Harken Contessa 32 Solent Series Regatta at Lymington Town Sailing Club

Over the weekend of September 3rd and 4th, Lymington Town Sailing Club played host to the final Solent Series regatta of the season for the Contessa 32 class, the event was sponsored by leading manufacturer and marketer of quality sailboat hardware and accessories, Harken. Held alongside the Contessa 26 National Championships a total of 23 boats enjoyed some excellent, close racing in the Western Solent.

Eight Contessa 32's came to the start on Saturday, in a blustery south westerly breeze which saw most boats racing with No.2 headsails and full mains. For the first race, PRO Nick Hopwood, laid a windward leeward course. Drumbeat led way to round the windward mark ahead of the fleet, with Blanco and Mary Rose Tudor in hot pursuit. These positions held to the finish.

With an ominous weather forecast and the start of the ebb tide causing the Solent to become sufficiently uncomfortable for crews and the race committee, the PRO wisely set a short second race with a finish off Lymington River. Blanco took the honours over Drumbeat and Mary Rose Tudor. With all boats back on the Dan Bran Pontoon by 15:30 and the forecast for heavy rain due by early evening a tactical decision was made to bring the traditional pontoon party forward to 1700hrs.

Unfortunately, the forecasters were spot on and the heavens opened just before. However, the CO32 fleet are not known for letting anything get in the way of a party and the venue was quickly moved the lower deck bar at LTSC.

Many thanks to club Steward, Conseulo, for putting up with us! The combined evening dinner and social with the CO26 fleet was a great success and Jason and his team in the galley did a superb job of feeding the masses.

Sunday morning saw an improvement in the weather, although the breeze was still into the 20's. A round the cans race in wind over tide conditions, with flat water, saw some really close racing. Blanco and Drumbeat got away from the fleet, but raced each other closely right to the finish, with Blanco tacking first place to win the weekend overall from Drumbeat. Mary Rose Tudor and Contessa Catherine enjoyed a similar battle, with the former prevailing in a photo finish to take third overall. Muscadet de Havelet was only a boat length or so behind.

Thanks go to LTSC for their excellent hospitality and race management and to overall event sponsor Harken for the continued support of the club.

Overall Results:

1st Blanco, Ray Rouse
2nd Drumbeat, Mark Himsworth
3rd Mary Rose Tudor, Ed & Cate Bell