HP30 Class Nationals concludes with the Round the Island Race

by Joe Hall 27 Jun 2022 06:15 BST 23-25 June 2022

The three days of close racing, concluded with a close fought circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight, as the finale to the sixth HP30 National Championship. With the Round the Island Race being non-discardable and carrying a point weighting of 1.25 there was plenty to race for.

Starting in IRC Class 1, the HP30s had plenty of traffic to contend with; arguably FarEast28R Vendetta had the best start, finding a reasonably clear lane and took the lead early on. Lutra 30 Jester however, was first to the Needles, when Moral Compass came through.

The next leg of the race in 15 plus knots of breeze, saw the boats 'take off', achieving top speeds down the back of the island of between 18 and 20 knots. Some tactical advantage went to those with smaller asymmetric spinnakers or code zeros, being able to reach quicker to the St Catherine's Lighthouse, before bearing away.

Moral Compass appeared to have horizoned the class, but the fleet hung on to their coat tails, with FarEast28R Cogital beating them into second place on corrected time by 1'43". Vendetta ended in third followed by FarEast28R Peggy.

It was a super conclusion to the HP30 National Championships, with Jerry Hill & Richie Faulkner's Farr280 Moral Compass being declared winner, Jon Powell's Farr280 Peggy in second and Matthew Waite & Alain Waha's FarEast28R GoWest coming third.

Thanks to the Island Sailing Club race management team, especially PRO Richard Palmer who delivered eight great races on the first two days, in tricky conditions.

Overall Results:

Pos	Yacht Name	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	RTI	Pts
1	MORAL COMPASS	2	2	2	2	5	2	1	2	2	15.5
2	PEGGY	1	7	3	1	1	4	2	4	4	21
3	GO WEST	3	1	4	3	2	3	4	5	1	21.25
4	VENDETTA	5	4	1	8	3	1	7	1	3	25.75
5	RESOLUTE	7	5.5	8	7	4	6	5	3	5	43.75
6	SEA DRAGON	6	3	5	5	6	5	6	6	8	46
7	JESTER	4	8	6	6	7	7	3	7	7	48.75
8	MAKO	8	5.5	7	4	8	8	8	8	6	56