Lymington Town Sailing Club Early Summer Points Series - Day 8

A gentle westerly with an ebbing tide greeted competitors and led to the unwary in the fast fleet having to go back as they were pulled over the line on the first start. A nice long beat with the tide followed by a much longer run against a foul tide to east inner led to the spinnaker boats, especially those with more sail area gaining a significant lead. The battle at the front between Richard Lilley (RS700) and Nigel Walbank (Musto Skiff) was especially tense with places changing hands throughout the race but in the end Lilley scraped ahead to win both over the water and on handicap followed by Nigel Walbank and Giles Lloyd Williams (Musto Skiff). The medium fleet undeterred by the fast being sucked over the line made a very sharp start especially the RS Aero of Peter Barton and the Laser Radial of Olivia Burt who both hit the line as the gun went in masterful displays of skill. The fleet then followed the fast up to plus mark and then again a long run in lighter winds down to west reach allowed the spinnakers and the lighter crews the chance to get ahead. Peter Barton continued his masterclass in how it should be done in an RS Aero to take line honours and the handicap win closely followed by John Claridge and Claire Sleigh (Sea-Fly) but the battle behind them was hard fought with only one minute separating the next five places. Olivia Burt's good start and good work round the course saw her 3rd after handicap was applied and good close racing was enjoyed by all.

Race 2 saw some variance in wind strength so the RO set a shorter course. The fast fleet now much more lines shy after the previous start headed up to a moveable mark between Baverstock and plus then headed back inshore of Walbank to stay out of the tide and down to Jack in the Basket. Nigel Walbank once again got into an early lead closely followed by Richard Lilley and Giles Lloyd-Williams. The rest of the fleet were pushing hard and one mistake by Giles Lloyd-Williams cost him several places as the 400's of the Rob & Jan Martin and John Cooper and Becci Wigley were past him at the first opportunity. Another hard battle between Richard Lilley and Nigel Walbank went to the wire with Richard finishing lap 3 a single boat length ahead and the pair followed by Rob and Jan Martin. Unfortunately the Martins hadn't done quite enough to catch the two Musto Skiffs and after handicap had to settle for a well earned 3rd.

The medium fleet with a shorter beat to west mark followed by a reach in to % then a run down to Jack in the Basket spread out and a number of nice battles developed notably Nigel Brooke (Merlin Rocket) working hard to get away from the rest of the fleet and John Claridge again putting in a masterful performance. Despite a wind shift making the reach spinnaker-able Olivia Burt and Jenny Bennett (Laser Radial) showed good form staying high up the field and after handicap was applied John Claridge and Claire Sleigh took the win by a significant margin from the lasers of Burt and Bennett followed by Nigel Brooke in his merlin.

Race 8 Results

Race A:

Fast Fleet
1st Richard Lilley (RS 700)
2nd Nigel Walbank (Musto Skiff)
3rd Giles Lloyd-Williams (Musto Skiff)

Medium Fleet
1st Peter Barton (RS Aero)
2nd John Claridge & Clare Sleigh (Sea-Fly)
3rd Olivia Burt (Laser Radial)

Race B:

Fast Fleet
1st Richard Lilley
2nd Nigel Walbank
3rd Rob & Jan Martin (RS 400)

Medium Fleet
1st John Claridge & Clare Sleigh
2nd Olivia Burt
3rd Jenny Bennett (Laser Radial)

Sunday Early Summer Points Series Overall Results:

Race A:

Fast Fleet
1st Rob & Jan Martin (RS 400)
2nd mat Thomas & Steve Nicholas (RS 400)
3rd Richard Lilley (RS 700)

Medium Fleet
1st Richard Russell & various crew (Tasar)
2nd Nigel & Suzie Brooke (Merlin Rocket)
3rd Keith Willis (K1)

Slow Fleet
1st Henry Collison (Laser 4.7)
2nd Jonny Tait (Laser 4.7)
3rd William Homewood (RS Tera Sport)

Race B:

Fast Fleet
1st Rob & Jan Martin
2nd Mat Thomas & Steve Nicholas
3rd Geoff Havers & various crew (29er)

Medium Fleet
1st Richard Russell & various crew
2nd Philip Gwyther (RS Aero)
3rd Julie Willis (RS Vareo)