Please select your home edition
Edition
Leaderboard brokerage
Product Feature
RYA Crew to Win
RYA Crew to Win

Salcombe Yacht Club Summer Series Race 2

by Malcolm Mackley 17 Jun 2018 15:25 BST 10 June 2018
Salcombe Yacht Club Summer Series Race 2 © Margaret Mackley

A very blustery Westerly wind made sailing both exciting but challenging as reduced fleet numbers defied the weather forecast and had fantastic blue sky racing.

Race Officer Clive Jacobs took the fleets on a first beat to Blackstone and followed this with an at times hair raising run to the distant Gerston mark which at the bottom of a Spring tide was just about negotiable with raised centreboards. The wind gusts varied at times from 30 to 0 knots and this meant that at some stage many boats capsized and the three rescue boats were kept very busy.

With Junior racing cancelled because of the high winds, the Medium handicap fleet were first away and George Alexander and Emily Janzen demonstrated their Laser 4.7 sailing skills by coming first and second in spite of capsizes on the way. Three Merlins started in the fast handicap fleet, however it was Alistair Morley in his Phantom that sailed away to gain a convincing win from the Charlie and Helen Loyd National 12 that at one point in the race was sporting a carbon mast that by all engineering design and laws of Physics should have been in pieces, but remained intact.

The Solos had another exciting race with much place movement up and down the fleet. First placed Billy Jago generally remained at the front in spite of a capsize coming away from Gerston. Second placed Roger Guess took a short excursion to the Ditch End sandy beach towards the end of the race but was able to keep ahead of Ed Stephens who had a swim in the main estuary. All the Solos reported sensational sailing on the course and in particular the power reach away from Gerston where huge gusts took the little twelve foot boats to the precipice of control, speed and instability.

Only one Yawl was prepared to venture out, whilst others stayed ashore thereby presumably protecting their precious wooden flexible masts and this left Geoff Gilson and Chris Spencer Chapman to sail expertly round the course and gain useful Summer Series points.

Race 2 Results:

Medium Handicap
1st Laser 4.7 196106, George Alexander
2rd Laser 4.7 152517, Emily Janzen
3rd RS Feva XL 4940, Andrew and Lewis Groves

Fast Handicap
1st Phantom 1459, Alistair Morley
2nd National 12 3534, Charlie and Helen Loyd
3rd Aero 9 1792, Dan Bridger

Solos
1st 5598, Billy Jago
2nd 5799, Roger Guess
3rd 5769, Ed Stephens

Yawls
1st 170, Geoff Gilson and Chris Spencer Chapman

Related Articles

Salcombe YC Summer Series race 4
Out to sea! One of the most memorable club races in recent history Faced with tricky harbour conditions — no water and a course that would result in a procession of reaches — Race Officer Simon Ballentine had a bold solution: send the fleet out to sea. Posted on 14 Jul
Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week overall
Tom Gillard and Rachel Gray take the trophy The final day of Helly Hansen Salcombe Merlin Week dawned to another day of blue skies with a light Southwester forming in the harbour and forecast to increase. The overall result was still up for grabs with both leading protagonists in the morning race. Posted on 4 Jul
Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week Day 5
Wall to wall sunshine for the 102 teams The fifth morning dawned with wall to wall sunshine and a 5 knot SW sea breeze popped in at the surprisingly early time of 8.30, promising a good day's racing for the 102 teams. Posted on 3 Jul
Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week Day 4
Random gusts from every direction, including vertical Past the halfway stage and the weather served up another wind direction for the fourth day of Helly Hansen Salcombe Merlin Week. Posted on 2 Jul
Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week Day 3
South-Westerly establishes itself after a windless dawn The third day dawned with light cloud and absolutely no wind in the harbour. As often happens at Salcombe, by the time the fleet started to launch a South-Westerly had started to establish itself and by the 10.30 start time there was 4-5 knots. Posted on 1 Jul
Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week Day 2
First start gets away on the top of the tide With the rest of the UK cooking in 30+ degrees, Salcombe has been veiled in sea mist for the last few days. Monday was the day when this was meant to clear but competitors woke to find the race track still shrouded in mist. Posted on 30 Jun
Salcombe Merlin Rocket Week Day 1
Over 200 of the UK's top dinghy racers are in the picturesque South Devon Ria The ever popular Salcombe Merlin Week, sponsored by Helly Hansen, Craftinsure and Creation Covers, has again attracted over 200 of the UK's top dinghy racers to the picturesque South Devon Ria. Posted on 29 Jun
Delivery to Salcombe Week - Final Call!
Devon's calling, and P&B are answering This weekend finds members of our Sail Loft team at Salcombe Yacht Club, for Merlin Salcombe Week. We'll be making the most of the conditions, the surroundings and the chance to catch up with other sailors who share our passion for competitive sailing. Posted on 26 Jun
Salcombe Yacht Club Summer Series Race 1
More classic Salcombe conditions on Saturday kicked off the series in style More classic Salcombe conditions on Saturday kicked off the Summer Series in style. Plenty of sunshine and a 15-knot south-westerly saw Race Officer Simon Dobson set the course: 1-7-1-3-2-3. Posted on 16 Jun
Merlin Rocket Week runners and riders
Who's in your flight? Who's sailing when? With Helly Hansen Merlin Rocket Salcombe Week just around the corner and the sacred PDF of doom (AKA the flights list) finally released, the WhatsApp groups are already ablaze. Sails are being tweaked, excuses rehearsed... Posted on 16 Jun