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                               27 November 2008

 

25-26 April 2009

SUPERB CLIMAX TO RAYMARINE WARSASH SERIES AND CHAMPIONSHIP

 

Raymarine Warsash Spring Series Week 6 – 26th April 2009

 

There could not have been a better finale to the seventh Raymarine-sponsored Warsash Spring Series - glorious sunshine and a decent south-easterly breeze that built gradually during the day. They were ideal conditions for close and challenging racing for the 220 boats entered, particularly exhilarating sailing for the sports boats. The weekend also saw the final two days’ racing in the Spring Championship for “Big Boats”, 45 footers, 40.7s and three classes of sports boats.

 

The Black Group fleet were set long courses, using much of the central Solent, from a start line at Flying Fish buoy. IRC1 and the 40.7s had two races which also counted towards the Spring Championship. With the tide changing an hour into the race, tacticians had to decide when to stay in the deep water channel and when to avoid it and hug Ryde Middle Bank. John Patterson in the J/133 Panacea had taken a healthy points lead into the day’s racing and whilst he finished behind all the bigger boats, he was close enough to the leaders to recoup his time and take the handicap honours. This gave him the Series win by six points from Bill Blain’s Batfish III. British Soldier,  finished 22 minutes behind Lutener and Elwood’s TP52 Cutting Edge but on handicap the gap was down to two seconds. British Soldier is the Army Sailing Association’s entry under the livery of the Toe in the Water charity for injured service personnel. The second race of the day was subject to a general recall due to over excitement at the outer distance mark. The next attempt was enlivened by the look of panic on faces of four smaller boats in another class, finding themselves in the start area at a less than helpful time. Hasty spinnaker drops and sharp rudder adjustments averted any major problems.  Cutting Edge had the bit between her teeth and sped round the course in just over two hours to take line honours. She incurred a penalty along the way but was still far enough ahead to beat Panacea by nine seconds on handicap – demonstrating the effectiveness of the IRC rating system.

 

The remaining Black Group classes enjoyed a largely similar course. The J/109s had a general recall and were sent to the back of the sequence but all other starts were clear. There was a surprise in IRC2. Going into the final day, Activ Power and Sail’s 40.7 Addiction had a clean string of first places but that was not to continue. By the time the boats reached Hill Head, at the end of the third leg, Andrew Webster’s Seaquest 36 Circus held a small lead over Jim Macgregor’s Elan 410 Premier Flair with Puma Logic (Sailing Logic) and Quokka (Peter Rutter) in close order behind. Over the next few legs, Quokka worked her way to the front of the class. Circus hung on to second but Premier Flair slipped back to take sixth. Addiction in ninth place was happy to use this race as a discard, taking the overall title with a perfect score. In IRC3, four boats were in the running for a Series win. On the day it was Mike Bridge’s Elaine which just squeezed a three second lead on handicap from Starspray (Bateson family). This gave the Series win to Mongoose (Patrick Snowball) with Malice (Mike Moxley)  just one point adrift and level with Starspray but taking second place on countback. Extracted results were provided for the 13 Sigma 38s in IRC3 and these showed a Series win for Nigel Goodhew in Persephone of London which counted three firsts and a second. Only Pavlova III came close, four points adrift.

 

A similar situation existed in IRC4 where several boats had a chance to gain the Series title. In the event, 2XS (Aindriu McCormack) established a winning lead on the first leg which was extended as the race wore on. Behind the leader, Mike Fawcett’s Hobby Horse and Richard Hollis’ Crackajax enjoyed a very close race. It was only on the leg towards the Island shore when Crackajax fell into Hobby Horse’s dirty wind that she lost ground. 2XS took overall victory with Hobby Horse two points behind. Third place was taken by Kathy and Rupert Smalley aboard  The Flying Fish on countback over Crackajax. In the one-design Black Group classes and the final J/105 race, Charles Rolls forsook his own J/109 Barbarossa to helm Andy Hill’s Only Just to victory by over two minutes. In the Series there was only one point between each of the top three boats: Fay-J (Paul Griffiths), Voador (Simon Curwen) and Java (Rob Dornton-Duff). In the 19-strong J/109 class only Adam Wright’s Jouster/Velvet Elvis won two races. The title went to David and Kirsty Apthorp in J-Dream who counted no result lower than third.

 

With the wind in the southeast, the two White Group courses could be laid head to tail along the Meon shore. The windward mark for the J/80s and Hunter 707s was just below the bottom gate for the Laser SB3s. With both the Spring Series and Spring Championship titles to be decided, it could have been predicated that the over-enthusiastic SB3s would have at least one general recall. So it came to pass, but it was at least limited just to the one. Three races having been lost earlier in the Series, only one discard was allowed in the main set of results. Series leader Geoff Carveth on Cre8tivity used his on the first race, when he was 11th out of 44. Craig Burlton helming Gill Race Team took the gun, his fourth win, with Mike Budd (Zimmer) second. Budd then went one better in the next race, finishing first by 21 seconds from Selden Masts (Chris Jennings). Carveth had the last laugh, winning the final race and taking the overall title by 56 points. The runner up was his ex-crew, Sarah Allan, helming Sailboat Deliveries. She had sailed consistently and finished fourth in all the day’s races. Another consistent performer on the final day was Hamish Walker on Sail Navy.

