Lymington XOD fleet Wednesday Series Race 1
by Lymington XODs 24 Apr 2015 09:49 BST
22 April 2015
XL wins race 1 of the Lymington XOD Wednesday Series © RLymYC
XOD's enjoy race along the Sowley shore in glorious conditions!
Glorious sunshine and a 15 to 20 knot ENE breeze greeted the fleet for the first Wednesday race of the season and Race Officer Ken Hay, assisted by Frances Evans and Mary Ann Jardine, set an excellent course with the first windward mark as J, Zwerver, which is to the NE of Lymington off Durns Point.
With a strong ebb tide running from the start, the navigation skills and guesswork of all the crews was fully tested. It was essential to make use of the shelter from the ebb tide in all the bays eastward up the Solent; but how much had the mud banks moved over the winter? It was not long before boats started to find some of the shallow spots particularly on the outcrops, half way up the beat David da Cunha in Mayday came to grief whilst in a good position and Mayday's plight was made worse by two boats sailing through inside her!
As the leaders approached the area inshore of mark J, Stuart Jardine in Lone Star was ahead of Ado Jardine in Lucrezia, Rory Paton in XL and John Oliff-Cooper in Excalibur. With the first four boats not far apart, XL chose the correct time to tack out for the buoy to give her the lead. Two more much shorter beats followed before the finish at the club.
It was a great days racing in full sunshine much enjoyed by everyone, although the fleet was very spread out at the finish.
Wednesday Series Race 1 Results: (top five)
1. XL, Rory Paton
2. Lone Star, Stuart Jardine
3. Excaliber, John Oliff-Cooper
4. Lucrezia, Ado Jardine
5. Diana, Ian Burr