Royal Southampton Yacht Club Weymouth Double Race

A race of two halves

The Royal Southampton Yacht Club’s second Double–Handed race of the year, the Weymouth Double, saw tricky changeable wind conditions on the race to Weymouth while the return race was a straight forward starboard reach which developed into a run all the way home. The 39 boats racing varied from a Mini Transat to a Nicholson 55 ketch.

The 50 mile Leg 1 race to Weymouth started at 0925 on Saturday morning 29th April off Calshot. On the leg from the start to Hurst Castle the north easterly wind saw the whole fleet struggling with changeable conditions as the leaders would run out of breeze and the back-markers would catch up. After the Needles the wind went round to south west.

After St Alban’s Head the leading boats were becalmed and the first boats to finish were those that managed to get further out to sea before the breeze died to a zephyr.

On Sunday 30th, the first start of the return race was at 1500 with the wind generally southerly, it was a straight forward reach on starboard all the way in winds between 8 and 16 knots which swung to the south west near the finish.

Class 1 (IRC), Leg 1 saw the Elan 333 Goody Two Shoes (Alan Nichols/Paul Sebbage) take line honours and victory on corrected time by 6 minutes. Second was the J/110 Oojah (Peter Tanner/Phil Kirk) with third J-105 Voador (Simon Curwen/Bob Stone). On the return leg Voador took line hours and victory on corrected time by four minutes from Oojah with third the J/105 Diablo J (Nick Martin/Jeremy Crang).

In Class 2 (IRC), Leg 1, only two boats managed to finish the Didi 26 Spirit of Moondog (Andy and Peter Pickett) took line honours but first on corrected time was the Trapper 300 Google-Eye(Pat Stables/Nigel Hunter). On the return leg the Laser 28 The Flying Fish (Kathy and Rupert Smalley) took line honours but Elizabethan 30 Infinite Jest(David Aldridge/Phil Pafford) took victory on corrected time by less than four minutes from Google-Eye with third The Flying Fish.

Class 3 Leg 1 saw the Westerly GK33 Alma (Alan Baker and Nigel Holt) take line honours and victory on corrected time by over an hour. Second was Bavaria 44 Faze 3 (Andrew/Linda Campbell) with third Lightwave 395 Blush (Mark Breton/Amanda Pirie). On the return leg Faze 3 took line honours but first on corrected time was the Southerly 110 Star Dancer(Rob Packham/Tim Wright). Second was Alma with third Faze 3.

Class 4 Leg 1 saw the Westerly GK29 Green Kestrel (Jon Woolgar/Richard Richardson) take line honours and victory on corrected time by over 20 minutes from MG C27 Skybird (Ed Essery/Judith Eastwood) with third the Contessa 32 Firefly (Simon Pritchard/Homme Zwagstra). On the return leg Skybird took line honours but corrected time victory went to Moody 29 Bedouin (Ian Ward/Ginny Bennett) from Green Kestrel with third Beneteau 260 Hullabaloo Too (Simon Walley/Nick Buckle).

In the Multihull Class, on Leg 1, Dragonfly 800 Scooby III (Simon Forbes/Annelies Bolle) took line honours and victory on corrected time from Dragonfly 920 Force X (George Burn/Mark Griffiths). On the return leg Force X took line honours and victory on corrected time from Dragonfly 920 Blue Minnell II (Tim Wilson/Richard Haynes) with third Shuttleworth 30 trimaran Kenmore (Nick Bubb/Pete Cumming).

The RSYC Clarkson Cup Regatta is on 20/21 May. Cherbourg Double is on Friday 26 May. For details contact Cathy Crawley, Sailing Secretary, RSYC, Tel: 023 80223352 or email racing@rsyc.org.uk

PROVISIONAL RESULTS WEYMOUTH DOUBLE LEG 1:

PROVISIONAL RESULTS WEYMOUTH DOUBLE LEG 2: