(Warsash, Southampton Water, England)- The Warsash Spring Series lived up to its name on Sunday 12th March, when the first day's racing was held. Early risers may have been greeted by the sound of foghorns and a fine if persistent drizzle but as some 1,000 sailors made their way to the sailing area, conditions steadily improved. The fog lifted and the sun appeared. The breeze however was very light at times.
On the Black Group committee boat, stationed on the Ryde Middle bank, the race officers were pleased that the forecast veer from south to north-west happened early. A short postponement of 30 minutes enabled the wind to steady and satisfactory courses could be set. Initially these included a cascade of windward/leeward legs finishing off Lee Point. In the event, with the development of windless patches and with time marching on, Black Group courses were shortened at the fourth or sixth mark. All competitors were pleased to complete within the limit and gain their first result on a difficult but challenging day. Back at Warsash Sailing Club competitors were able to relax in the clubhouse garden where the weekly champagne prizes for class winners were presented in the balmy spring-like conditions.
In
Black Fleet IRC 1 Class, Nial Dowling's J/111 ARABELLA had a tough go
of it in the crazy conditions as one of the little boats in the big boat
class, getting a 5th correct. As one competitor put it, "very light
5kt winds with big holes this week. We were fully parked with all the
zeros on the log for about 20 min. Obviously a lovely 12 knots filled in
as we motored in…" In IRC 3 Class, the J's faired a bit better, managing to navigate around the "black holes" that developed on the course a bit better than most. John Taylor's J/92 J'RENIMO was third and Mike, Jamie Holme's J/97 JIKA-JIKA was fourth and Andy Howe's J/92 BLACKJACK was seventh. However, after Bill Blain's J/97 BATFISH IV and Chris Jones' J/105 JOURNEYMAKER V get their IRC ratings squared away, we might see the standings jumbled yet again!
The
sixteen boat strong J/109 class had another strong start to their
highly competitive series. After the dust settled, the top three
finished with a minute of each other. Leading the charge home was
VELVET ELVIS in first, followed by Paul Griffith's JAGERBOMB in second,
JUST SO in third, Paul and Kirsty Apthorp's champion J-DREAM fourth and
SHIVA fifth. The J/109s had the benefit of watching the starts of IRC 1
& 2, when many of the boats had been late due to the strong tide
keeping them back from the line. The J/109 Class hit the line on time
and at speed and saw J-DREAM (David & Kirsty Apthorp) and VELVET
ELVIS (Velvet Elvis Racing) continue their battle from 2010. Whilst
that battle ensued JAGERBOMB (Paul Griffiths) who were new to the fleet
in 2010 rounded the windward mark, hoisted their spinnaker and set off
downwind to the first passing mark. VELVET ELVIS and J-DREAM were left
in their wake. JAHMAIL (Mike & Sarah Wallis), SHIVA (Matt Boyle)
and DESIGNSTAR (Roger Phillips) were all hot on their heels. JAHMAIL
was caught out by the passing mark and had to drop her spinnaker to make
it round – costing her 4th position. During the long run to
craftinsure.com JAGERBOMB had disappeared into the distance and did not
appear to suffer from lack of wind which affected most of the fleet.
JUST SO (David & Mary McGough) and JUMPING JELLYFISH (David
Richards) maintained momentum and made big gains. A further beat saw
newcomers to the fleet JET (Alan Neilson) overtake DESIGNSTAR and
AUDAJIOUS (David Jobson) before engaging with ME JULIE (Dom Monkhouse)
and JAHMAIL. This battle continued to the finish when ME JULIE was the
middle of the sandwich and crossed the finish line 24 secs behind
JAHMAIL and 28 seconds ahead of JET.The final beat saw JAGERBOMOB and VELVET ELVIS push each other off Ryde Bank into the tide which left J-DREAM unsure whether to go with them, or to cover JUST SO, SHIVA and OFFBEAT (David McLeman) who had all chosen to stay on the bank out of the tide. VELVET ELVIS and JAGERBOMB were having a great battle. VELVET ELVIS managed to climb above her, preventing JAGERBOMB from tacking to cross the finish line. A quick tack from VELVET ELVIS allowed them to snatch victory.
The
J/80s are again sailing multiple races and managed to get in three
before retiring for the day to the Shore House for Pimms and Guinness
and to watch the England vs Scotland International rugby match. Simply
dominating the first day of racing for the dozen sailors on the
Southampton Water was none other the SPITFIRE gang, they were absolutely
on fire! Skipper Tony Hanlon of the Spitfire Team managed to fire off
three 1st to win the day with a measly 3 points. A tough hombre behind
them was John Cooper on OI! rattling off a 2-6-3 in the goofy wind
conditions to get second for the day. Patrick Liardet sailing AQUA-J
was third only one point back with a 6-4-2. Fourth was Terry Palmer on
JUST DO IT and fifth was Dan Brown on HENRI LLOYD SHOCKWAVE.With eager anticipation race 1 got underway and it was clear that the tide over Hill Head plateau was just as dubious as the 30deg wind shift up the first beat. The fleet came together at the windward mark which was really exciting for the hoist battle. A reach to the next mark certainly reminded everyone how important it is to trim trim trim but still the fleet was incredibly close together. Fast forward to the final down-wind leg – the fleet were still really close but at the finish it was Tony Hanlon’s “Spitfire” taking line honours, followed by John Cooper’s “Oi!” and Stewart Hawthorne’s “Jumpin’ Jenga” 3rd.
Race
2 saw pretty much the same conditions with much more tide – many boats
elected for the committee boat end but struggled to cross the line on
starboard, a rather cheeky port tack flyer by Terry Palmer’s “Just Do
It” gave the needed boost for the first beat with many boats tacking
onto port as soon as a gap appeared. Many boats went hard inshore up the
beats which should have aided with cheating the tide but this wasn’t
the case. At the first windward mark it was Cowes based Douglas
Neville-Jones with “Jasmine” leading the fleet chased by “Spitfire” then
“Just Do It”. A matter of picking your gybe correctly was the call and
“Spitfire” edged into the lead. On the next beat it was all about
drag-racing and who could speed up towards the windward mark, “Spitfire”
held the lead but closely chased by “Just Do It”. On the run a
shortened course was called by the Race Officer and “Spitfire” took her
second win of the day followed hot on her heels was “Just Do It” and
then “Jasmine”In an effort to get the fleet home, the Race Officer repositioned the start at the leeward gate of the SB3 course and a new course was issued for the final race. No one can argue that the J/80 fleet aren’t competitive as Race 3’s first attempt saw many of the fleet OCS and a general recall was called. The second attempt got away with only an individual recall and just after the start the wind decided to back 30 degrees thus making those on the left hand side of the beat control the windward mark. The fleet like in Race 1 was incredibly close throughout the race until the final beat to the finish. Patrick Liardet and “Aqua-J” performed what can only be called a master-class as she sailed out to the right hand side of the course and performed a slingshot into the finish pretty much overtaking everyone. But it was the team of “Spitfire” again showing her transom to the fleet taking the final race (and a clean sheet may I add) of the day with “Aqua-J” second and “Oi!” third. For more Warsash Spring Series sailing results
Sailing Photo credits- Eddie Mays
