J/109 and J/92s Win Classes
(Southampton, England)- With 41 entries in two IRC and two RSYC classes,
the Royal Southampton YC played host to yet another good winter series
for the devoted sailors who call the Southampton Water "home".
The series started off with a bang. The first day or racing was a
blustery day with a warm SW gradient wind of 22 knots gusting up to 30
knots, certainly enough blow away any cobwebs accumulated from Christmas
and the New Year's holidays. Over the course of the next few weekends,
conditions improved markedly. The penultimate race day was fresh
bright and sunny with a moderate breeze from W to NW and a rapidly
ebbing tide setting the challenge for the race management team.
With the committee boat near Hover 1 all 4 Classes were sent off to
Royal Southampton buoy newly laid after its winter overhaul before
continuing round laid marks before cascading back down to the finish at
Netley. The ebbing tide caught a couple of hapless skippers out who
"parked on the putty" between races but both managed to escape and get
started on a reconfigured course after the wind veered enabling a
windward – leeward course to be set for the first time this series
however as all those avid meteorologists know it was a front going
through that caused the wind shift and with it came rain. Lots of it and
heavy!
For the series, the Class 1 winner was J-DREAM – Kirsty and Dave
Apthorp’s J/109. Nial Dowling's J/111 ARABELLA also won four races but
did not do the whole series so just missed the Class win. In Class 2,
the winner was J'RONIMO – David Greenhaulgh’s J/92 with JAMMIN – Pete,
Andrew and Matt ‘s J/92 in second. Finally, in Class 3 - JAMMY- Jon
Stevens and Louise Curtis’s J 80 ended up second overall. For complete RSYC Winter Series Sailing results and information