Folkboat St George's Day Race at Royal Lymington Yacht Club
by Chris Baldwick 25 Apr 2016 13:46 BST
23 April 2016
The Nordic Folkboat Saturday Series opened with a gentle shake-down race that tested boat speed more than crew work. With a northerly breeze of some 10-12 knots, the Race Officer elected to give the fleet of six a downwind start to Black Rock across a strong ebb tide.
Crackerjack, Bonnie and Samphire had the best of the start, with Tak holding a slightly lower course across the Solent. Crackerjack reached the first mark some three lengths clear with little to choose between the other three. Samphire, overlapped round the mark, failed to give Bonnie quite enough room and took a penalty 360 turn on the beat back to Colton.
The fleet then beat back along the mainland shore in a fluky northerly, producing little lifts enabling yachts to lee-bow the tide. Crackerjack, with Nick Riley making a guest appearance on the foredeck, proved the most skilful on this leg and stretched her lead to take the gun at the platform on a shortened course. Tak crept up to pip Bonnie for second place right on the finish line. Samphire finished fourth, with Scaramouche and Joss a little astern.