 

The J/80s had enjoyed some very tight racing during the Series but usually behind Joystick (Vic Gregory and Rob Larke), who won 13 of the 17 races completed. Like many scorelines, this fact belies the closeness of the racing. Often victories were by a handful of seconds. The main opposition came from Charles Somerset’s Loudwater and Ian Atkins’ Boats.com. In the final reckoning they were a single point apart in Somerset’s favour. Liz Lotz and Peter Young (Lutine Belle) were rewarded for their consistency by winning the Hunter 707 class.

 

This is the final Spring Series being sponsored by Raymarine who have been keen supporters on and off the water. It has been good to see International Marketing Communications Manager Fiona Pankhurst taking an active part in the Series on board the Laser SB3 committee boat as well as presenting the weekly champagne prizes.

 

Warsash Sailing Club looks forward to welcoming everyone to the prizegiving on Friday 15th May at Shore House, Warsash. The Spring Series returns on 14th March 2010.

 

Raymarine Warsash Spring Championship – 25th/26th April

 

This was the final weekend of the Raymarine Warsash Spring Championship for “Big Boats, 45-footers, 40.7s, Hunter 707s, J/80s and Laser SB3s. Some competitors had entered the main Sunday Series too. Others opted for the Championship only. The full programme of 14 races was completed for the sports boat fleet whilst the larger keelboats enjoyed nine or ten longer races. Windward/leeward courses were set for both fleets.

 

On Saturday the air resounded to the sound of straining rigging as the big boats powered up whilst the loud cries for water came from the SB3s fighting for a space at the mark. In what had hitherto been gentle weather, the Spring Championship came alive as the brisk south-westerly, gusting over 20 knots, brought the best out of both fleets.

 

Wind over tide caused a number of minor problems for the committee boat on the main course but three excellent races were completed in good order by each of the classes. Despite the taxing conditions only one boat retired though a couple of spinnakers were probably damaged beyond repair. Going into the second weekend Jerry Otter’s Werewolf held a six point lead in the 45-foot class. They went on to consolidate their position with two further wins. With her pale grey livery and crew in white, she brought back memories of Nicholas Monserrat’s description of camouflaged destroyers in WWII. The Big Boat class included a number of J/133s. J/122s as well as a range of other designs – Comet 41, Farr 52, TP52, Ker 39 and Corby 40 and Stewart Hawthorn’s new Santa Cruz 37. By the afternoon it was difficult to see how the TP52 Cutting Edge (Robert Lutener and Martin Elwood) could be beaten. They were the fastest boat by some distance, taking the gun in each race and keeping their advantage on handicap. Nick and Anne Haigh, last year’s winners, on board Dark and Steamy had started the day in joint second place. They sailed consistently to hold their position but were being challenged by the J/133s Batfish III (Bill Blain) and Panacea (John Patterson) who were pressing hard. The tightest racing came in the First 40.7 class with all the podium places changing with each race. Nicholas Gaumont-Prat’s Philosophie IV was slightly off the pace and slipped to third overall behind Portia (Andrew Iver) and Playing Around (Peter Robson) but only three points separated them at the end of the day with everything to go for on Sunday.

 

All three classes in the sports boat fleet completed their allotted four races. As usual the SB3s had a mixed bag of starts. A couple of general recalls and selected use of the black flag managed to keep things under control. Hamish Walker in Sail Navy again raced consistently but unfortunately there were too many boats ahead for him to maintain his overall lead. That passed to Sarah Allen helming Sailboat Deliveries with a scoreline of 4,3,6,6 which could not be matched. Even Jerry Hill (Three Sad Old Blokes) who won the first and third races slipped to 16th in Race 2. Although this moved him up to second overall, Sarah Allen had a five point lead to defend on Sunday’s three races. Only 14 points separated the first five boats here leaving a lot open for the final races.

 

The smaller J/80 fleet had some great racing. Although Rob Clarke and Vic Gregory in Joystick won all four races, this belies the competition, which was fierce all day. Ian Atkins (Boats.com), winner in 2008, recorded 2,3,2,2 to lie five points behind Joystick, who was still having to count an OCS score from the first race. Realistically, the title would be between these two boats. There were no such problems for Jon Powell helming Betty in the Hunter 707 class. He also won all four races and was the fastest boat in the class. If the weather were to be the same on Sunday, that might be an ideal finale to his Championship.

 

The brisk breeze abated the following day, staying in the 8 to 12 knot range. The Spring Championship allowed no discards, but Cutting Edge continued her dominance in BB1, despite scoring a tenth in the first race, to take the title ahead of Panacea and Dark and Steamy. Werewolf also showed a clean pair of heels to take the 45 foot class by a margin of 12 points from Rebel (Stewart Whitehead) and Fortis Excel (Agne Nilsson). Portia held her lead in the First 40.7s leaving Playing Around second ahead of Philosophie IV, though Tarka (Guy Prest) was pressing hard.

 

Sarah Allan (Sailboat Deliveries) won the Laser SB3 class from her former skipper Geoff Carveth (Cre8tivity) with Sail Navy third. Betty scored only one race result lower than second in the Hunter 707s with Sparkle (Paul Curtis) runner up.  Joystick took the J/80 class a clear 40 points ahead of Loudwater with Boats.com third.

 

The Spring Championship was introduced some eight years ago at the request of competitors who wanted to concentrate their racing into two weekends. It continues to be a popular format for keelboats with larger crews as well as sports boats which might want to join the competition later in the Spring, when the weather might be warmer. The event returns in 2010 on the weekends of 17/18 and 24/25 April.

 

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18-19 April 2009

RAYMARINE WARSASH SERIES HEADS FOR GRAND FINALE

 

It was another busy weekend for Warsash Sailing Club over 18th/19th April. Saturday saw the first week’s racing in the Spring Championship for sportsboats with the fifth week of the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series following on Sunday. The event heads for a grand finale over 25th/26th April when the final races for “Big Boats”, 45-footers and sportsboats will be decided in the Spring Championship as well as trophy winners in the six-Sunday Spring Series. All in all there should be some 34 start sequences on three lines keeping six committee boats busy.

 

Raymarine Warsash Spring Series – 19th April 2009

 

Once again, conditions were near perfect. The offshore breeze was north-easterly 8 to 14 knots. The sun shone and all scheduled races were completed in good time. Two races were held for IRC3, IRC4 and J/105s to make up for those lost when the wind refused to play ball earlier in the series. The start sequence was amended to give IRC3 and the J/105s the first shot of the day and they shared the same tactically challenging course.

 

IRC3 is the largest of the handicap classes at 31 and includes 11 Sigma 38s in its mix of designs. The first course made good use of laid marks, taking competitors on an initial beat inshore of Hamble Yacht Services buoy and then on to include legs skirting the Bramble Bank before the final beat to finish at Air Canada. The committee boat end of the start line was favoured and Scarlet Jester (SJ320 – Jamie Muir) was the first to get clean air and pull away. Series leader Mongoose (First 34.7 – Patrick Snowball) was blocked out and penalised for a committee boat infringement before making a late but fast start when the line was clear. At the laid windward mark Mike Cooper’s J/92 Java Lite, with Paul Heys on board, held a small lead from Xcitable (Peter Hodgkinson/Sarah Bailey) with Mongoose making progress to round third. On the first run, the fleet started to spread out and a group of nine boats put daylight between them and the rest of the fleet. By the run from Hill Head to Williams Shipping Xcitable and Mongoose had overtaken Java Lite and steered a course towards the Bramble Bank post whilst everyone else stayed in the main channel to the north. The third beat saw Starspray (Dehler 36 – Bateson family) and Malice (HOD35 – Mike Moxley) stay south of the bank to make up on places and round together. It was nip and tuck over the final two legs with Malice just edging Starspray by 14 seconds at the line followed by Xcitable and Java Lite. On corrected time the smaller J/92 Java Lite came out the winner with Starspray second and only 24 seconds separated first to fourth places.

 

For the afternoon’s shorter race, Malice established an early lead in a variable breeze. The run back to West Ryde Middle was lively as boats caught up IRC4 and also had to weave their best path between bigger boats on the opposite tack.  There was no catching Malice which took both line honours and the handicap win, followed by Mongoose and Scarlet Jester. Pavlova III headed the Sigma 38s in fifth place.

 

Rob Dornton-Duff had a good day aboard Java winning both J/105 races to take a four point lead in the Series. In IRC4, Nick Masson brought his new boat Blink (Link 30 OD) to victory in IRC4 in the morning and lies equal fourth on points with The Flying Fish and Catch 22. Hobby Horse (Mike Fawcett) leads the class but Crackajax (Richard Hollis) and 2XS (Aindriu McCormack) are also level on points in second. In the final confrontation any one of six boats could take the title. Other Black Group classes saw wins for Bill Blain’s Batfish (IRC1), Addiction, her fifth bullet in IRC2 and a first win for J-Dream (David and Kirsty Apthorp) in the J/109s.

 

In the White Group sportsboat fleet, some competitors were counting points towards the Spring Championships as well as the Spring Series. The Laser SB3s had a mixed day of general recalls and black flags. The most crucial of these was the last race, when both Zimmer (Mike Budd) and City of Capetown (Roger Hudson) were among the casualties. Cre8tivity (Geoff Carveth) posted two wins and a third to retain a big points lead in the Spring Series after 15 races. The Hunter 707 class gained a few more boats in their class and although the racing was close, Jon Powell’s Betty completed a hat trick of firsts. In the J/80s there were three different winners – Joystick, Jammy Dodger and last year’s winner Boats.com.

 

Into the final Sunday, only Activ Power & Sail’s First 40.7 Addiction, in IRC2, is assured of a series trophy possibly along with Geoff Carveth in the Laser SB3s. All other classes are up for grabs. It’s going to be an exciting weekend.

 

Raymarine Warsash Spring Championship – 18th/19th April 2009

 

The first weekend of the Raymarine Warsash Spring Championship took place on 18th/19th April. Laser SB3, J/80 and Hunter 707 classes were included with a maximum 14 races spread over two weekends and no discards allowed. This format is popular with competitors and can throw up surprise winners.

 

The conditions on Saturday were always going to be challenging as there was an offshore breeze with windward marks set under the Meon shore. Getting tactics right on the beat was critical.  The SB3s arrived at the start area well ahead of time, all fired up for action and this enthusiasm caused an initial general recall. Away cleanly on the second attempt the leaders came out of the middle of the course. Geoff Carveth (Cre8tivity), South African Roger Hudson (City of Cape Town), Mike Budd (Zimmer) and Hamish Walker (Sail Navy) slowly put some distance between themselves and the peleton. As the race progressed, Carveth edged his way ahead until the bottom half of the final run when Hudson, out for the first time this year, managed to gybe inside him and take the lead at the bottom mark.

 

The second race was aborted with another general recall and there followed a lengthy delay as the race team re-laid the course in an unstable wind. When the race did start, it was under the black flag and three boats were disappointed.  Of all the early leaders, only Hamish Walker on Sail Navy managed to stay towards the front on lap two. Major wind shifts on the run and beat proved difficult to judge. Eventually Jerry Hill (3 Sad Old Blokes) took the gun from Joe Burnie (Trunk Monkey).

 

Although the sun came out after lunch, the wind conditions did not stabilise and the black flag rule was in force for the rest of the day. Still boats transgressed and would have to count a bad score. With the tide turned and taking boats towards the line, the last race of the day was the worst when seven boats were eliminated at the first attempt, including Carveth, and two more when the fleet did get away. Walker made the best of the conditions to win the third and fourth races but by a single second in the last race as Sarah Allan’s Sailboat Deliveries pushed him to the very end.

 

In the first race, seven of the nine J/80s racing were OCS and only five returned. Tim Thubron helming Joystick was one of the offenders and this left the way clear for Ian Atkins on Boats.com to take the gun from Stephen Chiverton (Just Chilling) and Charles Somerset on Loudwater. The fleet was cleanly away on Race 2 and Thubron had the advantage of the first beat when he sailed Andrew Ashworth (Jammy Dodger) above the mark before tacking off and rounding just ahead of the pack coming in from the righthand layline. On the run back Chiverton maintained his performance and gained second place with Somerset again third.

 

In the small Hunter 707 fleet, the honours were split between Tiger Feet (John Cooper and Ian Townend) and Betty (Jon Powell) each taking two races. Tiger Feet added a second and third to their scoreline to end the day with a small advantage over the others.

 

Sail Navy showed consistency paid as she came out top boat for the weekend of the Laser SB3s despite not posting a result better than seventh place on Sunday. Sponge Bob (Marshall King) had a good day to take second place going into the final weekend with 3 Sad Old Blokes (Jerry Hill) third. In the J/80s Joystick (Vic Gregory and Rob Larke) and Boats.com (Ian Atkins) tied for first place on 23 points with Loudwater (Charles Somerset) on 26 points. Jon Powell in Betty headed the Hunter 707s with Tiger Feet and Sparkle tied for second place.

 

The final races in the Spring Championship take place on 25th/26th April 2009.

 

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4-5 April 2009

A PERFECT COMBINATION FOR RAYMARINE WARSASH EVENT

 

The fourth meeting of the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series on 5th April 2009 enjoyed a perfect combination of sun and a steady breeze. Entries now top 200 and a full programme of racing was completed. The weekend also saw the start of the Spring Championship, involving additional races on the Saturday for “Big Boats”, 45 footers and First 40.7s.

 

Raymarine Warsash Spring Series – 5th April 2009

 

With a forecast south-easterly, the Black Group committee boat set up station near Air Canada buoy with South Ryde Middle as the first windward mark.  Cutting Edge (TP52 – Robert Lutener and Martin Elwood) had a good day winning by 12 seconds from Jinja (J/122 – Ian Matthews) in the first race and by a 30 second margin from Batfish III (J/133 – Bill Blain) in the second. It was good to see that Richard Rankin had brought his 12 metre to the line and, although not as fast as the latest designs, Italia is still a splendid sight. At this point John Patterson’s Panacea holds the series lead.

