Hansa Class TT Event at Northampton Sailing Club

2.3 and 303s during the Hansa TT at Northampton © Geof Portas

Liberty start during the Hansa TT at Northampton © Geof Portas

Libertys on the run during the Hansa TT at Northampton © Geof Portas

Third event in the 2016 Hansa National TT Series and the 2nd event in the Hansa Northern TT Series

A grey day with very variable winds greeted the competitors for the Northampton round of the 2016 Hansa TT Series. A total of 11 boats took part; one in the Hansa 2.3 class, two in the Hansa 303 one person class, two in the Hansa 303 two person class and six in the Liberty class.

All scoring was by individual Fleet – so no handicaps were necessary.

Conditions were "Fluky" with the wind going from dead calm to 10 knots. At least it didn't rain.

The changing wind direction gave the Race Office, Mike Hulands, a difficult task in setting courses and forced the first three races to be starboard rounding of the marks. The last race was a port rounding.

The first two races were run back to back on a triangular course, after lunch the third race was on a trapezoid course, then back to a triangle for the last race.

In the Hansa 2.3 class Lindsay Burns sailed brilliantly in the light and variable conditions, finishing in front of both the 303 two person class boats despite being the smallest boat and the slowest Hansa class.

In the first race of the Liberty class the six boats did 3 laps with the other classes other doing 2.

Boat 2557 (Paul Phillips) crossed the line to win 22 seconds ahead of the second boat 2561 (Tessa Watkiss) The second race resuted in Tessa winning with Paul over 1 minute behind in second place followed by 2599 (Chris Emmet) in third.

For the third race, in the very shifting winde, the R O changed to a trapezoid course. Wind shift was such that Libertys finished on a reach – in a gust – so at high speed. This resulted in a very fast and close finish but Paul gained the first place with Chris second and Tessa third.

The fouth race was won by Chris with Tessa taking second and 1066 (Monique Foster)in third. The fleet had enjoyed close but tricky racing throughout the day.

There were just two boats in the Hansa 303 one person class but the racing between them was close and exciting – 2315, Alison Grant won races 3 and 4 and 333 Leslie Philip won races 1 and 2

Again, there were just two boats in the 303 two person class but racing in this "match race" type mode in the fluky winds produced some close and exciting racing. Boat no 2034, Roy Child and Priscilla (AKA The Admiral and Doris) won races 1 and 4 and boat no 1461, Andy Sheath and Kate Lintott, won races 2 and 3.

For both of the 303 fleets then, all boats had the same score and ISAF racing rule, Appendix A para 8.2 applied, "Best Recent Score, including discards". This gave Alison, the win in the one person class and Roy Child and Priscilla the win in the two person class.

The light and shifting winds made setting courses difficult and tricky sailing for the competitors but on balance we feel the day went well and the race team got the best out of the less than ideal conditions.

After the racing the boats were thoroughly washed to comply with the water authority Bio-Security requirements.

Many thanks are due to all the volunteers who helped on the day and Phil and Cath (SI for normal Sailability) for all their help, not forgetting Mike Hulands and Richard Elliott who ran the event.

Overall Results: