Irish Sea Offshore Racing Association - Race 6
by Mark Thompson 4 Jun 2018 10:09 BST
2-3 June 2018
Race 6 was the second race of the Global Displays Welsh Coastal Series, and planned as a race to Porthdinllaen or the fall back course Aberdaron and return, depending on weather conditions.
In the build up to the race it was clear there would be very light winds and strong tides to the west, so the race committee selected the fall back option of Aberdaron, with the course set as PSC2(p) - Gwylan Islands(p) - PSC8(s) a distance of 27 miles.
A smaller than usual Fleet came to the line, depleted by boats that had delivered to Liverpool for race 7, and got underway in a steady 5kt south south east breeze. A gentle fetch down to the first mark before tightening up for a beat towards the Tudwals, with the wind slowly veering to the south as forecast. Sgrech J111 and 1720 Mojito Bach, sailed by Peter Dunlop and Vicky Cox, lead the fleet with Jackknife taking a much lower course for speed, looking like a plan to go round the Tudwals. The wind stayed reasonably constant and allowed the fleet to get past the Tudwals inshore, past Ceriad and towards Hells Mouth and then fly code zeros's taking advantage of a steady 1kt of West going tide.
Series sponsor Richard Cook Sailing his J80 Jezebel with Mark Southall and crew took a very inshore route, and despite being unable to fly an A sail made very good progress, keeping the front runners in view. Sgrech J111 skippered by Stephen Tudor had a very good run across Hells mouth with the code zero and started to open up a gap with the rest of the fleet. Approaching Aberdaron bay, the Sgrech crew embarked upon a debate about manganese mining, (apparently there is manganese in Pen Llyn - who knew) mercifully the unusually serious discussion was ended when one crew member enquired why they were importing manganese to Aberdaron! Back to the race, work the tides and concentrate on the next phase.
Approaching Gwylan islands, the tide really started to increase, with its proximity to Bardsey sound, up to 2.5 kts at times. With the tide essentially flowing towards the sound, it was important to give the two Gwylan islands a good offing, particularly as the wind had died a little and we were going to spend some time in the wind shadow, being carried by the strong tide. Back under Jib on Sgrech, using the tide and zephyrs of wind, we got round but struggled to get upwind, and away from the islands, in the end electing to sail on port tack away from the thumb line, to try and get out of the still strong tide.
Knowing the further south we went the tide would reduce, we probably tacked a little early (though it was a unanimous decision) and had to plug the strong tide for a while. The leg towards Cillan head, using a vareity of sails to try keep the boat moving was a great challenge for all the crews, with the wind down to 2-3 kts and the tide cancelling out any progress. It was important to keep some sail shape and avoid any unnecessary movement. The wine gums had to stay below! Mercifully it wouldn't be long before the tide turned.
The overcast cloud layer was starting to burn off over the land, and with a southerly gradient wind, we hoped a sea breeze would setup enhancing the southerly wind, rather than one from the north coast which would potentially cancel out the gradient wind. With the cloud receding from South to North, it looked promising. After a couple of long hours of slow progress with loads of sail trimming, A gentle sea breeze kicked in and we had a great run under A2 towards PSC8. The rest of the fleet were still back in Hells mouth and with Jackknife getting stuck on the wrong side of Gwylan for a while, J80 Jezebel had a great stage of the race and got ahead of the J125, matching them in the light airs across Hells Mouth.
Meanwhile at the front with the wind dying again, Sgrech carried the A2 all the way to the finish, in a time of 8hrs 15 mins with Peter and Vicky sailing the 1720 superbly to a great second place, with Richard Cook in the J80 third over the line in 11hrs 52 mins which showed great tenacity and spirit, fantastic ISORA values.
So all in all a very enjoyable race, frustrating at times but technically challenging and a chance to play the tides and sail angles. The result throws the Welsh Coastal Series wide open with two more races to go, the night race in July and King Constantine cup bay race in August.
For the Sgrech crew, this race will always be known as the "Handbags and Glad-Rags" race. For an explanation ask Sgrech crewmember Glenn Pritchard!
The next ISORA race is race 7 the "midnight race" from Liverpool to the Isle of Man, Friday the 8th June. Further information and results at www.isora.org