 

The remaining Black Group classes shared the same course, with shy spinnaker reaches interspersed with beats and runs, giving over two hours of close exhilarating racing. IRC2 had a good but aggressive start and the fleet spread out on the first leg, opinions being divided on the best route against the tide. The leaders had overtaken the backmarkers of IRC1 by the mark and calculating the right layline was critical. Paul Turner’s Artemis (Grand Soleil 43) on port tack had to give way to a pair of Elan 410s – Great Scot IV and Premier Flair. She then lost her wind and way. Sadly by the time she had fought free, half the class had sailed round her. The short leg across to North Ryde Middle proved just too tight for spinnakers. First 40.7s filled the leading places, with only Sailing Logic’s Reflex 38 Puma Logic managing to keep up with them. On the run back to Flying Fish, Addiction (Tim Thubron/Activ) gained a few more yards over Tarka (Guy Prest) and Portia (Andrew Iyer) and this leading group stayed tight until the finish. Addiction is now the only boat to hold a perfect score and is in a commanding position for the overall title.

 

The J/109 class shows a good mix of old and new faces. With one race abandoned, Mike and Sarah Willis on Jahmali went into the day’s racing holding a one point lead. They were forced to tack away just after the start and took some time to find clear air. This meant they reached the top mark behind Adam Wright’s Jouster/Velvet Elvis which led the fleet home. Further down a real tussle ensued between J-Dream (David and Kirsty Apthorp), Beth (Guy Knight), Shiva (Matthew Boyle) and Red Arrow (RAFSA) – all in third place at some stage – although J-Dream gained at the last turning mark and kept up the pace to the finish. After only two races, Voador (Simon Curwen), Fay-J (Paul Griffiths) and Java (Rob Dornton-Duff) are on level points in first place for the J/105s. In IRC 3 Mongoose (Patrick Snowball) gained a second win but the racing was close. Under one minute separated 5th to 9th places, with Persephone of London the top Sigma 38 in the class this week.

 

On the White Group sportsboat courses, there was very nearly a hat-trick of victories in all three classes. Craig Burlton (Gill Race Team) was unstoppable in the Laser SB3s with Geoff Carveth in Cre8tivity following him home in each race. Jerry Hill (3 Sad Old Blokes) has two third places to keep him in the hunt. Vic Gregory and Rob Larke (Joystick) still dominate the J/80s – three more wins making them virtually out of sight. Rob and Jon Fox (Jevan), having missed one Sunday, recorded two second places and moved up the table. Liz Lotz and Peter Young (Lutine Bell) took the first Hunter 707 race before Matt Gagnon and Katia Merle got in the groove to take the next two guns in Scaramouche.

 

The Raymarine Warsash Spring Series now takes a week’s holiday for Easter before resuming on 18th/19th April for the first day of the sportsboats’ Spring Championship and the fifth Sunday for the Spring Series. IRC3, IRC4 and the J/105 classes are all scheduled to have two races to make up for races abandoned.

 

Raymarine Warsash Spring Championship - 4th/5th April 2009

 

The Spring Championship got underway on the weekend of 4th/5th April 2009 with two days’ racing dedicated to “Big Boats” racing under IRC, with 45 footers level-rated and 40.7s. The 15-strong BB1 class included Peter Harrison’s Farr 52 Chernikeeff 2 with two TP52s - Cutting Edge and John Merricks II. Nine Farr 45s contended the 45 foot class.

 

On Saturday 4th April, the early morning breeze faded and moved to the northwest, making the second lap a one-sided beat. This helped the bigger boats to take both line and handicap honours. The 40.7s found this beat against a strong tide a real struggle but Nicolas Gaumont-Prat (Tradition Philosophie IV) made the best of the conditions to win from Guy Prest’s Tarka by a minute.

 

Over the following 90 minutes the wind became very unstable and it was not until 1330 when the committee boat moved back to Royal Southern buoy that sufficient steady wind was found to set a fair course. Using East Knoll as the top mark, everyone enjoyed two further good races in a 15 knot west-southwesterly breeze.

 

Jerry Otter ‘s Farr 45 Werewolf won all three races in the 45 foot class. Cutting Edge proved the fastest in BB1 with a 2,1,1 scoreline, establishing an early lead in  the Championship. The 40.7s were much closer with a different winner in each race. At the end of the day, Andrew Iyer (Portia) held a one point lead from Tradition Philosophie IV with Peter Robson (Playing Around) another point adrift in third.

 

The following day BB1 and the Farr 45s joined the main IRC1 class and the First 40.7s raced in IRC2. Cutting Edge again dominated BB1 and ended the weekend 19 points ahead of Chernikeeff II. Werewolf continued her winning streak in the first race but then could only manage a fourth in the afternoon. By winning the second race, Rebel (Stewart Whitehead) has pulled back some points to lie second overall.  In the 40.7s, Tradition Philosophie IV has taken the narrowest of leads into the final weekend but Portia, Playing Around and Tarka could all be in contention for the overall title.

 

The Raymarine Warsash Spring Championship continues for the White Group sportsboats on 18th/19th April and a grand finale for all Championship classes and the Spring Series on 25th/26th April.

 

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29 March 2009

TESTING LIGHT CONDITIONS FOR RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES

 

Light wind conditions dominated the third week of the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series on Sunday 29th March 2009. The calm that enveloped the Solent overnight remained until after midday when a trickle of south-westerly breeze filtered in towards the entrance to Southampton Water where the sportsboat classes were waiting patiently.

 

The 20 Laser SB3s that had stayed out during the long postponement were rewarded with a two lap course. The wind slowly built during the race but also shifted towards the west. Mike Budd on Zimmer had to work hard for victory. David Cummings helming Rumbleflurg had his best result so far in second with Jo Lloyd and Sue Lloyd Antonelli in Robina third. CRO Peter Knight decided to extend the next race to three laps. A wind shift in the last minute gave rise to a general recall and the fleet were put under a Black Flag Rule. Only Team Green (Libby Greenhalgh) was caught the wrong side of the line at the restart and this will drop them down the overall standings until a discard is allowed. Again Mike Budd proved to be too good for the rest of the fleet and he took his second gun of the day, moving up to second overall on 33 points. Geoff Carveth on Creativity leads on 27 points but was sailing with a very light crew and could only manage an eighth and fourth scoreline on the day.

 

On the second White Group line CRO Jon Spencer completed three races for the J/80s and Hunter 707s. There were triple victories in both classes. Scaramouche (Matt Gagnon) had the edge over Lutine Belle (Liz Lotz and Peter Young) in each of the 707 races but it was always close enough to provide good racing. In the J/80s, Joystick (Vic Gregory and Rob Larke) is stringing together a very impressive set of results with seven first places and one second. Their main competition at present comes from Charles Somerset in Loudwater. Until the third week of the series he had posted no worse than a third place but on Sunday he had a bad day, being scored OCS in one race and 12th in another before recovering to second place in the final race. Julian Bates on Bjorn Slippy has been showing a steady improvement, posting a third, second and fourth which moves him up the leaderboard to second.

 

In Black Group only IRC4 completed a race, starting from the Laser SB3 line on a short windward/leeward around East Knoll. Provisional results show 2XS (Andriu McCormack) fastest on the water but The Flying Fish (Kathy and Rupert Smalley) followed home a minute later giving the smaller Laser 28 the win, followed by Blink, the new Link 30 one design, and Sigma 33 Sixes and Sevens.

 

Next weekend sees the start of the Spring Championship on Saturday for “Big Boats”, 45 footers and 40.7s. The 13-strong mixed handicap section includes J/133s, J/122s and the TP52 Cutting Edge. Later in the Championship Warsash Sailing Club is pleased to welcome three boats in the J/80 class from Toe in the Water, the initiative which aims to inspire the lives of men and women from the three services who have suffered traumatic injuries, racing on equal terms with their able-bodied contemporaries. The Raymarine Warsash Spring Series continues on Sunday 5th April.

 

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22 March 2009

SUNSCREEN AND SHORTS FOR RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES

 

The spell of fine weather continued for the second week of the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series on Sunday 22nd March 2009. Out went the thermals and on came the shorts for a fine day of challenging racing. The breeze stayed mainly in the 8 to 12 knot range but was not so stable in direction, especially when Black Group boats were close in sight of the finish line and White Group closer to the shoreline.

 

The 40-strong Laser SB3 fleet were only too ready to get going in these ideal conditions, except they were a little too keen and suffered their first general recall of the series. On the restart only two boats were over, the rest getting away cleanly heading inshore on the first beat. Mike Budd in Zimmer reached the top mark first. He then extended his lead downwind, to finish just under one minute ahead of Mike Gillett (Pambere) and Paul Lovejoy’s Badger Racing at the line. Last week’s winner, Geoff Carveth helming Creativity, did well to climb from the mid teens during the race to finish fourth.

 

The fleet made an excellent start in Race 2 but opinions were divided on the best way up the first beat. Pambere hit the layline precisely and rounded just ahead of the pursuing pack. The wind had shifted during the first leg making the run very one-sided with little opportunity to gain places. The second lap saw Scott Graham’s Chill Pill take the lead to finish 27 seconds ahead of Craig Burton helming Gill Race Team. Mark Gillett on Pambere gained his second podium place a further 17 seconds adrift. The committee boat was moved and the course re-laid for the final race where the starboard end of the line was favoured. Jo Lloyd and Sue Lloyd Antonelli on Robina stayed out in the tide, found their own private wind and were first at the windward mark but Ian Gilmour sailing Pelican Racing was close behind and found better downwind speed. Geoff Carveth had been trapped mid-fleet but worked extremely hard to find clear air, making the right tactical decisions as the wind faded, to take the final gun. He joined Craig Burton and Jerry Hill as the three skippers who had posted top ten results throughout on a day of very mixed fortunes.

 

The J/80s also enjoyed three races, each of 45 to 65 minutes between William off Hill Head and Coronation at the entrance to Southampton Water. Last week’s winner Joystick (Vic Gregory and Rob Larke) continued in fine form adding another two wins and a second place whilst Julian Bates’ Bjorn Slippy achieved two third places. In all three Hunter 707 races, Scaramouche (Matt Gagnon) beat Lutine Belle (Liz Lotz/Peter Young).

 

The IRC4 class has a good mix of designs, with Sigma 33s and Mustang 30s the most popular. Starting from the Laser SB3 line their course went west of the other Black Group classes before using common marks in the final section to finish at a laid mark near Universal buoy. On the first beat, Aindrie McCormack’s X-99 2XS established a small lead, which was gradually extended enough to give them the race on handicap. Behind the winner, several duels developed between sisterships. The Mustang 30s Hobby Horse (Mike Fawcett) and Erik the Red (Bernard Fyans) had a fine luffing match soon after the windward mark and as so often happens in these one-design tussles, lost places to others. Hobby Horse recovered over the ensuing legs to finish second ahead of Kathy and Rupert Smalley’s Laser 28 The Flying Fish.

 

Elsewhere in Black Group use was made of moveable marks for the initial legs followed by a cascade of beats, runs and shy spinnaker reaches towards Ryde Middle and then Lee on Solent. Courses varied in length from 13.5 NM for IRC1 down to 11.5 NM for IR3. In IRC1 J/122s led the fleet with Panacea (John Patterson) beating Jinja (Ian Matthews) by a five second margin. Tim Thubron and Activ Power and Sail’s 40.7 Addiction took IRC2 followed by Premier Flair (Jim Macgregor). Patrick Snowball’s First 34.7 Mongoose established an impressive lead in IRC3 to finish seven minutes ahead of Elaine (Elan 37) with Starspray (Dehler 36) third. Simon Curwen won the J/105 class in Voador whilst Jahmali took the J/109s.

 

Racing in the Spring Series continues on 29th March and 5th April with the first of the Spring Championship races for “big boats”, 45 footers and 40.7s on Saturday 4th April.

 

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15 March 2009

A SUNNY SOLENT WELCOMES RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES

 

The Raymarine Warsash Spring Series got underway on Sunday 15 March 2009. The sun shone under a blue sky for the 166 boats entered for the first race day. With their separate start line, the Laser SB3s proved the largest fleet at 34. In the mild conditions, only the wind was reluctant to appear which made this introduction to the new season an excellent challenge as crews coaxed their craft along searching for every little patch of breeze.

 

On the Black Group committee boat, David Greenway and his race officers out in the mid Solent waited for the light westerly to settle sufficiently to set a fair course. At 1035  IRC1 got off to a clean start, heading across the Bramble Bank to West Knoll buoy. A new windward mark was laid just north of Air Canada buoy for the remaining four classes.

 

In IRC2 the pin end of the line was favoured. Only Puma Logic was over and Peter Rutter’s Quokka was the first to gain clean air. Soon the fleet was strung out over a wide area as tacticians tried to find the best wind, which oscillated between west and east for an hour from midday. With all classes still struggling to reach the first mark, the decision was taken to shorten course to two legs. Some boats had resorted to kedging whilst others were in danger of being swept into the main channel. Crews constantly changed from white sails to spinnaker as the fickle breeze altered direction.

 

As the time limit approached a constant breeze finally came up from The Needles for the spinnaker reach to the finish. In IRC1 Paul Bayliss helming Stewart Hawthorn’s new Santa Cruz 37 Sonic chose his moment to gybe well and powered to the line just before 1400 ahead of Tim Thubron on Addiction in IRC2. This gave boats still racing in these classes an extended time limit. As the top-rated boat in IRC1 Sonic slipped to third on handicap leaving a win to John Patterson’s J/122 Panacea. Having held her lead from the first mark Addiction posted a first bullet three minutes ahead of Encore, another First 40.7. Guy Knight on Beth took line honours in the one-design J/109s and did the rest of his group a favour by creating a later time limit. Unfortunately no boats in IRC3 or J/105 managed to finish in time and their races had to be abandoned.

 

The two White Group courses, which were nearer the north shore, managed to enjoy a little better wind. Jon Spencer started the Hunter 707 and J/80 classes on time and completed two races. New boats joining the 11-strong J/80 fleet took double honours with Vic Gregory and Rob Larke’s Joystick first followed by Charles Somerset on Loudwater. In the second race four J/80s managed to finish after a taxing two-hour race. Liz Lotz and Peter Young’s Lutine Belle was the sole finisher in the Hunter 707 class.

 

In a change to arrangements this year, the IRC4 class was given an earlier start at 1000 nearer the Hamble, started by Peter Knight’s team from the Laser SB3 line. Given a course which kept near the Meon shore, this class enjoyed a long race, for some nearly four hours, but the majority finished. In the end Crackajax (X-95 – Richard Hollis) beat Hobby Horse (Mustang 30 – Mike Fawcett) to the line by just over five minutes on handicap. The popularity of the Laser SB3s seems unabated, with many new sail numbers entered for this year’s series. After an hour’s postponement, the fleet got away successfully and the team led by Geoff Carveth, an established front-runner, on Creativity reached the line nearly one minute ahead of Chris Jennings’ Selden Masts after an hour-long race. Sponge Bob in third place was just nine seconds adrift. Places were equally close further down the results table with 45 seconds separating 13th to 17th places. As an area of calm drifted onto the racecourse, a second race was abandoned.

