RS Elite Sprint Racing at Hayling Island Sailing Club
by Paul Fisk 18 Sep 2016 22:13 BST
17 September 2016
September's Saturday afternoon sprint racing for RS Elites at HISC was not for the feint-hearted with a steady 25–30 knots from the north/northwest. The usual windward-leeward course was laid for four races to the east of the Harbour entrance on the last of the flood tide, creating a short chop in the wind over tide conditions.
Race 1 saw Shaken Not Stirred (7 – Colin and Jamie Smith and Anna Wells) break clear to lead at the windward mark with a gaggle of boats rounding together. Legs Eleven (11 – Paul and Caroline Fisk and Martin Grady) decided on a gybe set to overtake the pack and move into second while More T Vicar (33 – Ossie, Cameron and Tom Stewart) followed up in third.
Boat handling came to the fore in Race 2 with Lazy Daisy (6 – Andy Partington, Tim Hancock and Elliott Wells) sailing serenely into an unassailable lead while boats all around were performing some spectacular involuntary downwind manoeuvres. Dirty Dozen (12 – Andrew Jameson, James Grant and Ollie Curties) held their nerve to finish second with No Riff Raff (20 – Tom Hewitson, Mitch Webb and Andrew Bonsey) hanging on by their finger nails in third.
By now, many boats were feeling the pace and beginning to fall by the wayside, suffering a variety of gear and nerve failures. The remaining five boats started Race 3 in flatter water, now that the tide had turned as No Riff Raff got to grips with their heavy weather boat handling to finish clear winners with Shaken Not Stirred in second and Legs Eleven third.
So, with one race to go it was all very tight at the top with Legs Eleven leading on 9 points, Shaken Not Stirred and No Riff Raff equal on 10. Shaken Not Stirred led to the first mark in Race 4 and were not to be caught while No Riff Raff and Legs Eleven battled for second. Equal on points with Legs Eleven but with two race wins Shaken Not Stirred were overall winners with No Riff Raff two points further back in third.
Well done to fleet newcomers Mzungu (65 – Toby Strauss and Rob Cruickshank) and Ctrl-Alt-Del (Nick Lowe and Martin Wicks) for staying the course and completing all four races.
Many thanks to the race team for braving the grim weather and roly-poly sea state to lay on some first class racing. Next weekend sees HISC hosting the RS Elite Southern Area Championships. We are hoping for more gentle weather.