Lymington Town Sailing Club Winter Dinghy Series - Day 2
by Richard Russell 20 Oct 2014 17:11 BST
19 October 2014
Liam Willis and Aran Mills win the medium fleet race on day 2 of the Lymington Town SC Winter Dinghy Series © Richard Russell
A strong south westerly wind gusting to 20 plus knots but very mild for the time of the year greeted the competitors in race 2 of the LTSC winter dinghy series. The fast and medium fleets both started on time but in both starts there was one boat over the line prompting the race officer Richard Russell to signal individual recalls.
In the fast fleet by the end of the first lap Luke and Emma McEwen pulled out a large lead after a very high speed downwind leg which saw a number of their competitors capsize. However on the next lap they were unable to fly their spinnaker and Nigel Walbank and Julie Willis closed the gap on them after passing the RS400 of Rob and Jan Martin who capsized on a tack near the windward mark.
On the final lap after fixing their spinnaker problems the McEwen's once again extended their lead only to capsize near the end of the final downwind leg leaving Walbank and Willis in first, Rob and Jan Martin in second and the 29er of Geoff Havers and Abby Keightley-Hanson in third when the handicaps had been calculated.
In the medium fleet the Merlin Rocket sailed by Mark Barwell and Louise Jonson lead the fleet round their two lap course but Liam Willis and Arran Mills were enjoying the windy conditions in their RS Feva and finished just 2 seconds ahead when the handicaps where applied. Phil Gwyther in a Laser Radial was third.
The slow fleet was won by Jonny Tait in a Laser 4.7.
Fast Fleet:
1st Nigel Walbank & Julie Willis (RS400)
2nd Rob & Jan Martin (RS400)
3rd Geoff Havers & Jo Barriball (29er)
Medium Fleet:
1st Liam Willis & Arran Mills (RS Feva XL)
2nd Mark Barwell & Louise Johnson (Merlin Rocket)
3rd Charlotte Gwyther (Laser Radial)
Slow Fleet:
1st Jonny Tait (Laser 4.7)