Saturday XOD Series at Royal Lymington Yacht Club - Race 12

A real summer's day with warmth, bright sunshine and a steady south-westerly sea breeze of 12 knots saw 20 XODs come to the start line. Being understandably cautious lest the wind might fail, the Race Officers sensibly set what one might call a married man's course – that is, one close to the mainland shore, giving rise to no risk that we might be marooned off Yarmouth and get home late to a frosty welcome with the lawn uncut and potatoes still undug.

With the tide ebbing strongly till after 4 pm, the pin end of the line looked favoured as the fleet stood out to mid-Solent to lay the first mark, A. Setting what became a pattern of almost surgical precision, Dr Tactic (sometimes also known as Phil Brewer) in Zest, sailing with his wife, Jo and a friend (and fellow GP), Debbie Williams, tacked at exactly the right time and rounded A first, comfortably ahead of Richard Field in Persephone and Rory Paton in XL. A little further behind came a group which included Beatrix, Astra, Ibex, Diana and Lone Star, some of which had over-stood that first mark by a good margin.

The windward/leeward course which followed inevitably offered few tactical options even it provided the usual opportunities for the brisk exchange of opposing views which so often occurs when a group of XODs approach a mark in close company. The 3 leaders broke well clear, Zest having an untroubled sail round the course at the front, getting every single tack exactly right whilst Persephone followed at a respectful distance.

Rory Paton, in third, tried a series of unpromising-looking detours in the hope that doing something different might enable him to advance but, as he probably expected, it did not. He too ended up having a nice sail without threatening the boat ahead or coming under any pressure from behind. In fact, the first 4 positions were settled by half way down the first run as Beatrix had managed to wriggle ahead leaving those behind to get in each other's wind and way.

The race was ended at the platform, one mark early, shortly after 4 pm. This enabled the crews to return for their usual tea and cake to discuss incidents which, as is the way of these things, are recounted in terms diametrically opposed to each other depending on which boat's version is being given. Such things never change – and here's hoping that this is also true of the current weather.

Finishing Order:

1. Zest, X 9, Philip Brewer
2. Persephone, X 92, Richard Field
3. XL, X 48, Rory Paton
4. Beatrix, X 178, William Norris
5. Lone Star, X 119, Stuart Jardine

Full RLymYC XOD Series results can be found here.