Raymarine Warsash Spring Series 2005 - Day 4
by Eddie Mays 12 Apr 2005 22:33 BST
TESTING TIDAL CONDITIONS FOR RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES
A variable breeze in strong tidal conditions presented competitors with plenty of opportunities to win or lose out in the fourth week of the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series on 10th April 2005. The bright, sunny conditions carried bands of clouds and under these the north-westerly, peaking at 15 knots, was prone to shift unexpectedly. The tricky nature of the wind could be seen by some boats being overpressed as it freed whilst others, quite close and on the same tack, were put about.
PRO David Greenway set Black Group courses to give options for taking advantage of the changing tide regime, which would begin running up the mainland shore much earlier than further south. One IRC1 boat took courage and successfully avoided the shingle humps very much closer to the Lee shore
than the rest of the fleet. "Shockwave" enjoyed a massive lead, which was never threatened. For IRC2 the choices were more divided but Jerry Otter's IMX-40 "Exabyte 2" called the right shots and went on to record a third win in the series. In the Bowsprit class, the three leading boats, all J109s, finished less than a minute apart after more than 2 hours' racing with Mike Ewart's "Zelda" stealing a 14 second advantage over Guy Knight on "Beth."
The IRC3 class has been a dual between the two Elans. This week Jim MacGregor sailing "Flair" gained a small lead over Peter Rutter's "Quokka" by the first mark. Both were overtaken by Peter Jackson's J39 "Assassin" but when the time correction factors were applied, it was "Quokka" which took a fourth straight win. IRC5 is headed by two Mustangs with Mike Fawcett's "Hobby Horse" tied on series points with Bernard Fyans' "Erik the Red".
The first set of races on the White Group sportsboat fleet were longer than usual and this significantly extended the racing period. The Mumm 30 class had eight boats on the water with expert coach Jim Saltonstall in his RIB, taking a video of the performance for a debriefing afloat as part of the class training programme. Honours were shared between Robert Barr's "Kanati"
and Louis Browne's "Asterix". Nick Fisk sailing the 1720 "Gill" won both his races and currently holds a 7 point lead.
Competition is very keen in the two largest one design White Group classes - Laser SB3 and Hunter 707 - and both suffered general recalls during the afternoon starts. With time moving on, CRO Peter Knight had no option but to get them away under the 'Black Flag Rule' when three SB3s were dismissed. The RAF entry "Synchro" had a very good day, with only two weekends' racing bringing them up to a mid-table position. In comparison, Nigel Oliver-Brown had to count an 11th and 17th in "Spank", slipping to second overall. Mark Gillett's Hunter 707 "Pocket Battleship" was kneck-and-kneck with "Trojan" in the first race, eventually finishing one second ahead, but later pushed
too hard and was one of two boats caught out by the black flag. Lloyd Hamilton in "Giraffe" has sailed a consistently good series, claiming another win this week, to extend his lead.
The final two weekends see many classes competing additionally in the Spring Championships, with extra racing on the Saturday. Now entries stand at 265 and the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series shows every sign of building towards a great finish.
More Information: