(Southampton, England)- Despite the forecast for winds touching Force 8
early in the morning and the overcast cold conditions for the British
“Spring”, 82 of the 102 double handed yachts entered decided to brave it
out on race day. They were rewarded with a NE wind of F5-6 reducing to
F4-5 in brightening conditions as the day progressed.The course was East about round Isle of Wight and with the 07.05 to 07.45 starts the boats had to contend with initial choppy conditions in the Solent although tide was flowing with them through the forts. The RLYC line was used and because of the fast tide across the line, most were line shy apart from Class 2 which saw 3 boats return.
The early starters had a fast reach to Bembridge where they met some of the biggest seas of the day. Some chose to stay offshore, others to gybe into Sandown Bay but neither route seemed to give a significant advantage. Some tried kites as they ran down to Dunnose in the foul tide and 20 knots of true but many opted for the more cautions option of poling out the headsail. Once round Dunnose, boats slowly hardened up for the Needles in relatively smooth seas with the tide now under them.
At the Needles Channel and Hurst the NE wind and initial foul tides were challenging with boats trying to tack in the shallows out of the tide. Inevitably a few pushed their luck a bit too far with 4 grounding on the falling tide, being left high and dry but still managing to get off some hours later. Once out of the Needles Channel, the shallower waters of the Mainland side were favoured by most for a hard beat up the western Solent to the Beaulieu before a final welcome fetch to the finish line and a welcome rest.
On handicap, in Class 1 the J/Teams took five of the top ten spots! Third was Paul and Mark Griffith’s J/109 JAGERBOMB. Fifth was Bill West and Steve Counsel sailing their J/109 JO JO GUNNE. Sixth was a J/1059, Richard Cashmore and Tom Barker's SLINGSHOT. Eighth was the J/109 JUMUNU sailed by Elliot Wishlade and Julian Sutherland. Ninth was the J/122 JBELLINO, the OSTAR Class winner sailed by Rob Craigie and Deb Fish.
In Class 2 the small boats came through on the tide with the J/97 JIKA JIKA sailed by Mike and Jamie Holmes finishing in tenth. Just behind them in 11th was the J/92s HULLABALOO with Andrew Dallas skippering. In Class 3, the J/80 ALAMARA B sailed by Adam and Paul Charlesworth finished fourth in class.
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