Peroni Summer Saturday Series 2018 at Hebe Haven Yacht Club Races 4 & 5
by Rob Allen 3 Jul 2018 08:33 BST
30 June 2018
Good visibility, lots of blue sky with white clouds and a 14-knot southerly greeted the 31 boats that ventured out into Port Shelter on the 30th of June for Race 4 & 5 of the Peroni Summer Saturday Series 2018. Hebe Haven Yacht Club's rear commodore (sailing), Bridget Chan, brought along her regular crew to assist with race management – and dressed for the part they were, in their pink Windseeker livery!
Chan set Course 17 for the first race of the day – a windward / leeward with the top mark near the University and the bottom off Sharp Island. For the faster boats, the distance was 1.2 nautical miles, 1.1 nautical miles for the smaller boats.
With the committee vessel, Hebe One, centrally stationed, the starting sequence for Race 4 began at 1400. But, with the offset marks unsatisfactorily positioned, and seconds to go, the RO was forced to raise the AP (postponement) flag. Most of the IRC fleet took note... Arcturus and Kingsman didn't. Engaged in furious battle at the pin end of the line, they flew off (almost) to the top mark before looking astern! Arcturus returned and restarted; Kingsman decided to retire.
Meanwhile, and with only a short delay, Chan got the five remaining IRC boats away at 1410, then HKPN, then Sportsboats (and J-80s) in five-minute intervals and finally the Shelter Cove Dragons. The boats completed two legs, with Lighthorse Alpha+ romping home in 45 minutes and taking IRC handicap honours. In 2nd was the sole Impala, Moll, then the J-111, Juggerknot.
Steve Bourne's Merlin won the Sportsboats, followed by Its My Pleasure and Good Vibrations. Bits & Pieces crossed first in HKPN but lost out to Ichiban on handicap. Zam-Zammah was 3rd. Jelik 7 won the J-80s followed by Jive.
In the graceful Dragon Class, it was an impressive performance from Zephyr which got the better of Wudie and Wyuna in 3rd.
As the fleets were finishing, there was a cooling shower which came to an end just as the RO was preparing for the second race of the day. Perfect!
The second race, Race 5, began at 1540 with a slightly lighter breeze of nine knots. Lighthorse Alpha+, way ahead of the pack, never looked back and finished in an elapsed time of 44 minutes and 37 seconds, scoring its second victory of the day on handicap. Arcturus redeemed itself with a 2nd, followed by Moll in 3rd.
Ichiban again won HKPN on handicap while AmaZe performed admirably to record a 2nd. Zam-Zammah again made 3rd. Merlin got home in 58 minutes and 4 seconds in the Sportsboats while Julie Mackenzie and crew in Ricochet notched up a 2nd, followed by Its My Pleasure in 3rd.
Zephyr and Wudi again topped the 10-strong Dragon fleet, with Phyloong in 3rd.
The series continues with an islands race (Race 6) on Saturday, the 14th of July 2018. After that – the final geometrics on the 28th of July 2018 (Race 7 & 8).