XOD Wednesday Series at Royal Lymington Yacht Club - Race 7
by John Olliff-Cooper 15 Jun 2019 10:48 BST
12 June 2019
With light and variable force 1-2 winds John Trundle's race team set a cautious tight course, with two gates to allow shortening of course if the wind died.
The start with a flood tide and bias at the platform end of line inevitably resulted in a general recall. But with an all clear start second time X57 took the lead from the middle of the line to mark F (Berthon). The wind eased and shifted, and the lead was taken by X183 followed by X48.
Rounding the mark to port, the next leg to mark C (Colten) was intended to be a spinnaker run, but a wind shift made it a fetch against the tide. The remainder of the fleet had fallen behind due to the light shifting winds, so at mark C the fleet was split with a lead group of five which included X117 and X72 beating back to E (Pylewell) through the line with X183 leading.
At the next mark X183 made an error by heading the wrong way under spinnaker and gifted the lead to X48. The positions in the lead group remained unchanged to the finish in a strengthening breeze. Further back in the fleet X119 seemed to get ahead of the pack in stronger tide under spinnaker.
Finishing order at the platform finish was X48, X183, X117, X57, X72, X119.
It was another day of challenging conditions; nevertheless, all twenty boats that had turned out to had an enjoyable race. The Lymington XOD fleet has gone from strength to strength this year, often with upwards of twenty boats coming to the line. That number makes for anxious starts and mark roundings, but it's certainly very exciting stuff.
Full series results can be found here.