(Hamble, England)- The penultimate weekend of the Garmin Hamble Winter
Series saw a chilly and gusty breeze that shifted regularly between 002
and 022 degrees, demanding frequent tacks and rewarding tacticians with
their heads out of the boat. Despite only reaching 18 knots, the wind
was gusty enough to keep trimmers on their toes.In some classes, boats that have been dominant throughout the series consolidated their overall lead, despite not topping the fleet in Sunday’s race. In IRC 0, David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J/111 J-DREAM continued to sail a consistent series in their class and maintained their strong record with a 3rd this past weekend to hold on to their bronze podium position as well as their gold position in the J/111 one-design class overall.
In IRC 2, Paul Heys’s J/88 JUNGLE DRUM continues their series with a solid performance and Louise Makin’s J/105 JOURNEYMAKER 5 is holding onto fifth overall— a great finish for an older classic J design.
Nick Munday’s J/97 INDULJENCE is still leading their series with a 2nd to take IRC 3 Class with a commanding lead overall. Just behind them chasing INDULJENCE the entire series has been David Greenhalgh’s J/92 J-RONIMO, taking a well-earned 1st in the last race and nailing down second overall for the series to date!
The
J/109s always have a go of it and this year is no different.
Nevertheless, starting out strongly and not to be thwarted on their form
was David McGough’s JUST SO, rolling off four 1sts on their way to a
strong and well-deserved class lead. The same could not be said for the
balance of the podium. It is a donnybrook for silver and bronze and
Paul Griffith’s JAGERBOMB won the latest race of the series but it’s not
enough to topple their erstwhile classmates, Owain Franks JYNNAN
TONNYX. At the moment, the TONNYX boys have the silver with 15 pts net
with JAGERBOMB a whisker behind with 16 pts net. Fourth is David
McLeman’s OFFBEAT and fifth is Ivan Burden’s JACOBI. Time will tell how
this fleet goes topsy-turvy going into the final weekend!Finally, David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J-DREAM are leading the J/111 class, ahead of Andrew Christie’s ICARUS in second and Cornel Riklin’s JITTERBUG in third.
Prizes were generously provided by Driver’s Dry Berthing at a prize-giving back in the Hamble River Sailing Club club house. See you next week on the water for one more race! Thanks for the contributions from Ben Meakins. For sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth Pictures For more Hamble Winter Series sailing information
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