Royal Lymington Yacht Club Duo Series - Day 4
by Hannah Neve 25 Aug 2014 23:14 BST
23 August 2014
A slightly smaller fleet than usual (possibly because it was a bank holiday weekend) assembled off Folkboats UK for the fourth Duo race of the season for what promised to be a good race to the West and back.
The start line produced a fetch in the light WNW at 12pm, with No Chance in Class 1 having a good start. The fetch developed into a full beat down the main channel towards Needles Fairway buoy for the whole fleet in full sunshine and up to 18 knots. No Chance made a tactical error going too close to the ever moving Shingles bank so allowing Jibe to take the lead at the buoy.
The fleet then split, with Class 1 having a 2 sail fetch to Hengistbury Head and Class 2 and 3 with Adventurera starting to pull away at the front and Roller Coaster and Dynamic neck and neck close behind on a fast reach to Christchurch Ledge. This was followed by a roly-poly downwind leg back to North Head for the LH boats with only Unity brave enough to put her spinnaker up - if only for a short while!
Back onto a reach for the leg to Hurst Castle with Dynamic and Roller Coaster still neck and neck taking turns in the lead as they surfed down the waves only 25 metres apart - making for a fun spectacle for the cruising boats around them. Re-entering the Solent, Adventurera stretched her lead on the water, but not enough for Unity to win on corrected time. In Class 1 Jelly Baby made better use of the back eddy along the shore and overtook Jibe.
It was a great race with close competition and a lot of fun.
Results can be found at rlymyc.org.uk/Sailing/Racing/Race_Results.aspx