Harrison Shield at the Crouch Yacht Club
by Phillip Harbott 2 May 2016 16:07 BST
30 April - 1 May 2016
Harrison Shield at Crouch YC © Alan Shrimplin
This weekend was the Harrison Shield for IRC at the Crouch Yacht Club, with four boats racing on Saturday and Sunday. Both Double Trouble and Mantra were sailing three up on Saturday; they were joined by Sapphire and Exile.
The first race on Saturday was in light winds, with big shifts; Mantra, the Aphrodite 101
owned by Phillip Harbott, got the best start, followed by Duncan Haley on Double Trouble.
The fleet had a foul tide leg up to Cliff Reach, and the larger boats soon began to pull back
at lowest rated Mantra. Paul Trueman's X37 newly rated under IRC got into second place on
the water behind Duncan Haley's Corby 29 Double Trouble. The fleet then ran back to
Number 5 and Sapphire, Exile and Double Trouble were all relatively close, although Double
Trouble had stretched her on the water lead a little more. Mantra pulled back at the fleet on
the second run down from Cliff Reach, which put her second on corrected time to Double
Trouble. Sapphire owned by Martin and Kirsty Brooks were third and Exile fourth.
The second race was started as soon as possible after the first, and although the wind was light and fickle, the race officer was able to get the fleet away. The course was up to Number 13 and was shortened on the way down to Number 7 as the wind was dropping further. The
fleet were close together, and the higher rated boats had not managed to get far ahead.
Double Trouble took line honours, just 31 seconds ahead of Paul in Exile. Mantra and
Sapphire enjoyed a close fight all the way to the line, after Mantra had rounded Number 13
ahead of the Dehler. At the finish line, Mantra just edged ahead to take third on the water,
finishing five seconds ahead of Sapphire. On corrected time, Mantra won by 3 ½ minutes
from Double Trouble, with Sapphire third and Exile fourth. This put Mantra ahead on count
back after two races from Duncan Haley's Double Trouble.
Sunday had been forecast as light winds, but the wind filled in more that forecast before the
start, so the fleet got away without a postponement. The wind stayed, and the fleet sailed
up to Canewdon against the ebb, with big wind shifts and holes. Mantra, still three up,
suffered a large header when flying her asymmetric kite, and had to drop and go bare
headed. The boats then sailed down to the finish line, and Double Trouble was again in the
lead, with Exile coming back very quickly at Sapphire, who just managed to hold onto
second on the water; Mantra were a little way behind. On corrected time, Duncan won in
Double Trouble, with Sapphire second, Exile third, and Mantra fourth. Overall, the trophy
was won by Double Trouble, with Mantra the runner up.
Next week is the first Victory Cup race for get Centenary Sword.