(Warsash, England)- By the end of racing on Sunday, each Black Group
(BG) class in the Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series had a different
class winner to the first day of racing last week, showing there is some
hot competition in the classes even if the temperature was distinctly
cold-- like frigid!!Barring the lack of sunshine, the conditions were much as they had been last week with a NE to ENE breeze mostly 8-15 knots and oscillating to the right and back around 20 degrees or more throughout the day. For the second week in a row, all classes got away cleanly at the start so the recall flag has yet to be used.
Apart
from IRC4, the Black Group start was on the south edge of the East
Knoll bank. Courses involved a first windward leg to a laid inflatable
mark inshore of Hamble Yacht Services buoy and then a series of running,
reaching and windward legs between there and Cowes, finishing at East
Knoll buoy. Although the tide was less strong than the previous week,
wind and tidal tactics were often at a premium.IRC1 Class saw the J/111 JITTERBUG skippered by Cornel Riklin take first place, and the J/122 JUNO helmed by Christopher Daniel in third. JITTERBUG is leading the class overall.
The
IRC 2 class has five J/88s racing each other for one-design honors.
Continuing to lead the 88’s is Paul Ward’s EAT SLEEP J REPEAT followed
by Richard Cooper’s JONGLEUR in 2nd and David & Kirsty Apthorp’s
J-DREAM in 3rd.The racing in IRC 3 class is a rough and tumbles battle. Leading the charge after weekend, two is David Greenhalgh’s J/92 J’RONIMO, with a 1-2 in class. Andy Howe’s J/97 BLACKJACK is moving up the leaderboard with a 3rd on the weekend to now sit 4th in class.
In the J/109 class, the second weekend still sees JIRAFFE (Simon Perry) leading with a 1-2 while JUST SO (David McGough) is closing the gap with a 3-1. JYNNAN TONNYX (Owain Franks) is just one point behind with a 2-3.
Racing in the White Group is beginning to show trends for the leading boats, with the top half of the pack finishing just seconds apart bar the leaders; JESTER (J/80- Mike Lewis) in race four and six, and JENGA 8 (J/70- Andrew Barraclough) in race five, who both managed to pull away from the pack.
The
WG start was once again at Hamble winter series buoy with a combined
class start for all three races. Patrick Liardet, (COSMIC- J/70), who is
leading the Combined White Group and the J/70 class said at the prize
giving: “Despite the wind shifts the start line remained square and the
windward leeward courses worked well. Although it was a really cold day
we had some good racing, particularly against JENGA 8 who kept us on our
toes!” JENGA 8 won one out of three races and is lying second overall
in the J/70 class. Like a “sleeper”, Steve Venables INJUNCTION is
sitting in third just 2 pts back. Six points back is Nick Denny’s
JALAPENO in 4th and only two points behind them is Doug Struth’s DSP.
JESTER
(Mike Lewis) won two of the three races in the J/80 class with BETTY
(Jon Powell) only winning one. BETTY remains at the top of the leader
board for the J/80 class with a seven-point lead, followed by JUMBLESAIL
(Rachel & Robert Hunt) and AQUA—J (Terence O'Neil).There was a good crowd back in the clubhouse after racing to collect the winners' champagne prizes and warm up with some hot food! Frank Roger Bowden (Nifty) won the Crewsaver Pro Auto lifejacket and Peter Rouse (Voodoo) the Helly Hansen Salt Power Jacket in the prize draw. To be eligible for the prize draw you need to be at the clubhouse for the prize giving.
The Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series is sponsored by Helly Hansen and supported by race partner’s Crewsaver and Rolly Tasker Sails. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright/ Photoaction.com. For more HELLY HANSEN Warsash Spring Series sailing information
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