Monday Evening Dinghy Racing at Royal Lymington YC - Late Season Day 9

Plenty of breeze and sunshine blessed the penultimate Monday evening dinghy race at the RlymYC. With the spring tide falling fast against a south westerly force 4-5, Doug Rogerson and Steve Green's race team started and finished the five classes from a committee boat in the Solent.

Several competitors strayed too far down tide and missed their starts. In the Slow handicap, Euan Etheridge and William Homewood made it back in time only to be pushed over the line by the tide just before the gun went. They returned for a legal start but this gave a big lead to Ewan Horn who was unchallenged for the rest of the race to finish three minutes ahead.

The Medium fleet made a cleaner start, led by the Laser Radials. Several competitors struggled to get around the windward mark in Oxey entrance without running aground; thereafter the battle downwind was tough against the tide and choppy waves. John Claridge and Pete Sanders made the most of their Seafly's spinnaker to haul back Richard Russell and Sylvia Weger's Tasar in a neck-and-neck battle on the water. On corrected time the Seafly won, with Jonny Tait taking second in his Laser Radial ahead of Keith Willis with the RS100.

The Fast fleet was led from the start by Luke and Emma McEwen's RS800. Ed Reeves put up a challenge in his RS700 after a two month absence, while John Levell and Steve Homewood hiked hard to take third in their RS400.

Some Scow sailors reefed; others, expecting the wind to drop, set off with full sail. The longish beat up to the small and barely visible BHG mark well west of Oxey Entrance was halved by the sluicing ebb tide and many boats overstood by a large margin. Rory and Alex Paton contested the lead with Catherine Maguire and Paul Putt. The run back to Black and Orange, presented few challenges as the current was lessening and the wind dropping. With the tide about to change some opted to stay inshore, others tacked out into the Solent to catch the last of the ebb. This was the winning tactic and at the end the Patons won from Catherine Maguire and Paul Putt with Jo and Freya Hutchinson in third place.

Silver fleet saw Nik and Lindsey Froud in scrapping with Tim and Megan Power and Andy Maskell (more often seen in bigger boats) and this was the order at the finish.

With just one race to go it looks as though Rory and Alex Paton will win the Gold Fleet series with Ollie Tait second and the Hutchinsons in third. In Silver, Tim and Megan Power have an unassailable lead from Dubbie Robinson and Jane Cook and newcomers Sonia Goacher and Carol Maskell in Swallow in third place.

There will be a paella supper after racing next Monday to celebrate the end of another successful season.

Full results at rlymyc.org.uk/OnTheWater/Racing/Race_Results.aspx