Lymington Town Sailing Club Wildwind Wednesday Evening Dinghy Series - Day 1
by Alastair Beeton 12 Apr 2019 06:13 BST
10 April 2019
Wednesday 10th April saw a total of forty two boats enjoy the opening race of the sponsored by Wildwind Sailing Holidays.
Race officer Andy Ash-Vie had a tough job on his hands with the fading north east breeze and building spring ebb tide making racing conditions out on the Solent difficult. After some juggling with courses to accommodate conditions racing got under way on time from the Clubs river start line.
In the Fast Handicap class Dougal Harris and Henry Castledine led the way in their F18 catamaran, but the light conditions didn't suit them and Giles Chipperfield prevailed on corrected time to win the class in his D-One. Kevin Podger and Heather Chipperfield were in second sailing an RS400 with Toby Collyer's RS700 in third.
In the Medium Handicap Double handed fleet it was a clean sweep for the Martin family with Rob and Jan Martin keeping their Merlin Rocket going in the light conditions to take line honours and the win on corrected time. The Seafly of John & Pam Martin was second, with Chloe George (nee Martin) and Alex Hayman in their Merlin in third.
The Medium Handicap single handers made up the largest fleet with twenty two boats, with a strong turn out of RS Aero's and three Solo's amongst the fleet. RS Aero 7's took the top three places, with Alister Barker winning on handicap from Karl Thorne and G Havers. Ben Green crossed the line first in his RS300, but was relegated to ninth on handicap.
In the Slow Handicap class only two boats came to the line. As they approached the end of the river mouth the race officer decided to shorten their course and get them to return to the finish line after rounding Oakhaven mark. In a close fought battle John Sims took the win in his Scow ahead of Annie Pike's Gull Spirit.
The series continues every Wednesday until late August. Sailors from all clubs are welcome to compete. All details can be found at www.ltsc.co.uk/dinghies.
LTSC would like to thanks series sponsors Wildwind Sailing Holidays for their continued support.