Raymarine Warsash Spring Championships - Week 2
by Flavia Bateson 24 Apr 2007 15:31 BST
21-22 April 2007
The period of fine weather that settled over the Solent allowed the race officer team to ensure that a full programme of races for all classes was completed - just! The final race for the Laser SB3s was sailed in extremely light winds with a building tide flowing out of Southampton Water.
After the first weekend’s racing, Richard Barnes helming “Cacciatore” held a small lead in the Hunter 707 class. He recorded a 1, 2, 3, 1 score line on Saturday to extend his lead over Tim Hunt’s “Jeff”, his main opposition. Things might have been closer if Simon Law and Chris Eddy had been able to race “Sword” on Saturdays, but in the final three races “Cacciatore” seemed invincible, taking three wins, and removing any doubts about the Spring Championship title.
The small fleet of mixed sportsboats was dominated by David Greenhalgh’s 1720 “G&T”, which won eight of the 14 races, including all three sailed on Sunday. Here the 1720s were joined by a Backman 21 and Sebastien Delasnerie also brought his Speedfeet 18 “Dr Feelgood” over from France.
The J/80 World Championships are being held in France this year and this might account for the resurgence of interest in the class. Stewart Hawthorn (“Wee Jump”), Ian Atkins (“boats.com”), Peter Henney “Nemo” and Liz Savage (“Savage Racing”) were all in contention at the start of the weekend. By Saturday evening, honours were exactly shared between “Wee Jump” and “Savage Racing”.
“Jenga Trois” joined in the racing on Sunday and rattled off wins in the first two races before retiring in the third when the wind faded. Although Liz Savage won the final race, “Wee Jump” took second place and thanks to consistently good performances during the 14 races, took the overall title by six points.
With 66 entries, the biggest ever class in the Spring Championships, the Laser SB3s had their own race course and committee boat. This resulted in a great improvement at the starts, which together with the judicial use of the “I” flag, kept the race schedule ticking over on time.
During the first weekend of light conditions, only four races were sailed, instead of the scheduled seven, so there were no clear leaders going into the second weekend. In a decent easterly breeze Stewart Reed and John Mawdsley sailing “Finitor 7” took the first race on Saturday before Geoff Carveth in “Palava” hit a purple patch and reeled off the remaining three races. However, he was carrying a 66-point penalty from a black flag in a previous race. The only other boat showing consistent form was Craig Burlton in “Monkeyoffice.co.uk” with a 9,6,8,2 score line.
Sunday morning saw a more southerly, lighter breeze and a victory for Mark Rushall helming “Risk Premium” ahead of Daniel Geoghegan in “Champagne Blonde” who went on to overall victory by winning the penultimate race, As sailing conditions deteriorated, there was a trickle of boats heading towards the River Hamble, leaving those who were in contention for the series to fight it out to the last breath of wind.
Clare Molloy’s “Credo” had the privilege of taking the final winning gun with Chris Russell, Ian Duke and Rob Muir sailing “The Rat Pack” hearing the last gun of the series. The championship title went to Daniel Geoghegan ahead of Geoff Carveth and Ian Hunt.
More Information: