Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series - Day 2
by Louise Nicholls 26 Mar 2018 19:57 BST
25 March 2018
What a difference a week makes – the first weekend of the series all racing was cancelled as strong winds and a blanket of snow covered the south of England, but yesterday (Sunday 25 March) light winds and relatively balmy temperatures were the order of the day.
Challenge number one for the race committee came when the primary Black Group committee boat broke down and couldn't be enticed into starting. So the team had to squeeze onto the clubs small committee boat Lobster. Challenge number two for both race committees was setting start lines and courses in the light Northerly air, with wind speeds between 5 to 8 knots.
As we all know, light winds off the mainland shore mean a shifty day in prospect, with success going to those who get the majority of shifts right, while also keeping an eye on the strong tides. Both groups had postponements while waiting for the wind to settle.
Black Group was started near North Ryde Middle, with zig zag courses up to a laid mark near the Bramble post, with a couple of forays across the tide to buoys on the island side. The principal being that a number of shortening course options were available if required. Starting was well disciplined in all classes, with some being quite shy in fact, but all got away cleanly.
IRC4 arrived quite quickly and all finished ok, with the well prepared Stan the Boat (Sigma 33Toby Gorman) finishing first. IRC1 found their last two legs were quite tactical crossing the fairly strong tide from the island back to the Bramble bank - there was more breeze on the bank than on the island, and some boats that kept to the island side lost out, with a couple of boats over standing the finish.
Nifty (King 40 - Roger Bowden) was first in IRC1, beating Sailplane (Beneteau - First 40 Roger Bottomley) by just a second on corrected time. In IRC2 and IRC3 Davanti Tyres (J/112e - Chaz Ivill) and J'Ronimo (J/92David Greenhalgh) came in first respectively. The winners of the J/109 and J/88 classes were Jubilee (Christopher Preston) and Tigris (Gavin Howe).
The White Group managed to get three races completed in the shifty conditions. Race 1 saw a very closely fought start, but all boats got away cleanly. Race 2 was postponed while the course was reset to reflect the wind swing, and this time there was a general recall as boats found themselves over the line in the strong tide. However the next start got away cleanly after advice from the committee boat and the added enticement of a black flag. For Race 3 the course was moved again, and this time the breeze built slightly however the race was shortened to ensure three races were completed.
DSP GBR1248 (Douglas Struth) and Jeepster GBR1169 (Graham Clapp) ended the day leading the J/70s. The J/70 is noticeably the largest class represented in White Group - probably the combination of being the newest kid on the block, plus the fact that the J/70 worlds next year are in the UK - even WSC member Jon Powell has abandoned poor old Betty (J/80) and is campaigning a J/70 (Peggy) this year.
This week's lucky prize draw winners were Nifty (Roger Bowden) winning the Helly Hansen Duffle Bag, Dark and Stormy (Andrew Bell) winning the Crewsaver Wet/Dry 75lt Holdalls and Prospero of Hamble (Allan Fraser) winning the Doyle Sails holdall. All those class winners present at the Warsash Sailing Club after racing received a bottle of champagne from Doyle Sails.
The Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series is sponsored by Helly Hansen @HellyHansen #feelalive, with race partners Crewsaver and Doyle Sails. For the full results and information about the series go to warsashspringseries.org.uk.
The Crewsaver Warsash Spring Championship will run on the following weekends: 21/22 April and 28/29 April 2018.