(Hamble, England)- What a great start to the Garmin Hamble Winter Series – clear blue skies, warm sunshine and a north-easterly wind ranging between 11 and 22 knots! These were perfect conditions for the J/109 Class as they called for choices to be made regarding the appropriate headsail and kept navigators on their toes. As always, no two races are ever the same in the Solent with the tide flooding for the first and ebbing for the second race, with the courses cascading across the Hill Head plateau.
Eleven J/109s made it to the start near Royal London where they waited patiently for others to start, with many caught out by the flooding tide resulting in a general recall. The first race comprised two windward beats across to the mainland shore with corresponding downwind return legs and a short beat to finish.
The J/109 is the largest one-design yacht racing fleet in the UK and the camaraderie in the class is second to none. This was demonstrated by the kindness of Matt Boyle, owner of SHIVA, who came to the rescue of David & Kirsty Apthorp and the J-DREAM team, as he leant them his J/209 SHIVA for this first weekend as J-DREAM was not back in the water. J-DREAM (David & Kirsty Apthorp) had a clear start and by the windward mark she had established a lead which saw them untroubled for the rest of the two laps. Meanwhile ARIA (Luca Rubinelli) and AUDAJIOUS (David Jobson) had benefitted from the mainland lift and JAMBHALA (Richard Sainsbury & Gill Ross) and OUTRAJEOUS (Richard & Valerie Griffith) were in hot pursuit. The downwind leg saw little changing of places but the final beat gave JAMBHALA an opportunity to pass AUDAJIOUS to claim 3rd by 8 seconds. Meanwhile ME JULIE (Dom Monkhouse) and OFFBEAT (David McLeman) were battling for 8th and 9th with ME JULIE pipping OFFBEAT on the line by 1 second.
The second race again saw a clean start for all. ARIA led at the windward mark closely followed by OUTRAJEOUS and J-DREAM. The second beat saw J-DREAM take the lead a position they held from ARIA until the last mark rounding which was to be a starboard rounding. With a lead of 1 minute 40 seconds J-DREAM rounded to port only realising her mistake when she passed ARIA during the beat to the finish and had to turn round to unwind herself and round correctly. Meanwhile OFFBEAT (David McLeman) had passed OUTRAJEOUS on the run and these boats together with J2EAU (Steve & Jody Maine) rounded the mark before J-DREAM completed her manoeuvre. The short beat to the finish saw J-DREAM recover some of the lost distance to finish 3rd from J2EAU by 7 seconds whilst ARIA had held off OFFBEAT to take the win. Only 35 seconds separated the first four boats.
The boat of the day was ARIA who was grateful to receive the bottle donated by Garmin. Prize-giving, good grub and cheap beer back at Hamble River Sailing Club rounded of a perfect day’s racing. Second was J-DREAM with a 1-3. And, third was AUDAJIOUS with a 4-6.
Next weekend the J/109 Class will be holding their Autumn Championships as part of the Premier Marinas Autumn Championships run by Hamble River Sailing Club. The Class together with other competitors will also be attending the party on Saturday evening sponsored by Key Yachting and in aid of Toe in the Water.
In IRC 3 Class, Mike and Jamie Holmes J/97 JIKA-JIKA is currently in a three-way tie for first with a 1-4. Ed Holton's J/110 SHADES OF BLUE is also tied with a 3-2. Just one point off the pace is Mike Flood's J/97 INDULJENCE with a 2-5.
Amongst the nine J/80s entered with it's John Cooper on OI! dominating the start to the Winter Series with a 1-1-1! Terry Palmer on JUST DO IT is second with a 4-2-2. One point behind him is Patrick Liardet on AQUA-J with a 2-4-3.
For the J/Class, the fleet remained tight throughout the first race and with very little difference in handicaps the results mirrored the finishing sequence with JAMMIN first, BLACKJACK second and WIZARD third. The increased wind for race 2 meant that JAMMIN had to change down to a #3 losing the advantage that she gained in race 1 with the #1 headsail. JUNGLE FEVER rounded the first mark just ahead of JAMMIN with BLACKJACK close behind. Positions didn’t change until the last leg when JAMMIN'S short crew numbers couldn’t hold the kite anymore and changing down to whites allowed BLACKJACK through into second place just before the finish line.
Everyone hopes that next week will see more boats joining the fleet the make the racing even closer. For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series results and sailing information.