Solo Offshore Racing Club Cowes to Portland & Back
by SORC 12 Jun 2014 08:11 BST
6-8 June 2014
Ninjod on way her way to Portland in the SORC Cowes to Portland & Back © SORC
45 miles at an average speed of 10 knots
Cowes - Portland
The Dean & Reddyhoff Marina sponsored annual SORC race to Portland is always one of the season's favourites. The sponsors subsidise the marina fees and donate the fantastic Wonky Mainsail Trophy, a broken batten car from Ellen McArthur's 60 foot Round the World trimaran.
A moderate downwind race, with winds decreasing through the evening, was forecast for SORC's race from Cowes to Portland, the first of the 7-race offshore series. The main challenge in the race looked to be plotting a course around the cable installation works taking place in the Western Solent, so many skippers prudently took the opportunity to sail down to Thorness Bay prior to the start to check out the location of the barge and attendant tugs mentioned in the notice to mariners. However, few noticed the cordon of small yellow buoys some distance from the anchored barge...
As ever, the wind hadn't looked at the forecast, and shortly before the start it picked up to 20-30 kts. Ninjod nailed the start, hitting the line at Gurnard, the ODM, seconds before the gun, then the fun began as the skippers had to decide whether to hoist spinnakers in the gusty winds. Jbellino (J-122) and Fastrak (Jeanneau Sun Fast 3600), the two biggest boats, soon hoisted spinnakers, with both Rob and Nigel claiming that they only hoisted because the other had! Meanwhile, on their Sunfast 3200s, Roxanne and Fluke, Simon and James both tried hoisting their symmetric spinnakers only to tear them, Roxanne's quite spectacularly, a feat caught on camera by Noel who was enjoying the stability and comfort of his catamaran, Monocle.
By this point, the leading boats had reached the cable laying works as they struggled to tame their spinnakers. Seeing their approach, the guard RIB dashed out to chase them clear of the yellow buoys marking the anchoring cables, but there was little they could do, as Jbellino was broaching at this point, and Fastrak had very limited ability to change course being similarly on the edge and not having dropped his jib yet! Clearly this frustrated the RIB driver, who seemed to take out his revenge on Supertacks, Robert's Sadler 32, forcibly escorting him around a yellow buoy far to the North of those most of the rest of the fleet had reluctantly sailed around!
The sight of these dramas acted as a deterrent to much of the rest of the fleet, with most opting for white sails and others trying their code zeros with limited success. At Hurst, the fleet split, with most of the boats flying spinnakers opting for the direct route, skirting close to the North of the Shingles bank, and most of those with white sails opting for the stronger tides down the Needles channel. By this point, Roxanne had recovered from the blown spinnaker and Simon had hoisted his asymmetric and was creaming past the other Sunfast 3200s Ninjod and Exocet. This spurred Deb into hoisting her symmetric spinnaker on Exocet as soon as she had cleared the Shingles bank. Meanwhile, in Class 2, David Cowell sailing Seahorse had quietly flown his code zero down the Solent, taken the Needles channel, and hoisted his own symmetric spinnaker as soon as he had cleared the Shingles.
The five skippers flying spinnakers then enjoyed a fast and exhilarating ride past Anvil Point and St Albans Head and into Weymouth Bay. Exocet's symmetric spinnaker allowed her to go deeper than the asymmetric boats, but Deb had given up a lot of ground to those who had hoisted their kites earlier. All those with kites experienced broaches at some point, the combination of waves and strong winds requiring good concentration and identifying which autopilots were up to the job! The skippers adopted various tactics, with Rob choosing to let his pilot steer, allowing him to continually trim the spinnaker, while Deb didn't dare leave the helm as without a gyro, her pilot simply couldn't cope with the waves.
With the wind refusing to abate and regularly gusting 25kts, the skippers then faced the dilemma of whether to attempt the gybe. Jbellino took advantage of having snuffers to snuff his spinnaker, wear ship and simply rehoist the snuffer - hey presto, nice and safely onto the other gybe. Fastrak attempted to gybe his asymmetric and suffered a wrap having not noticed the lazy sheet led the wrong way around the forestay. Roxanne and Exocet opted to drop and sail the final 6 or so miles under white sails, with Simon managing to dunk his spinnaker in the sea whilst Deb decided to learn from her experience in the Solent Shakedown to be sure to bear away enough before dropping, only to wrap her kite around the topping lift. Fortunately all recovered without damage.
Jbellino was the first to finish, averaging an amazing 10kts over the 45 mile course. On handicap, Roxanne (Simon Mitchell) won Class 1, closely followed by Jbellino (Rob Craigie) and Fastrak (Nigel Colley). Juliette (Jerry Freeman) used all his experience and cunning to finish 5th in class, just behind Exocet (Deb Fish), crossing the line just 10 seconds behind Exocet, and just 9 minutes on corrected time behind Roxanne, despite having white sailed all the way. But it was David Cowell's Hanse 291, Seahorse, that crept in shortly behind the bigger boats to steal class 2 and the overall victory, an impressive 16 minutes ahead of Roxanne. David won the Wonky mainsail trophy, as well as the right to fly the massive y yellow 'Winner' flag! Ninjod (Paul Brant) took second place in class 3, with Fantasea (Tony Rowe) in third. Monocle (Noel Cockle), the sole multihull competing, also sailed well, finishing in just under 5 hours.
Watch the winner, David Cowell, on "Seahorse":
Finishing so early, after helping each other moor up in the still strong winds, the whole fleet invaded Monocle, deciding that as the only boat able to host 15 skippers in comfort (and with a well-stocked drinks fridge - thanks Noel!) it was the perfect place for post race drinks. It also allowed the fleet to welcome James Porter, sailing Rainmaker on his first race, and introduce him to the social side of SORC, paradoxically, amongst the most welcoming and sociable of racing clubs!
Portland-Cowes
The return race was the complete opposite of Friday's fast and furious passage, with light winds forecast to drop completely. After a competitor boat start, professionally run by Rob on Jbellino, the fleet made good progress to St Alban's Head, with many of the lead boats going well under code zeros. Jbellino and Fastrak escaped, leaving most of the smaller boats stuck in a hole near the cliffs. Meanwhile, the SORC fleet was surrounded by the large RSYC double handed fleet, racing back from Weymouth, and those still racing were passed by a small Armada of boats motoring back across Poole Bay, having retired. Many held out until late afternoon, only retiring when it became clear that they had no chance of making Hurst before the tide turned foul. Jbellino (Rob Craigie) was the sole boat to finish, sailing well to take victory in this most frustrating of races.
Overall Results:
More photos from the weekend can be found here.