Third RC1000 Regatta in Plymouth
by Paul Gibbins 16 Jun 2022 06:14 BST
11-12 June 2022
The third RC1000 Regatta raced in Plymouth the weekend of 11/12 June. Conditions for day one could not be better, calming down a little for day two, but plenty of close racing for the weekend.
The competition in the RC1000 second season is starting to build with "Altura", one of the 34.7's, out front with only 3 points, closely followed by "Jump'n'shout" and "Men behaving badly", the two A35's both with 7 points.
Event 3 was delivered by the Royal Western Yacht Club, already busy with the OSTAR and the Round Britain & Ireland events. Race Officer (and also the Club Commodore) Chris Arscott and his race team kicked off in idyllic cloudless conditions, with Saturday providing a good SW 12 - 20 breeze. The start line in Plymouth Sound this time under Jennycliff using the Dunstone Rock buoy as leeward mark, and 'New Ground' as the windward mark. Two windward leeward races were completed with "Altura" closely winning both, followed by a longer round the cans race outside the breakwater when "Jump'n'shout" led the fleet home to the club finish line.
"Muskox", without its regular Bow and Mast crew, had an all new crew at the pointy end of the boat, but they enjoyed the stronger breeze on the Saturday. In race 1 they were 2 seconds off 2nd place and on race 2 they achieved a 2nd, just 12 seconds off first place on corrected, so any tactical or crew mistakes shows that with these fine margins, mistakes prove costly on the leader board.
The day finished with "Altura" in first place. Chris and his team returned to the Club commenting, "it doesn't get much better than that; fantastic racing conditions!" Everyone returned to the bar with broad smiles and similar comments, Jon Harris, Owner Skipper of "Jump'n'Shout" said, "a perfect day to be out on the water, and a pleasure to have a steady breeze, but so much more work to do; the competition has got whole lot more fierce!'
Sunday saw "Ju Kyu" joining the fleet and the morning brought less breeze with 8-12 kts flicking everywhere between SW and N. So fickle was the wind, the start was delayed for a while to see if it would settle but the race team eventually decided to go with what they had completing two windward leewards and a round the cans race. Due to the wind and a fast tide running the day's conditions proved very difficult.
"Muskox", being IRC optimised for stronger winds using non overlapping headsails and a masthead kite, prefers a strong breeze with a long windward/leeward course. They started Sunday in 3rd overall and got a 3rd in race 4 again only 6 seconds off a 2nd, but a poor start in race 5 cost them on what was a 1 lap race. On race 6 around the cans with the wind shifting a lot, "Muskox" was reduced to 'fetching' much more and way off the podium to finish 4th overall.
Peter Rowe, Skipper Owner of "Ju Kyu", said, 'this was one of the handful of times I have sailed a long leg of a round the cans [in Plymouth] by beating and running in the same leg and the only time for it to happen on two seperate legs!' Jon Pegg, Tactician on "Jump'n'Shout" remarked, 'it was tough going, where luck had us on the wrong side of the race course..!'
Altura proved to be very consistent throughout the weekend taking a very much deserved regatta win overall and often having a good battle with "Muskox" on the water, with "Men Behaving Badly" in second and "Jump'n'Shout' third. Matt Blakeston tactician on board Altura, said 'We were really pleased with how the boat and team performed in 20 kts on the first day, we felt we had the rig set up just right and we were quick up wind.'
The Plymouth based IRC fleet remains largely unchanged, a mix of 30 - 35 ft cruiser racers, all rating very close together. This is the heart of class: close competitive racing in the south west Devon, where rules of the Class allow boats with with an IRC rating of 0.990 to 1.015, where over 60 minutes the rating from top to bottom gives a difference of 1 minute 30 seconds on corrected time.
Overall Results:
1st Altura
2nd Men Behaving Badly
3rd Jump'n'Shout
Full results here...
About - The RC1000 Class is now in its second year, sponsored by Salcombe Gin and supported by local South West business: Freshwave IT & Web, All Spars, Ullman Sails, PR Marine Systems, The Chandlery Plymouth, Stoneways Insurance, the Royal Western YC and Paul Gibbins Photography. With an established committee, a class constitution and funding, the RC1000 continues to develop solid foundations to grow and create close competitive yacht racing in south west Devon.
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W: rc1000.org