Plymouth Gin Spring Series at Royal Plymouth Corinthian YC

by Richard Hayward 9 Apr 2001 22:34 BST

Race 2 of the PLYMOUTH GIN SPRING SERIES got underway in near perfect conditions this week. A moderate but freshening south-westerly breeze meant that the course could be set in the open sea to the south of the Plymouth breakwater. There was just one hidden danger lying in wait for the unwary early starter - the remains of a 5.7m spring tide flowing across the start line in the direction of the first mark!

With the Multihulls safely away, all eyes were on the IRC fleet. Unfortunately, the eyes of the IRC fleet were not on the transit. Five seconds before the start, half the fleet was over the line and when the clock hit zero, shots rang out as First Substitute got its first airing of the year. Seven of the fifteen strong fleet quickly peeled off and headed back to the line for a re-start, but as the minutes ticked away it became apparent that the other eight boats had decided to sail on regardless. At the somewhat depleted finish, "Highland Spirit", "White Knuckles" and "Exocet" were separated by a total of 1 minute and 9 seconds on corrected time.

The J24's got away first time with "Wave Warrior" leading the fleet to the windward mark, hotly pursued by "St. James", while the rest of the bunch fought it out for third place. As the fleet approached the leeward mark for the first time, "Fuzzy Duck" went to war with "Wave Warrior", grabbing the lead and flying her protest flag at the same time. Not wishing to be left out of the fray, "Land South West" came hammering in to the mark, calling starboard on four other boats. The protest committee will resolve the resulting fracas this Friday evening. "Fuzzy Duck" proved unflappable and flew gracefully on to take line honours.

The PYS fleet's race was a relatively subdued affair, the result of which exactly mirrored last week's. "First Sight" made it two out of two and was once again followed home by "Blacksocks" and "Rumpleteazer". Meanwhile the multihulls were lead home by Andy Parritt who was making a guest appearance at the helm of Mike Tebbutt's Farrier trimaran "Electra".

Results:

Pos	Boat	Class	Sail	Crew	Race 1	Race 2	Tot
IRC(A) Fleet (CHS)
1	Highland Spirit	Corby	9638	Hamish Oliphant	2	1	3
2	Richardson's Seat	J92	6292	Richard Bickford	1	4	5
3	Exocet	X332	17099	John Dyer	6	3	9
4	White Knuckles	Prima 38	6501	Rob Gateshill	11	2	13
5	Joji	J105	1550	Kevin Staples	7	6	13
6	Happy Apple	Sigma 33	4265	Philip Porterfield	10	7	17
7	The Craic	Cork 1720	1708	Guy Walker	3	OCS	19
8	Krush	HOD 35	979	David Jesty	4	OCS	20
9	Jazz	J92	9293	Stephen Hills	DNC	5	21
10	Musk-Ox	X362 S	6965	Neville Devonport	5	OCS	21
11	The Black Pig	X99	14839	Robert Fletcher	8	OCS	24
12	Quick Brew	Dehler	6954	Allan Meredith	9	OCS	25
13	Hi Expectations	Prima 38	6509	John Yandell / Philip Harrison	12	OCS	28
14	Mighty Max 2	Prima 38	8383	Andy Williams	13	OCS	29
15	Langage I-Scream	Formula 28	6562	Tim Donovan	DNC	OCS	32
PYS(A) Fleet (PY)
1	First Sight	Beneteau First 30 E	9485	Martin Minter	1	1	2
2	Blacksocks	Charisma	6649	Chris Dawdry	2	2	4
3	Rumpleteazer	Scanmar 33	1077	Vernon Pike	3	3	6
4	La Bonne Vie	Gibsea 77	3983	Chris Moyse	4	4	8
5	Summertime	Albin Ballad	996	Tony Bale	5	5	10
J24 Fleet (PY)
1	Fuzzy Duck	J24	4245	Ron Lee	2	1	3
2	Wave Warrior	J24	4213	Angus McPhie	1	2	3
3	Legal Alien	J24	4064	Geoff Jones	3	4	7
4	Ju Ju	J24	4254	Adrian Bennett	4	5	9
5	Crackerjack	J24	4074	Robert Beaton	6	6	12
6	St James	J24	4497	Nick McDonald	DSQ	3	13
7	Italian Job	J24	4251	John Gorman	5	8	13
8	Land South West	J24	4238	Marten Holden	8	7	15
9	Jumanji	J24	4252	Steve Andrew	7	DNC	17
Multihull Fleet (CHS)
1	Electra	Farrier Trimaran	616	Mike Tebbutt	1	1	2
2	Brian	Dazcat 26	632	Simon Baker	2	2	4