Allspars 18ft Skiff Solent Grand Prix Series - Round 1
by Tom Hill 5 Apr 20:21 BST
30-31 March 2019
Last weekend, the U.K. 18ft Skiff fleet launched their 2019 season with two days of racing out of their base on the Solent.
The fleet were greeted to a gentle breeze for the first day which saw the whole fleet on the big rigs. After a short time getting settled back into the boats after a long winter, racing got under way. The very big rigs took advantage of the down range conditions with ChameleonI looking smart after a winters refit. The Time Genie dominated and pulled together victories all day. The whole fleet had a good day getting back around the race track.
The second day was breezier which meant all the big rigs were firmly left on shore and it was on for the little rigs! There were a few capsizes throughout the day but by the racing was close. Crews enjoyed being shuffled nearer the back of the boats in the breezier conditions and some were even strapping in to the footloops. The Time Genie were again dominant, but the fleet were keeping them honest and weren't far behind. A special mention goes to Rutland who executed a perfect pitch pole downwind at full chat - unfortunately losing them second place overall to ChameleonI. No surprises that The Time Genie came out on top at the end of the event.
This was the first Solent Grand Prix Series event that is kindly sponsored by Allspars, an exciting collaboration that will see the U.K. fleet grow in years to come. The two days of racing has got the whole fleet pumped for the exciting season ahead in the U.K. and Europe and excited to have Allspars on board. With starter boats available for less than £5,000, this is certainly an exciting time to get involved with the fleet!
Overall Results:
1st The Time Genie, 1 1 1 [1] 3pts
2nd ChameleonI, 3 2 [3] 2 7pts
3rd Rutland, 2 3 2 [5] 7pts
4th The Green Skiff, 4 4 4 [5] 12pts