Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series - Day 4
by Louise Nicholls 17 Apr 2018 10:23 BST
15 April 2018
Success in the second day of racing in the Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series on Sunday 15th April went to those skippers who played the strong tides in the Solent and managed to stay in breeze.
Having lost two Sunday's of racing due to the weather, the race committee was keen to get racing going. Despite the breeze not reaching the numbers forecast, it managed to run two races for the Black Group and the usual three races for White Group.
Black Group's two starts were near Robin Culpan buoy in the Solent, with courses running towards East Bramble and Goodall Roofing; upwind against the building tide, and downwind with it. Most boats chose to stay offshore in the steadier breeze rather than seeking less tide inshore.
IRC1 saw Sailplane (Beneteau First 40 - Rob Bottomley) win the first race and Zero II (Mills 39 - Cowes Race School) the second race pending the outcome of a protest. Malice (HOD - Mike Moxley) took the honours in IRC2 in the first race, with Davanti Tyres ((J/112E - Chaz Ivill) winning the second race and now leading the class in the series.
The restored half tonner Quokka ((Half Tonner - James Crew & Peter Rutter) won the first race in IRC3 with Scarlet Jester ((SJ320 - Jamie Muir), who had a pretty consistent day's racing, coming in second and then winning the second race of the day. Scarlet Jester were very complimentary to their tactician saying his tidal calls enabled them to claw back positions after a less than perfect start - not a job on the boat we normally hear praise for!
The winners in the J/109 class were Jiraffe (Simon Perry), now leading the class in the Series, and Just So (David McGough), with both putting in consistently good places over the day. Winning both races in the J/88 class was Jongleur (Richard Cooper).
IRC 4 saw Stan the Boat (Toby Gorman) win the first race with Gr8 Banter (Ian Handley & Tim James) winning the second race. Both Stan (Sigma33) and Gr8 Banter (Mustang 30) looking very tidy and going well.
The White Group were started with a tight beat near the mainland shore and a light Southerly breeze that then started flicking more Easterly. The first start was against the tide, which helped ensure no premature starters.
The committee boat moved more offshore for race 2 and again everyone was well behaved and got away cleanly. In race 3, there was one boat over the line and a collision(!), and the windward mark had to be moved for subsequent laps as the breeze swung.
In White Group Combined Sportsboat, Jeepster (J/70 - Graham Clapp) was first in races 1 and 2, and DSP (J/70 - Douglas Struth) coming in first for race 3 of the day. Together Jeepster and DSP are leading the Combined White Group with nine points each; a clear 13 points ahead of Jester (J/80 – Mike Lewis) in third place.
Back in the Warsash Sailing club after racing one J/70 skipper described his day's racing as "Fine – in race 1, I was pushed outside the pin and had to restart, in race 2 I did better and actually hit the pin, and in race 3, I had a change of tactics, went down the other end of the line and hit the committee boat!". Still all good practice for the worlds next year.
The prize draw was presented by Olympic Sailor Ian Barker from Doyle Sails. Sunday's lucky winners were Jester and Trouble & Strife who won a Helly Hansen Duffel Bag each, Challenger and Jongleur who a won Crewsaver Wet/Dry 75lt Holdall each and Devanti Tyres who wonthe Doyle Sails holdall. All those class winners present at the Warsash Sailing Club after racing received a bottle of champagne from Doyle Sails.
For full race results please go to the Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series website.
Follow the news on Twitter @WarsashSS and the Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series Facebook page. Dont forget that to pick up any day prizes you do need to have a crew representative in the Warsash Sailing club at the prize giving, after the days racing.
The Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series is The Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series is sponsored by Helly Hansen @HellyHansen #feelalive and organised and run by the Warsash Sailing Club. It is supported by race partners Crewsaver and Doyle Sails.