Highcliffe Sailing Club Icicle Open Series - Day 1

Highcliffe SC Icicle Open Series day 1 © Sarah Desjonqueres

Highcliffe SC Icicle Open Series day 1 © Sarah Desjonqueres

Highcliffe SC Icicle Open Series day 1 © Sarah Desjonqueres

Less icy, more dripping wet were the conditions served up for the first 2 races of Highcliffe SC Icicle Open Series on Sunday. But as we all know, sailors are most definitely not made of sugar and do not melt away at the first sight of rain and so it was that 21 boats representing Keyhaven YC, Christchurch SC, Mudeford SC, Lymington Town SC and the hosts Highcliffe SC, rigged in the rain to launch in time to tussle for position on the start line.

Now, if you talk to a Finn sailor they will tell you that the weather presented perfect Aero conditions, a F3-4 SE and with no chop to get your teeth into. However you may feel about this, it was the mighty Lymington Town SC Aero Army which marched off in procession round the harbour leading the fleet with only CSC's Arnell (Finn) managing to squeeze in between them. Impressively eking out a respectable 2m30s gap between himself and Arnell, LTSC Barton (Aero 7) was untouchable over 3 laps, taking the win both on the water and after correction, building a 50 second margin between himself and his team mate Rolfe (Aero 7) and even maintaining a minute lead after correction on MSC's hard working Reid (Radial) behind him. This 1,2 win on the water for the Aeros left the 4.7 rig of Barnes (CSC) in 4th and the previous Icicle Champ Arnell lagging behind in 8th.

There were some stories of argy bargy round a mark and word got back to the clubhouse that our international visitor, Fernando Gamboa of Portugal, completed a 720 in both races, a post race point of humour for which he promises to be more careful next time and apologises for any near international maritime incident that he may have caused. And despite the fairly unchallenging conditions, it was one gybe too many for Keyhaven's Moss (Finn) who managed to lose his mast at the end of race 1, although rumour has it this carbon fibre weakness maybe linked to a previous banzai manoeuvre carried out elsewhere.

Highcliffe SC Icicle Open Series day 1 - photo © Sarah Desjonqueres

With the wind beginning to drop a little, the conditions were playing less into the hands of the Christchurch Finn Display Team and moving more into Aero Army territory, with Barton yet again first out of the traps and leading the way around. Chasing him down was team mate Thorne (Aero 7) and still in with a shout, Arnell. The race to the finish came down to the final second for Arnell and Gamboa, with Arnell pipping the visitor by 1 second to take third place on the water for the second time that morning. But again, quietly eating up the seconds were Reid and Barnes whose local knowledge and dogged persistence ended earning them a 2nd and 3rd place respectively, quietly nudging Thorne down into 4th. Barton's lead after correction was whittled down to only 6 seconds between second placed Reid and it is clearly all to play for over the coming few weeks.

Highcliffe SC Icicle Open Series day 1 - photo © Sarah Desjonqueres

Thanks for coming out in the rain everyone. The next two races will be at 11am on 4th February.

Day 1 Results: