Moore Blatch Royal Lymington YC Thursday Night Late Series - Day 2
by Hannah Neve 15 Jul 2014 14:32 BST
10 July 2014
85 boats turned out for the RLymYC Moore Blatch Thursday night race on one of the most perfect evenings of the summer, warm sunshine and a decent 8-12 knot breeze mostly from the NNW. The guest Race Officer, Commodore Phil Lawrence, who is more used to running the Extreme 40 circuit on very tight courses for the one designs coped admirably with the 7 classes.
This NNW breeze meant a reaching start into the strong flood tide for all the classes, Class 1 IRC went to Colten before a spinnaker run to The English Summer Berry Co off Boulder on the Island. Zarafa was the only boat to gybe set and lost out to those that gybed later. The leading pack were close together with Boomerang in the lead as they then beat towards Folkboats UK.
Most went down tide first but Edith tacked and lee-bowed the tide across and made considerable gains on the pack ahead even though she is one of the slowest boats in the class. A run out to a movable then a beat back to Folkboats UK before a reach to the finish kept everyone on their toes. Edith was first followed by Boomerang and Zarafa.
Class 2 IRC had a similar course with a spinnaker run across to the Island shore east of Yarmouth before a beat back to the mainland with the tide under the lee bow. Purple Haze, the J80 was first across the line but placed second on handicap. Second to finish was Mojitabel, a mere 38 seconds behind, which gave them 3rd place on corrected time. But the winner on handicap was Stren. Less than a minute separated the first five boats, White Mischief just beating Colleen and taking fourth place.
A tightly bunched fleet of Class 3 Lymington Handicap boats set off on a reach into the tide and were joined by the massed XOD fleet at the first mark. This led to a few bumps and much shouting before the boats gradually separated on a sharp zig-zag course down tide to Folkboats UK and then another reach up to the finish in what proved to be a very short race. The first three over the line, and the result also on handicap, were Breeze, Pathogem and Tokoloshe.
It was a perfect evening to swap stories and enjoy the barbecue and prize giving on the Club balcony.
Results can be found at rlymyc.org.uk/Sailing/Racing/Race_Results.aspx