Monday Evening Dinghy Racing at Royal Lymington YC - Late Season Day 1

Thrills and spills in the Solent

Once again the south westerly wind blew much stronger than forecast for this week's Monday Evening Dinghy race, run by the Royal Lymington Yacht Club. Fortunately the tide was flooding so the Solent stayed smooth, but this made the beating hard for the slower boats, hugging tight inshore to seek the weakest current. The faster boats stayed a conservative distance offshore, preferring to stretch their legs in open water and fearing the consequences of running aground with the low tide.

The Optimists were first off from the Club start, with Jake Stokes in Stormer storming into the lead, chased by Hugo Anderson, Lola Mordaunt and George May. There was a fast reach out to the river mouth and then back to the finish in the same order.

The race team, led by Ado Jardine, started the other classes from a committee boat west of the river entrance. In the Slow Handicap, two of the three Teras retired after multiple capsizes, leaving only Euan Etheridge and William Homewood to complete the course, but they in turn were beaten by a solid performance from Ewan Horn in his Laser 4.7, finishing almost 15 minutes ahead on corrected time.

In the Medium fleet, Mike Saqui hit the start line first in his Laser, but just too soon, and was disqualified. The best legal start went to Richard Russell and Sylvia Weger in their Tasar, starting right on the favoured port end of the line, but with John Claridge and Pete Sanders just to leeward in their Seafly, an epic duel was bound to follow. After a long tacking battle up the Oxey island shore, and plenty of thrills and spills downwind, Claridge and Sanders took the win by 17 seconds on corrected time over the Tasar, with Robbie Boyd's Radial a minute behind.

Meanwhile the trapeze skiffs in the Fast fleet were revelling in the breeze and flat water. Sarah Jarman and her crew put up a solid fight in their 29er, leading on handicap for the first lap, but Luke and Emma McEwen managed to stretch away by the finish to win in their RS800. Nigel Walbank took an early swim at the first gybe in his Musto, but recovered just in time to cling onto third place.

Despite the lowering skies and gusty wind which topped 20 knots at times, 27 Scows turned out to race, 13 in Gold Fleet and 14 in Silver. Not all were to finish. The flooding tide dictated the course up the beats, first a long board inshore towards the mudflats off Oxey and then a long tack across the tide to the Scott Bailey mark, lying well offshore and low in the water which made spotting it difficult for all but those with the keenest eyes. Rory Paton sailing solo, Ollie Tait and Max Crowe, and Eric Williams (who was sailing reefed) were the leading boats at the mark but on the downwind leg Tait & Crowe pulled ahead. These three held their positions up the second beat and almost to the finish, but Williams just lost out to Chris and Grace Cecil-Wright.

In Silver fleet Tim and Megan Power continued their run of form to lead from the start to the finish. They were followed by newcomers to the Class, Sonia Goacher and Carol Maskell, in one of the oldest boats racing with Dubbie Robinson and Jane Cook third. The flooding tide dictated the course up the beats, first a long board inshore towards the mudflats off Oxey and then a long tack across the tide to the Scott Bailey mark, lying well offshore and low in the water which made spotting it difficult for all but those with the keenest eyes. Rory Paton sailing solo in Wizard, Ollie Tait and Alice Woods in Whimsey and Eric Williams in Ida (who was sailing reefed) were the leading boats at the mark but on the downwind leg Whimsey pulled ahead. These three held their positions up the second beat and almost to the finish. Whimsey crossed first, Wizard was second but Ida just lost out to Smartie, sailed by Chris and Grace Cecil-Wright. Eric's smaller sail area cost him third place in the lighter winds approaching the Club line. Two boats retired with gear problems.

In Silver fleet Pig in a Puddle sailed by Tim and Megan Power continued their run of form to lead from the start. They were followed by newcomers to the Class Sonia Goacher and Carol Maskell in Swallow, Sail No 266 and the oldest boats racing. Long terms members Dubbie Robinson and Jane Cook in Clarissa came third. The first two boats overtook the last 5 boats in Gold, despite starting three minutes later - time for a change of fleet, perhaps? One boat capsized.

Full results at rlymyc.org.uk/OnTheWater/Racing/Race_Results.aspx