Contender Southern Area Championships at Highcliffe Sailing Club

Contenders at Highcliffe © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

Contenders at Highcliffe © Tim Olin / www.olinphoto.co.uk

The Contender 2014 Southern Area Championships were held at Highcliffe Sailing Club on the 14/15th of June. On arrival the competitors were greeted by glorious sunshine and a light breeze of about 8 knots, but the warmth of the day was threatening to cancel this out with the building sea-breeze; optimism was low, but Contenders love Highcliffe and went out to keep PRO and ex contender Chairman Paul Walker happy.

Early on things went badly, with nil wind. A small zephr from the land meant that RACE 1 got under way, and picking the right way to go with the wind and tide was critical. It was the boats that started at the Committee boat end and went immediately right; beating into the tide in pressure, that got it right. Tom Hooton made it to the windward mark first, followed by Rodger White, then a bunch of other boats that had been slightly less single minded in their march out to the favoured right hand side, Tom managed to hold his lead to the finish followed by Stu Jones in 2nd and Rodger in 3rd.

After a wait while the wind made up its mind the PRO got a course set 180 degrees from the 1st race. Race 2 got under way, again getting the wind and tide right was critical and this time split the fleet, with wiley old Stu jones choosing the left route; fighting the tide out to sea, then using it to give him an extra push. He got to the mark first followed by Gary Langdown, who had taken the right hand route and had not fought the tide until necessary. This tricky scenario saw most boats over stand the windward mark with everyone fighting the tide to get round the course. There was plenty of place swapping, especially at the finish; it was Adrian Smith who's down wind speed allowed him to take the bullet followed by Jones and Langdown.

Now the wind had died off to near cock all and after a bit of waiting around in hope, Paul Walker took the correct decision to send the fleet back ashore, where they had an excellent meal laid on and the football on the television. Overnight positions saw Stuart 'the one that never wins' Jones in front but with Thomas, Adrian and Gary looking good.

Sunday morning dawned overcast but with a nice 10 to 12 knots of breeze to sooth the sore heads. Race 3 got under way after a classic Contender general recall caused primarily by Tom Hooton. Again choosing the right route to the top mark was all important and Jones made it first this time followed by Langdown. The first 4 round the windward mark encountered a big puff that allowed them pull out an embarrassing lead down the first reach, but the vagaries of the wind meant the fleet was able to reel them in and by the top mark there wasn't much between any of the boats. Up the next beat those that tacked off early made big gains on those ahead of them. The second time at the top of the course it was Jones who just held his lead from Adrian Smith and Mike Murley followed by Tom and Gary. Tom managed to pump his way past Murley on the run to finish 3rd behind Adrian in 2nd and Jones in 1st.

Contenders at Highcliffe - photo © Tim Olin

Race 4 got under way with no recalls and it was Gary Langdown who nailed the start and lead the race from start to finish, from fellow Highcliffe sailor Si Mussell, who had now found his form in the now breezier conditions. It was ever consistent Jones in third to ensure his overall victory.

The last race got under way after another general recall and it was Keith Paul who made it to the top mark first by picking the left corner as the one to bang first, but again it was Gary Langdown hitting top form overtaking him on the first reach and leading the race to the finish followed by Tom and Simon in 3rd.

The results show the amount of close racing to be had with 4 race winners. Highcliffe SC showed its potential as the venue of the 2016 European Championships and we all got to listen to Stuart Jones ramble on at the end. Belter.

More fantastic Tim Olin photos can be found on flickr here.

Overall Results: