Nordic Folkboat West Solent Series - Race 1
by Julian & Claire Sowry 21 May 2018 19:56 BST
19 May 2018
The first of the Royal Lymington Yacht Club Nordic Folkboat West Solent Series was the 'Long Race East' which became, the "Short race South, North, East & West"!
With little or no wind, the advised start time of 11.10 was postponed to 13.00. Eventually, with a number of big & small boat fleets racing in the same area, a lovely warm southerly sea breeze filled in, and the Committee Boat set a course to the 'South' for the 9 Nordics that came to the line.
The first mark set was No: 7 (Alitex), a rather small racing mark on the Island shore, east of Yarmouth's Boulder Bay.
With the last of a strong flood tide running down the starting line, the place to be at the start was right next to mark D (Yacht Haven), which was hotly contested by Padfoot, Mistral and Crackerjack, who led off in that order. Crackerjack held high and laid the mark in one tack, with Padfoot and Mistral making one short tack on the Island shore. Bonnie, who had tacked who had made a short tack to the west after the start to clear her air, reached into No. 7 in 2nd place in front of Mistral.
A run to the North followed, to mark J (Zwerver) to the west of Sowley. Bonnie stayed low to benefit from the beginning of the new ebb on the shore to arrive just ahead ahead of Padfoot and Mistral with Lady Linda and the rest of the fleet stretching out behind.
A short rather one sided beat to mark F (Berthon's) was followed by a run to G (Tanners) with Padfoot sailing a direct route pipping Bonnie around the mark, followed by Mistral and Lady Linda a short distance behind. Another short beat to the finish completed the course with Crackerjack taking a strong lead from Padfoot (2nd), Bonnie (3rd) and Mistral (4th) followed up by the remainder of the fleet.
Full series results can be found here.