Poole Bay Winter Series - Day 6
by Parkstone YC Poole Bay Winter Series 20 Nov 2018 07:28 GMT
18 November 2018
Firebird (GBR9545, Hunter Impala 28) on day 6 of the Poole Bay Winter Series © David Harding /
www.sailingscenes.com
Racing in the Poole Bay Winter Series resumed on Sunday 18th November, with crews greeted with bright sunshine and a pleasant 15-knot north-easterly breeze in the harbour.
The PRO, Dick Linford on the committee boat Ron Cox, set a start line to the East of Brownsea Castle just inside the harbour entrance and sent both fleets on a short beat to Bell race mark. From there it was a broad reach to the harbour entrance and then out into the bay.
Class 1 was first away, with MS Amlin Enigma (MG 346, Ian Braham) leading off of the start line, hugging the Brownsea Island shore to avoid the worst of the ebb tide. The faster Amigos (A35, Wintle/Fullagar) managed to hit the front just before Bell mark, with MS Amlin Enigma rounding close behind. Amigos decided not to hoist a spinnaker for the short downwind leg to North Haven, while MS Amlin Enigma did a neat set, allowing them to remain in close contact. At the harbour entrance, Enigma dropped the spinnaker and the yachts reached down the swash channel in a rapidly building breeze. With the wind up to around 25 knots and gusting towards 30, Enigma tucked in a reef while Amigos decided to keep a full main. On the beat to Perenco in the middle of Poole Bay the apparent wind was in the high twenties, and towards the top of the beat, Amigos was forced to retire due to a technical issue. MS Amlin Enigma went on to take the win.
Class 2 were given a different course, which included leeward/windward/leeward legs between Swash Channel Nos. 1 and 3 buoys and Chalys, to the North of Old Harry Rocks. Trican (Contessa 32, Giles Vigar) led off of the start line, but was overhauled by Elanor (Elan 31, Chris Hawkes) at Bell buoy. The First 260 It's Now or Never was the only yacht to fly a spinnaker from Bell to North Haven, where a gust resulted in a mild broach. Once out into the bay, the fleet felt the full force of the NE wind. At No.3 buoy, wisely none of the fleet decided to hoist spinnakers for the broad reach to Chalys. After the beat to Bar (No.1) buoy came the second downwind leg to the finish in the slightly calmer waters of Studland Bay. First on the water was Elanor by two and a half minutes from Matchmaker (Contention 33, Mike Fox) in second, who had just managed to pass Trican in the final stages of the race. On corrected, Trican was first, Elanor second and Matchmaker third.
Race 2 was started in Studland Bay and took both fleets on a beat to Bar buoy, downwind to Chalys, to Bar again and then back up the Swash Channel and through the harbour entrance to finish north of Brownsea Island. In Class 1, MS Amlin Enigma made a clean start, but Amigos was called back after being OCS. Amigos later retired for the second time that morning, leaving MS Amlin Enigma to an easy win.
In Class 2 Trican was late at the start due to a detached jib sheet. On the reach up the Swash Channel, crews were treated to surfing on some of the bigger waves, particularly the lighter boats such as It's Now Or Never, Firebird (Impala 28) and Piped Piper (Parker 27). At the finish, it was Elanor first by four and a half minutes, Matchmaker in second and this time Firebird (Pete Norman) in third. These positions remained after ratings were applied.
It was another great morning's racing and particularly encouraging to see so many crews braving a lumpy sea and 30-knot gusts in the stunning surroundings of Poole Bay. As ever, Dick Linford and his team did a first-rate job on the committee boat despite the uncomfortable conditions outside the harbour. Most crews are hoping for slightly gentler racing next Sunday when a further two races are planned.