 

Back in the clubhouse, Fiona Pankhurst from Raymarine presented bottles of champagne to the class winners, whilst everyone relaxed for a well-earned beer and either enjoyed the garden or the England/France rugby match showing in the bar. The Raymarine Warsash Spring Series continues next Sunday 22nd March. New entries are welcome and can be made online, see link on the left.

 

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9 March 2009

RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES - READY FOR ACTION!

 

Lively conditions greeted the 50-strong members of the race management team for the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series 2009, when a full dress rehearsal was held for the Solent’s premier early season event. All systems afloat and ashore were checked, ready for the first day’s racing next Sunday 15 March.

 

As well as the six race Spring Series on Sundays, the Spring Championship will comprise weekends with multiple races. For sportsboats the dates are 18th-19th and 25th-26th April. Big boats have 4th-5th and 25th-26th April reserved for their Spring Championship.

 

The Laser SB3s will again have a separate start line from other White Group classes, with 36 entered so far. These include last year’s winner of the Spring Series and Spring Championship Geoff Carveth, whose Hayling Island team went on to take the title at the inaugural Laser SB3 World Championships. In IRC, Nick and Anne Haigh also achieved a double top spot in 2008 and will be back for the Spring Championship with their DK46 Dark and Steamy, currently scratch boat in IRC although several ratings have yet to be received. A brand new boat is Stewart Hawthorn’s American-designed Santa Cruz 37 Sonic competing in both the Series and Championship.

 

One of the first tasks of the race management team is to check the location of the seasonal race marks. Each year brings minor changes. In 2009 Williams Shipping has been repositioned just to the east of West Bramble cardinal buoy. Air Canada has been moved a quarter mile south-west to even out the distances between race marks in this part of the Solent. RYA Yachtmaster is now renamed Hamble Yacht Services while Britannia Events becomes Wight Vodka.

 

The Racing Rules of Sailing have also been revised to cover the years 2009 to 2012 and can be downloaded from www.sailing.org/racingrules.php. The RYA prescriptions are at www.rya.org.uk/assets/racing/RYA%20Prescriptions%202009%20-%202012.pdf.

 

There is a change in start sequence format for IRC4. Following useful feedback from competitors, their start has been brought forward an hour from the end of the sequence to 10am, with a separate start line closer to Hamble.

 

Once racing is over, everyone is welcome at Warsash Sailing Club, where there is a friendly bar at club prices, hot food and fast on-screen results. Raymarine will also be presenting champagne to the weekly class winners present in the clubhouse. Last minute entries are welcome and these can be made on-line via the link on the left.

 

 

27 November 2008

RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES – THE PREMIER EARLY SEASON EVENT

 

The Raymarine Warsash Spring Series, the Solent’s premier early season event, takes to the water again from 15th March 2009 and continues on  22nd, 29th March and 5th, 19th and 26th April. The Black Group classes (IRC, J/109s, J/105s) will generally have one good race a day, whilst White Group (Laser SB3s, J/80s, Hunter 707s and SBR Sportsboats) will have three shorter races each Sunday.

 

The Spring Championship for “Big Boats”, the 45-foot class, First 40.7s and other one-designs is on the weekends of 4th/5th and 25th/26th April, with a total of 12 races over the two weekends.

 

The White Group Spring Championship for Laser SB3s, J/80s and Hunter 707s is on 18th/19th and 25th/26th April with a total of 18 races. 

 

Everything builds up to a grand finale on 25th/26th April with the deciding races in both Spring Championships and in the Spring Series itself. 

 

The dates allow competitors a week off over the Easter Bank Holiday, whether for a rest or to compete in other popular fixtures.

 

The Spring Series offers three central Solent start lines, with Laser SB3s racing separately. A minimum ten boats can be considered for a separate class and extracted results from the IRC handicap section can also be listed.

 

All competitors are assured of a warm welcome at Warsash Sailing Club’s riverside base near the entrance to the River Hamble, where breakfast and lunch is available on Sundays. Fast on-screen results can be viewed in the friendly bar where weekly class winners can collect their champagne prizes, courtesy of Raymarine.

 

Keeper prizes will be presented to series winners and podium places at the prize giving on Friday 15th May, plus the superb Raymarine Trophy for outstanding achievement. In 2008 the winner was Ian Atkins of Boats.com who took his class in both the Spring Series and Spring Championship as well as showing good sportsmanship and support for the event. 2008 saw near-record entry numbers and Warsash Sailing Club look forward to welcoming competitors old and new in 2009.

 

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