Nordic Folkboat Lymington Saturday Series - Race 5
by Chris Baldwick 24 May 2016 12:00 BST
21 May 2016
Lively conditions greeted eight Nordics at the mouth of the Lymington River on Saturday, prompting Pilgrim to elect to return before starting, with a seasick crew member.
An 18-20 knot SSW breeze with an ebb tide produced wet conditions. Madelaine and Joss looked well positioned at the start, but proved to be slightly over ambitious and were called over the line. Samphire also elected to return. Most of the fleet overstood the layline on the beat to Hurst, with Madelaine reaching the turning mark first, just ahead of Crackerjack and Padfoot. These three disputed the lead on the long run against the tide to Tanners, while further back Lady Linda tussled with an unruly spinnaker.
The breeze moderated and backed further south, causing the next upwind leg to Colton to become a disappointing fetch. There were few opportunities subsequently for places to change, although the leading three boats were closely bunched.
They finished with Madelaine just holding on from Crackerjack and Padfoot with just 18 seconds between all three. Samphire was well back in 4th, followed by Lady Linda, Scaramouche and then Joss. A request for redress from Samphire due to incorrect flags being displayed at the start is being considered by the Club.