mark, while Roxanne, Exocet and Juliette just failed to lay it, having to do a costly tack back into the foul tide to clear the buoy. Once clear, it was a fast run downtide to the finish, with the Class 1 boats opting for white sails in the strengthening wind.

In class 2, the challenge for the smaller boats was getting clear air at the starting line. Once clear, Fantasea led the class on the long fetch to Royal Thames, followed by Zonpuka. The smaller Seahorse and Kipper managed to overtake Zest and Geofon by short tacking around Lepe Spit, before Seahorse finally pulled away on the long beat up the mainland shore. David on Seahorse was the only boat to fly a spinnaker on the downwind leg, enjoying a fast ride in the 25 kt winds and favourable tide.

Anticipation had read the SI's this time and finished correctly to take both line honours and the overall handicap win. Roxanne took second, with Seahorse rewarded for his short tacking and spinnaker flying with third place in a race favouring the larger boats. Noel Cockle's Monocle won the multihull class yet again! Giles Mayley, a relatively newcomer to solo racing, did particularly well to take second place in class two to Seahorse and finish 6th overall - Giles will be one to watch if he keeps improving at this rate!

Thanks to race officers Kirsteen and Dave for setting two great courses and once again giving up their weekend to stand on a beach trying to stop a large orange flag from blowing over! The skippers of Seahorse and Kipper were particularly glad to finish at Quinnell, as they faced a tough enough beat back to Lymington in 25 kts against the tide!

Race 1 Results:

Race 2 Results: