Lymington XOD fleet Wednesday Series Race 5
by Roy Froud 22 May 2015 08:31 BST
20 May 2015
Beatrix wins race 5 of the Lymington XOD Wednesday Series © RLymYC
Race officer Malcolm McKaeg used a Committee boat located near mark G (Bridgefords) to start the fleet on a beat to a moveable mark N sited near the river mouth. The wind veered to the North making the beat one sided. Mayday X161 and Beatrix X178 starting at the pin end of the line did best approaching the windward mark N side by side with Mayday narrowly rounding first ahead of Beatrix closely followed by Lonestar X119, Lucretia X140 and Diana X164.
A long run against the strong ebb tide to Mark G followed. Mayday took the direct route while the others sailed closer to the mainland shore hoping to avoid the tide. In the event all arrived at G simultaneously; however Mayday on the inside berth just dropped her spinnaker a fraction early thus allowing Beatrix, Lonestar and Diana to round ahead for the beat back to N.
On the second lap places remained broadly unchanged until the fleet approached the river to round Mark Z and finish on the River line. Unfortunately a cruising yacht under engine entering the river, declined to alter course to avoid the leaders who were all sailing on starboard tack and thus forcing several boats to tack to avoid a collision.
Entering the river the breeze shifted right making the decision when to tack for the angled River finish line critical. In these few moments several places changed quickly with ex Olympic sailor Barry Dunning helming X176 Crumpet showing his guile and experience to grab third place.
There have been 8 Wednesday and Saturday series races so far this season, each won by a different helm – a rare occurrence in the Lymington XOD division!
Wednesday Series Race 5 Results: (top five)
1st William Norris - Beatrix X178
2nd Stuart Jardine - Lonestar X119
3rd Barry Dunning - Crumpet X176
4th David da Cunha - Mayday X161
5th Ado Jardine - Lucrezia X140
Full results can be found here.