Wednesday XOD Series at Royal Lymington Yacht Club - Race 16

Glorious conditions with south westerly breeze over ebb tide greeted the 13 contenders for Wednesday's race. The committee set a course to Hurst followed by Lymington Bank and Tanners, with the starting line forming a gate for a second round to Oxey and back to a platform finish.

The line had a port bias which Madcap took advantage of to make a clear start, with Lucrezia, Lone Star, Red Coral and Mersa in hot pursuit. Going up the Lymington shore Lucrezia, Lone Star, Red Coral and Mersa made gains either by staying in shore or in the case of Mersa playing the shifts and benefiting from clearer air slightly further out.

Approaching Hurst Mersa lead with Red Coral and Lone Star followed by Lucrezia. Rounding the mark for the down-wind leg to Lymington Bank the order remained the same except that N1 passed inside Madcap to have the advantage at Lymington Bank.

Gybing to sail across tide to Tanners the fleet was still led by Mersa followed by Red Coral, Lone Star and Lucrezia. N1, Madcap and Beatrix were several boat lengths astern. At Tanners Mersa was clear ahead of Lone Star and Red Coral while Madcap managed to pull ahead of N1 and Beatrix and gain an overlap on Lucrezia to round forth.

For the beat back to the platform against the tide the stream was more favourable along the shore and Red Coral and Lone Star fought it out for 2nd and 3rd place although Mersa easily held her position slightly offshore. Approaching the platform the race committee signalled a shortened course and Mesa only recently launched after a refit finishing first with Lone Star moving ahead to gain 2nd and Red Coral third.

Race 16 Results: (top four)

1st Mersa - Eric Williams
2nd Lone Star - Phil and Jo
3rd Red Coral - Roy Froud and Robert Young
4th Madcap - Chris Torrens and David Bedford

Full Lymington XOD Series Results can be found here.