Gins Regatta at Royal Southampton Yacht Club
by Simon Forbes 4 Jul 2001 12:55 BST
Saturday 30 June & Sunday 1 July
Photo ©: Peter Bateson
'Starspray' and 'Respect' win first RSYC Gins Regatta
The Royal Southampton Yacht Club's second clubhouse at Gins Farm, Beaulieu River, held the first Gins Regatta weekend on the 30 June and 1 July. Racing was split into two classes with three races each day organised by Philip/Tricia Gage and David/Penny Gange. Courses were a mix of Triangular
and windward-leeward. Saturday provided boisterous conditions with a South-westerly Force 4-6, fortunately with the building breeze coinciding with the tide turning east so at least the strongest wind didn't go with a west-going tide.
In Class 1 the first race saw Robert Greenhalgh's brand new Jason Ker-designed 11.3m Kerisma lead from the front, and they managed to do enough to win on corrected time by eight seconds from Peter and Flavia Bateson's Starspray (Sadler Starlight 39). Race 2 saw Kerisma take corrected time honours by a minute from Extra Djinn, Neville Hodkin's X362s.
The wind strength building saw Kerisma as a non-starter and it was the owerful Starspray's chance to take victory by two minutes from Geoff Lynch's Stewart 36 The Red Dragon.
In Class 2 Roger Townsend's Stephen Jones-designed Prism 25 Backchat took Race 1 from Stuart Danby's Corby 25 Respect followed by Kathy and Rupert Smalley's Castro ¼ tonner Quango. Race 2 saw the same trio dominating with Respect moving up to first. Race 3 saw the red-hulled Backchat winning with Tony Hanfrey's Mustang 30 Revival II second with Respect third.
The Gins Regatta featured a great party overnight with a large marquee at Gin's Club House with numerous shore-side entertainment including a Tug of War competition won by an enhanced Quango team.
Lighter winds on Sunday morning saw Kerisma dominating Class 1 from Extra Djinn and and Ed Holtons J-110 shades of Blue in Race 4 and in Race 5 from Little Extra III (X362s) and The Red Dragon, the breeze built for the last Race and Starspray came back into contention taking first by over two and a half minutes from Shades of Blue II and Simon Derrick's X362s X-Appeal. Kerisma did not finish resulting in overall victory going to Peter and Flavia Bateson's Starspray.
In Class 2 Sunday saw Respect and Backchat hogging the top two places with Backchat winning the last race. Third places were taken by Escapade, Brian Verstage's First 305, Revival II and Quango respectively. Respect took overall honours for Class 2.
The RSYC Racing continues with the Double Handed Series on Saturday 14 July and the Two-Handed Round the Island Race, details contact Cathy Crawley, Sailing Secretary, RSYC, Tel: 023 80 223352 or email racing@rsyc.org.uk
Overall Results:
| Pos | Boat Name | Skipper(s) |
|---|
| Class 1 |
|---|
| 1st | Starspray | Peter and Flavia Bateson |
| 2nd | Kerisma | Robert Greenhalgh |
| 3rd | Extra Djinn | Neville Hodkin |
| Class 2 |
|---|
| 1st | Respect | Stuart Danby |
| 2nd | Backchat | Roger Townsend |
| 3rd | Quango | Kathy and Rupert Smalley |
More Information: