J2X Smokes 80s, J/97s Dust IRC 4A(Cowes, Isle of Wight, England)- One of the long-standing traditions on the Easter Holiday sailing on the Solent has been the RORC Easter Challenge. The question always being, "who's in the chocolates" first? The plot may be the same, but the characters and the scenarios on the Solent, typically, are always changing as fast as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
A strong turnout of both the big J's in IRC and the little J's (J80s) assured the teams of great sailing over the course of the weekend. In the J/80s, it was a three-way battle for first, but in the end, Robert Larke's J2X team dominated with four 1sts in six races. Tied for second were William Goldsmith on EXESS and Mike Lewis on JESTER, with EXESS getting the nod on the tie-break for second place.
In the IRC World, the J/Teams all sailed well against formidable competition. Yet again, the J/97s demonstrated superior form and performance, dominating their IRC Class 4A with a 1-2. Leading the way home by virtue of a trio of bullets in the last three races were Mike & Jamie Holmes on the famous JIKA-JIKA. Just behind them after leading the first part of the series was Grant Gordon's crew on FEVER.
In IRC 3 a fleet of seven J/109s were dueling for supremacy with a range well-sailed 35 footers, an incredibly tough fleet overall! In the end, David Aisher's J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT sailing for the British Keelboat Academy managed a second place just 1.0 pt off the lead! Fourth and fifth in class were Robert Stiles on the J/109 DIAMOND JEM and Jonathan Hearth on BASIC INSTINCT.
The IRC 2 fleet also saw a narrow band of forty-odd footers (plus or minus) all sailing in very close quarters, with places changing in the blink of an eye. The J/Teams had a great showing at the end of the day. Sailing to a well-deserved 2nd in class was Jackie Dobson and crew on the J/133 JERONIMO, finishing strongly with two bullets. Third was Neil Kipling's J/122 JOOPSTER starting off slowly, but finishing with a flourish of top three finishes to just finish 7 pts off first overall! Fourth was Niall Dowling's latest J/111 JAZZBAND, sailing strong in four of the six races with a "barbell" finish record- 7-1-2-5-5-7, just 6 pts out of 2nd. Close racing indeed. Here are the daily sailing reports and synopses below.
DAY ONE- Light to moderate breeze and a mostly sunny outlook is on the cards as three days of racing got underway on the Solent. The forecast shows the wind mostly to be under 10 knots for the duration of the event, but gusty and with significant shifts occurring over the three days: the wind easterly, but backing into the NNW tomorrow, returning to the east on Saturday before backing into the northwest again and dropping on Sunday.
As the day dawned, it was light, shifty, and bracingly cold wind from the north, combined with a substantial tide made for challenging conditions on the opening day.
Racing started on time at 1300 and with the wind rarely getting above 6 knots, the tide was a vital factor, ebbing throughout the afternoon at more than 2 knots (and due to increase with a 4.9m spring tide coming on Sunday).
"The tide was a pretty major factor, particularly at the starts and some of the laylines in the second race," commented Luke McCarthy, Racing Manager and Head Coach at the British Keelboat Academy.
In addition to the BKA's three J/80s, they also sail on David Aisher's J/109 Yeoman of Wight in IRC Three, on which Luke McCarthy is competing this weekend with a BKA crew. After today's two races they are leading IRC Three. In race one they demolished the opposition finishing more than six minutes ahead on corrected time and this was despite being over at the start. "We always wanted to go right up the beat and we piled in there and pushed hard right and then we just extended after that." In the second race they (and a number of other boats) were involved in a big pile up at the pin end of the start line and finished fourth.
McCarthy attributes this partly to the four weekends of training they have put in over the last six weeks and also perhaps benefitting from their J/109 being rated with slightly larger jibs than the six other J/109s racing here.
Approaching low tide during race two, a number of boats went aground on the Brambles Bank, including the J/133 JERONIMO. Meanwhile in IRC Four A Grant Gordon posted a pair of bullets aboard his J/97 Fever while Robert Larke had the same aboard J2X in the J/80s.
DAY TWO- Today proved a difficult one for both competitors and race officials alike. Under a grey overcast sky, race three of the series got underway on time in light breeze, but on the second beat the wind turned inside out, causing the race to be shortened, finishing at the end of that leg. After this the wind resolutely failed to return, causing today's final two races to be cancelled.
