(Hamble, England)- Winter finally made an appearance in the Garmin
Hamble Winter Series on the penultimate race day of 2014. Up to this
point, we have had unseasonal warmth, but the weather Gods made up for
this with a cold, gusty and unbelievably wet day on the water.The rain began at around midnight, and competitors awoke to it hammering on their windows. It did not let up all day! Nonetheless, the race teams braved the conditions to get a race in for all classes, and some close, tactical racing ensued. The northerly breeze might have brought in the cold temperatures, but it also provided some handy windshifts as boats closed the mainland shore. At this, the penultimate race in the series, competition is hotting up throughout the fleet as boats battle for podium places.
Martin
Dent's J/111 JELVIS leads IRC0 with a race to go, five points clear of
fellow J/111, Chris Body's ICARUS. Chasing hard to make a full J/111
podium is Louise Makin's JOURNEYMAKER II, two points behind in third
overall, but they didn't race on Sunday.In IRC 2, Stew Hawthorn’s J/88 JIFI is sitting in fourth overall, leading the J/88 contingent. Next is Paul Ward’s J/88 EAT SLEEP J REPEAT in fifth and Ivan Trotman’s J/88 JOJO is sitting on sixth.
IRC 3 sees Charles Ivill's ETB TYRES/ JUST LIKE THAT win yet another race and now sits atop the results with a three-point lead over Andy Howe’s J/97 BLACKJACK II in second.
The J/109s were won by Roger Phillips' DESIGNSTAR 2, which puts them only a point behind the leading boat, Adrian Wheal's JOLLY JACK TAR. Owain Franks' JYNNAN TONNYX is only a point behind second place, so the top three positions are all to play for next week, which should provide an exciting end to the series.
After such a wet day on the water, competitors dripped their way to the HRSC clubhouse to enjoy hot food and well-earned refreshments. Prizes were presented by Athena Rossi from Force 4, the day sponsors of the event.
One week remains of the 2014 Garmin Hamble Winter Series. Let's hope that winter holds off for another week! Thanks for contribution from Ben Meakins. Sailing Photo Credits- Paul Wyeth/pwpictures.com. For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information
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