Lymington Town Sailing Club Early Points Series - Race 6
by Alastair Beeton 17 Apr 2013 12:52 BST
14 April 2013
The weather forecast for the 6th Early Points race at LTSC was not very encouraging with strong wind warnings. But in the event, the best sailing conditions of 2013 were enjoyed by those who turned up. With the wind in the south averaging 15 knots and the spring tide flooding up the West Solent the fast fleet got away cleanly with the RS600 of Tig Williams just being able to port tack the fleet. Six RS400s came to the line and were able to enjoy a double windward/leeward course with a dog leg inshore to offset the effect of the cross tide.
The 49er of Richard Lilley and Declan Clamp led the fleet down the first run at high speed before capsizing and thereafter spent as much time swimming as racing which eventually led to their retirement. The lead on the water was then held by 'Orangina' the 29er of Geoff Havers and Lewis Brown but never far behind were a trio of RS400s, Mat Thomas and Steve Nichols, John Cooper and Becci Wigley, and Kevin Podger with Heather Chipperfield. The target time for finishing the first boat was an hour and Orangina completed the course in one hour and five minutes. Once handicaps were applied she dropped to third place behind the first two RS400s.
The medium fleet was much smaller than usual with four starters. The Finn of Andrew Hurst enjoyed the upwind conditions whilst the RS100 of Richard Russell excelled down wind. The Finn would probably have won on handicap if Andrew had remembered to complete his first lap by sailing through the start/finishing line, he said afterwards that he was enjoying the conditions so much that he forgot, a lapse of concentration that led to his retirement!
The RS Teras of Jonny Tait and Tom Goacher enjoyed a close start before Jonny with the bigger Sport rig was able to pull away only to have gear problems that allowed Tom to catch up again. Fellow Tera sailor Robby Boyd was able to cast a critical eye over their performance from the committee boat where he was 'learning the ropes' of how to run races and calculate the configuration of courses to allow for cross currents as well as looking after the time keeping. Final job for the day was for Robby to enter the results into the computer to calculate the results that saw Tom winning on handicap. Robby receives an average score result for giving up his sailing time.
Race 6 Results: (top three)
Fast Fleet
1st Matthew Thomas and Steve Nicholas, RS400
2nd John Cooper and Becci Wigley, RS400
3rd Geoff Havers and Lewis Brown, 29er
Medium Fleet
1st Richard Russell, RS100
2nd Jon Reynolds and Phil Grasham, Wayfarer
3rd Kyle Lankford, Laser Radial
Slow Fleet
1st Tom Goacher, RS Tera Sport
2nd Jonny Tait, RS Tera Pro