Cruiser racing series at Lymington Town Sailing Club - Overall
by Alastair Beeton 20 Sep 2018 19:07 BST
CRS Just Do It appraoching Caldwells Mark - Cruiser racing series at Lymington Town © Alastair Beeton
Google Eye pips Otter by just one point in LTSC Cruiser Racing Series
The Lymington Town Cruiser Racing Series drew to a close on Saturday with the Cowes and Back races. Seven boats assembled around Baverstock for the start. With a light breeze blowing the fleet made their way west to Dunford mark, before turning onto a Spinnaker Run to Caldwells mark.
The fleet then crossed the Solent to West Lepe, then to East Lepe and finally to Gurnard Ledge before finishing at Gurnard. By the time the fleet reached Gurnard Ledge the tide was in full flood and Otter reportedly were cutting it fine to round the Mark. J80 'Just Do It', with Adrian Bateman at the helm, took line honours, with J80 'Mistral' close on their heels. For Mistral it was her first outing and having mis-judged she put on a dramatic display as the crew tried to make the mark. With the spinnaker threatening to pull the mast to the water the crew bore away and missed the line, spending the next 15 minutes fighting the tide to get back to the finish.
Whilst Mistral battled the tide, Google Eye (Trapper 300, Pat Stables) and Egor (E-Boat, Giles Lloyd-Williams) came across the line in third and Fourth places. Once all had finished the fleet sailed up the Medina River to the Folly Inn. After handicaps were applied it was Google Eye who took first place followed by Richard Valentine on Mahu Hau, Beneteau First 21 in second and Jen in third. The race back to Lymington in the afternoon proved to be more exciting with the wind having freshened over lunch to a good 20kts. The decision was made to race straight back to Baverstock with Oakhaven mark as the only rounding mark.
After the gun the fleet split with the two J80s and the E-Boat going north to the mainland shore whilst Google Eye, the Folkboat Jen and Otter and the First 21 (Mahu Hau) staying on the island side of the Solent. This tactic was later to prove beneficial to those who stuck to the south. It was a wet race home with crews dangling legs over the side. Google Eye took line honours, a clear demonstration of skipper, Pat Stables', expert knowledge of the local waters. The approach to Oakhaven was exciting with Jen and Otter a neck-and-neck at the mark. J80 'Just Do It' was trailing them by just five boat lengths.
On rounding Oakhaven it was a scramble to the line with Jen crossing just 46 seconds ahead of Otter, to take second place across the line. Despite crossing the line ahead of the Folkboats Google Eye was placed in third place on corrected time.
The overall series has been a mix of conditions ranging from virtually no wind to this weekend's 20 knots. Of the sixteen boats competing overall, just two were able to compete in all six races over the season. The series results were extremely close with Google Eye just beating Otter by just 1 point. The final results were first Google Eye, Trapper 300, Pat Stables (13 points), second Otter, Folkboat, Nick Ingram (14 points), third Mahu Hau, Beneteau First 21, Richard Valentine (26 points).
The next racing for keelboats at the Club is the LTSC Solent Circuit, sponsored by Pennyfarthing Homes. For further information and to enter go to the LTSC website www.ltsc.co.uk or contact the Sailing Secretary on 01590 674514 or email