J/111 J-DREAM & J/109 JAGERBOMB OD Leaders(Hamble, England)- If last week's lack of wind was anything to go by, this year's Garmin Hamble Winter Series looked set to be one of the lightest in memory. And then Sunday came along. In a brief gap between two ginormous Lows that came screaming up the Channel in quick succession, all classes fitted in a race on a windy, wet and cold day. In fact, the weather was so ferocious, some crews faced logistical nightmares in making the start via a flooded and storm-battered countryside, which was reflected in slightly lower entries this week.
A
deceptively light 10 knot breeze wafted boats to the start line, before
a line squall heralded the arrival of 20-28 knots of Southwesterly wind
- and frequent showers of icy rain, which persisted throughout the day.
The blustery conditions heralded some impressive broaches and saw some
shredded spinnakers. But luckily, the advancing Low held off just long
enough for the assembled crews to enjoy the spectacle from the comfort
of the HRSC clubhouse as it whistled in across the Solent.Out on the water, IRC 0 was first away and Dr Ivan Trotman's crew aboard their J/122 JOULOU had a rough go of the conditions, managing a 5th place, sufficient to hang onto their lead for the series by two points.
For Nick & Adam Munday's J/97 INDULJENCE the conditions were generally to their liking but again managed to hang on tenuously to their position in second overall, hoping for a good last race next weekend! The "feel good" story of the day had to be Andy Howe's J/92s BLACKJACK that sailed a good race to snag a 2nd!
Of
the J/111s on the water, Cornel Riklin's JITTERBUG finished first in
what amounted to a match race for the top of the class. At this stage,
David & Kirsty Apthorp's J-DREAM has a 3 pt lead on the class and
short of a crushing last race or two, they hope to hang onto the lead
for the Winter Series win. JITTERBUG can mathematically have a shot,
but it's at pretty long odds that J-DREAM will be displaced at the top
of the leader board.In the J/109s, Paul Griffiths' JAGERBOMB was first of the two J/109s that completed the race, further tightening their grip on first place overall and pulling into a 6 pts lead in the class. Like their former J/109 competitors, J-DREAM, the Griffiths' JAGERBOMB team look set to take home the crown for the J/109 class next weekend barring an apocalyptic race of sorts. Second is Owain Franks' JYNANN TONNYX with 16 pts and in third is David McLeman's OFFBEAT.
Event Photographer Paul Wyeth took some brilliant photos of the day's racing and more evocative images can be found on his website - http://www.pwpictures.com.
Thanks to Force 4 Chandlery, who, as Day Sponsors provided prizes in the clubhouse after racing. One race remains - and crews wait to see what the weather gods have in store! For more Hamble Winter Series sailing information