In IRC Two, Niall Dowling's new J/111 JAZZBAND remained in second, although today's race was won by JOOPSTER, Neil Kipling's J/122. "The bias was swinging at the start and we were going for the pin end and then the bias went 10deg the other way, so we went back to the committee boat," explained one sailor about his start. "We weren't going fast at the gun, but we were going in the right direction and we spotted the pressure up on the left and those that went right lost on the first beat."
On the second beat, matters were made all the more challenging for the IRC 2 teams as there was a tide line just short of the weather mark. "There was east-going tide approaching and then for the last 50 yards, definite west-going tide," a skipper observed. "What became a good layline suddenly became a bad layline...so another two tacks, but it was the same for everyone."
Elsewhere in IRC Three the British Keelboat Academy squad sailing David Aisher's J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT remained in second. In IRC Four A Grant Gordon and his J/97 FEVER continued her unbroken run of bullets. However, in the J/80 one design class, Rachel Woods' JUMBLESAIL won today's race breaking Rob Larke's previously perfect scoreline on J2X.
Round-the-world navigator Steve Hayles, racing with the British Keelboat Academy, felt that the race committee had made the right call to send the fleet home mid-afternoon. "It was a bit confusing," he said of today's situation. "It wasn't really a sea breeze, there just wasn't much gradient about, so a bit of breeze funnels up the western Solent at 270deg, it funnels down Southampton Water and it comes off the north shore, so all it takes is a slight change in balance..." But it was really the tide turning that finally killed the wind altogether today. "In theory that should have built the breeze a little, but I think it just held it back. To can it was the right thing to do."
As to tomorrow, Hayles (who also runs the weather forecasting company GRIB.US) says: "We hope it will go southwesterly...I was hopeful yesterday, but I'm not today. There is a bit of southwesterly out there, it is just whether it pushes up here. It could be the same again. I am a little more hopeful tomorrow. If it starts more left it will pull left."
DAY 3- Conditions finally came good for the last day of the RORC Easter Challenge with the wind backing into the south and building to double figures. To make up for yesterday's lack of wind, three races were held for all classes.
Despite a strong final push by Jackie Dobson and the crew of the J/133 JERONIMO winning today's two final races, they still couldn't make it to the top of the podium and settled for second overall.
In IRC Three competition was tight. David Aisher's British Keelboat Academy crewed J/109 YEOMAN OF WIGHT, which was top of the seven J/109s, finished second just one point shy of first overall.
After today's three races there was a leader change in IRC4A with father and son, Mike and Jamie Holmes and their J/97 JIKA JIKA overhauling sistership, Grant Gordon's FEVER, to win by just two points. "It was our first time out this season, so it took a while for us to blow away the cobwebs," admitted Jamie Holmes. "We led FEVER during the race the day before a couple of times, but we threw it away through kedging badly!" Of today's race management on their course despite the powerful spring tide, Holmes added: "They did really well to get three fair races off, particularly after yesterday being so challenging. The tide was more of an issue yesterday, going backwards, than it was today." According to Mike Holmes, their win came as a surprise as they hadn't expected three races to be held today - one more than scheduled.
With a near perfect scoreline was Robert Larke in the J/80 one design class, dropping yesterday's one race to the Rachel Woods-steered JUMBLESAIL. While Larke posted three bullets in today's races in the Northern Solent, so consistently second was William Goldsmith's Slam-sponsored team on EXESS. "Yesterday was frustrating to say the least," said Goldsmith. "Today it was a day of no mistakes or fewer mistakes. We struggled with starting earlier on in the week, but finished with a very good start and rather than J2X being off on their own, today we were keeping up with them and it was us and them and the rest of the fleet behind."
Goldsmith is with the British Keelboat Academy and is gunning with his team - average age 20 - for a good position in the J/80 Worlds to be held in Dartmouth later this year. "They will be huge and we want to try and stay up with the top of the fleet there. With the Worlds coming up its in our best interest to have all the British boats work together and that is part of the RORC Easter Challenge to get everyone coached."
At the prize-giving held in the Cowes Yacht Haven Events Centre, Commodore of the RORC Mike Greville thanked the race officials before Easter eggs were handed out as prizes to all of the winners. Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth For more RORC Easter Challenge sailing information
