Plymouth Sound Spring Series racing - Week 2

Saltash Sailing Club Tamar Packaging Spring Series © Andrew Sinclair

Saturday the 14th and Sunday the 15th saw another great weekend of racing in Plymouth Sound with Saltash Sailing Club Tamar Packaging Spring Series on Saturday and the Plym Yacht Club Gin Series on Sunday.

Saltash Sailing Club Tamar Packaging Spring Series

Saltash Sailing Club must of bribed the correct god as they were greeted by wall to wall sunshine and 15 knots on Saturday afternoon. This weeks course was a start in the Sound with a few laps around the buoys before heading up the river (a scary occurrence for some boats who don't often venture past Drake's Island) for a finish at Saltash. The MOCRAs were first off again with all going for a port tack start as the wind shifted from South East to East which saw Simon Baker's Dazcat 1495 'Hissy Fit' go from a strong position into a dominate one. From there all she had to do was show the others her heels and she was gone taking 1st on corrected, 2nd was Dazcat 1150 'Bare Necessities' and 3rd Dazcat 10m 'Belladona'.

The IRC yachts decided to give the race team a testing time, with a short and pin biased line it took 3 attempts to get them away cleanly but finally they did with a tight fleet up the first beat as the wind shifted and gusted opening up snakes and ladders all the way to the first mark. Once round things settled down more and wide spread of boats were in the chocolates with the Ker 40 ' Keronimo' 1st, J109 'Ju Kyu' 2nd and Laser 28 'Elusive' 3rd, surprisingly the river locals didn't do enough to beat the visitors to the Tamar!

In NHC it was again a wide range of boats sailing from little Dufour 24 to the big Sunfast 32 and the Sporty Seascape 24 but this week was a week for the classic boats with the ever reliable Trapper 300 'Joburg' taking the wind ahead of the Dufour 24 ' Djibouti' showing her heels to the Seascape 24 in 3rd.

Nobody got tangled with the Torpoint Ferry and the Navy isn't looking for anyone to have stern words with.

Plym Yacht Club Gin Series

Sunday was the third weekend of the Plymouth Gin Series and the race team must of bribed the god of storms as 25knots was blowing in from the South with the odd rain shower. Some boats elected to spend their Sunday morning participating in more dry activities but for those boats that did venture out it was fast, fun and furious sail. 2 races we got in and 3 boats actually went for spinnakers, but it was undecided if it benefited them as the trusty goosewing on the 180 highway proved to be a fast tactic! There were a few broaches and spin outs and plenty of soggy crew but smiles abounded ashore.

In IRC Mumm 36 'Sunburst' was 1st with a 3,4, First 34.7 'I Say Ding Dong' 2nd with a 2,5 and Ker 40 'Keronimo' 3rd with a 1,5.

In NHC First 34.7 'I Say Ding Dong' was 1st with 1,2, Mumm 36 'Sunburst' 2nd with a 1,2, and Sunfast 32 'Mischief' 3rd with a 4,4.

Well done to everyone who enjoyed themselves out there this weekend. The season is well and truly in action now and there is plenty of sailing going on. In the Sound there is Wednesday and Friday night yacht racing and Thursday night dinghy racing so there is no excuse no to be out and about enjoying yourself!

Saltash Results at www.facebook.com/Saltash-Sailing-Club-139849354377

Plym Results at www.facebook.com/plymyachtclub