(Lymington, England)- Following the previous week's abandoned races due
to lack of wind, the third weekend of the Lymington Town Sailing Club
INEOS Solent Circuit saw plenty of wind to keep competitors on their
toes. True to the forecast, a steady 18 to 20 knots SSE breeze, with
gusts to 28 knots greeted the fleet in the West Solent on Sunday
morning.All classes were set courses taking them to the Island shore, where they experienced lulls in the wind and considerable wind shifts, only to sail out of the lee of the Island into some significant gusts. For Class 1 the race committee set a course of 15 nautical miles. FLAWLESS J, James Heald's J/105, sailed a "flawless" race, making the most of the reaching legs with her big, black asymmetric spinnaker to take line honours and first place on handicap. Not far off the pace was Robin Taunt's J/109 JIBE securing third place.
In the time-honored tradition of fall Solent sailing in its westernmost reaches, the fleet felt the steadily building breeze and choppy conditions were "getting a bit much", so the fleet headed back to the river and welcome refreshments in Lymington Town Sailing Club's Solent Room. There was much ribbing and chatter about the day's sailing in "almost nuclear" conditions of the "blowing dogs off chains" variety. The real question of the day was how did a half-tonner lose its mast due to someone else's navigational error!? Or, was it "the ferry's fault"? As usual, time will tell in such things. For more INESO Solent Circuit sailing information
