RS400s at the Lymington Dinghy Regatta

Seeing Jim Downer at an RS400 event is no big deal, although for many of us this is confined to the slipway and pre-start jostling before he disappears off the front of the fleet once around the top mark.

But to see him sailing single handed into Lymington, rather than out of it, just as the entire fleet headed out to sea, was rather perplexing. Had he fallen out with his crew Toby Lewis before racing had even begun and abandoned him on the Lymington starting box before heading back to shore in a huff?

There was no time to find out.

After the first race, those of us not used to the wide open spaces and clear views that the front end of the fleet is said to provide, had no idea what had happened to Downer (1385) or what had happened up front in the first of the three Saturday races, particularly as the decent 12-14 knot breeze combined with the notorious west Solent tide, stretched the distances between boats in the 13 boat fleet with every other mark rounding.

So Downer's re-appearance, as we waited for race two, simply added more questions than answers, particularly as he was now apparently happily re-united with his crew.

Race two saw the breeze build and the tide start to switch over the long windward/leeward track encouraging those that could remember how to use a transit on the other side of the Solent to show those that had little idea why they were over-standing the mark so wildly every time, how to do it.

But as the breeze built to the mid teens, so did the fun factor with the sun providing the extra sparkle.

By the end of this race Jon Hessig & Nicky Griffin (1407) had tracked down Downer/Lewis and forced them and to accept second.

The final race of the day was a punchy affair as the ebb tide was now at full force against the 16-18 knot breeze while kicking up a tricky sea state that was as easy to negotiate as working a skateboard over a freshly turned potato field.

Only five boats stayed out for this race, which was a shame for those that had gone ashore as the downwind runs were sun soaked sleigh rides. In this race the Downer/Lewis partnership had scored another bullet with Hessig/Griffin in second.

Large portions of paella, beer and the need to tell tall stories for much of the night meant that we all forgot to ask about the mysterious issue of Downer and the crew's disappearing act. Indeed, we only remembered the following morning when once again the solo sailor was sailing the wrong way, into Lymington as we all headed out.

At this point we should have started to see a pattern and figure out what was going on, but half an hour later the drama of seeing said helm, (now with crew), re-appear and capsize in front of the entire fleet in the last few seconds on his approach to the start, (while sailing against the fleet yet again), distracted us from the main question and now gave us something else to ponder. What was he doing laying his rig like a car park barrier in front of at least three boats who were on their fully hiked charge for the line? Lewis clearly thought he could save the situation by scrambling for the high side. He couldn't.

Thrown onto the back foot and into the water from the start, Downer/Lewis were forced to swallow a third with Hessig/Griffin taking the bullet while Rob & Jan Martin (1433) scored a second.

But in race five and six where the breeze increased steadily into the high teens and nudged at the twenties, Downer/Lewis got their mojo back, Hessig/Griffin took two seconds and yours truly and crew Ellie (1051) crossed the line stunned, but not short for words, in third on both occasions. The last race was another superb way to end the day with high speed blasts downwind in the sunshine on waves that were building thanks to the turn in the tide.

In the end for the overall results it was Downer/Lewis that took the win, Hessig/Griffin took second, myself and Ellie took third on a tie break with John Cooper and Becci Wigley (1447).

As the adrenaline wore off on our long beat home and we started to relax and ponder the day, the Downer mystery was resolved as Toby hitched a ride back to Lymington aboard John & Nicky's boat leaving Jim to sail his boat back to Yarmouth where he had left the trailer rather than bringing the boat/trailer combo to the mainland.

So by mid afternoon when it came to personal appearances at the prize giving it was Downer who was absent leaving Toby Lewis to pick up the booty.

Sometimes being out of synch works against you.

Overall Results: