Lymington Town Sailing Club Sunday Early Points Series - Day 1
by Alastair Beeton 3 Mar 2015 15:04 GMT
1 March 2015
A breeze start to the Lymington Town SC Sunday Early Points Series © Alastair Beeton
The Lymington Town Sailing Club Sunday Early Points Series got under way with a breezy first race last Sunday. Following a visit to the RYA Suzuki Dinghy Show in London on Saturday, competitors started to arrive at the Club a little later than usual.
With the wind averaging 20 knots at 09:00hrs Race Officer Rob Martin was already checking the conditions and considering course options, whilst the RIB crews prepared the safety boats. With a number of the regular competitors opting to stay ashore, and the wind looking like it was on the up, there was some doubt as to whether the race would go ahead or not. However, the wind did start to ease slightly and the decision was made to set a short course to east of the river.
The fleets were sent to 'East Inner' then to 'Black & White', with the Fast Fleet doing three rounds and Medium Fleet doing two rounds. There were no Slow Fleet entries. Ten boats launched for a river line start and were joined by Myles Mence who braved gusts of 28 knots on his crossing from Yarmouth in his Blaze. Also on the start line were Jim (Junior) Hood and Karl Thorne in their new RS Aeros which look to be building into a promising fleet for Lymington.
All boats had a clean start and were soon on their way down the river to be greeted by a lumpy sea at the river's mouth. One RS Aero suffered some difficulties, whilst her helm adjusted the rigging before heading back out to the race course.
For the RIB crews it was a chance to view the boats planing at some speed and it was clear that those who decided to sail were making the most of the conditions. In the Fast Fleet Geoff Havers took first place in his 29er, ably crewed by Liam Willis who was taking a break from his RS Feva. In second place was Myles Mence and third place was taken by Peter Barton & Dave Ellis is their RS400.
In the Medium Fleet, top spot was taken by 16 year old Kyle Lankford in his Laser, closely followed by Junior Hood in his RS Aero who pipped Richard Russell & Pete Conway into second place by just one second on corrected time.
The racing continues on Sunday 8th March with race 2 starting at 11:00hrs from the river line.