PRIZEGIVING
FOR RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES
Warsash Sailing Club was packed on 16th
May 2008 when the prizegiving for the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series and
Spring Championship was held. 2008 marked the Silver Jubilee of the event which
started on a much smaller scale but this year saw 277 entries - the second
highest total ever. Chairman Peter Bateson thanked the 125 volunteers who had
made everything run smoothly. On some weeks, the race management team had
included Fiona Pankhurst, International Marketing Communications Manager for
title sponsors Raymarine. Fiona and her husband Terry had joined the busy Laser
SB3 committee boat with Commodore Peter Knight running a separate line for this
class in 2008.
Special thanks were given to Cliff and June
Norbury who had provided their Starlight 39 Zest
as a committee boat for the event over many years. Cliff was also retiring from
the Spring Series Committee where his words of wisdom would be sadly missed.
It was then time to present over 60 prize
winners before reaching the three special trophies for the year. The
Commodore’s Cup is awarded to the outstanding winner of an IRC class. This year
it went to Nick and Anne Haigh of Dark and
Steamy. They scored four first places out of five ranking races in IRC1 as
well as winning their class in the Big Boat Championship. The Founder’s Trophy,
presented in memory of Tom Cozens, one of the founders of Warsash Sailing Club
51 years ago, went to Geoff Carveth (Palava)
in the Laser SB3 class who won the Spring Championship by a 35 point margin and
the Spring Series by an even more remarkable 45 points. The Raymarine Trophy is
presented by the event sponsors to a boat or individual on merit. This year it
went to the J/80 team of Ian Atkins on Boats.com
who won both the Spring Series and Spring Championship but especially showed
good sportsmanship and support for the event.
News
release 28th April 2008
FINAL
SHOWDOWN FOR THE RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES
It was another busy weekend for Warsash
Sailing Club over 26th and 27th April, which included the
final races in both the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series and the Spring
Championship for sportsboats. Saturday and Sunday could not have been different
weather-wise. The first day was beautifully warm and sunny, the second overcast
and grey with an impressive thunder storm just before the start sequence.
Raymarine
Warsash Spring Championship - Saturday 26th April
The Spring Championship included a large
fleet of Laser SB3s, a growing number of J/80s and a dwindling but nonetheless
fiercely competitive class of Hunter 707s. In the balmy weather, the Laser SB3
course was set at the entrance to Southampton Water where competitors enjoyed
the best of the early wind. The first start was aborted a few seconds before
the gun but at the second attempt everyone was away. By the time the fleet
reached the top mark heading for the spreader mark, many underestimated the
cross tide. Paul Lovejoy in Badger Racing
made the best of the conditions to take the gun a few boat lengths and 19
seconds ahead of Colin Simonds on Doolalli.
William Harrison-Cripps sailing I Maximus
was third. Lovejoy then finished second
to Geoff Carveth in Palava in the
second race. Jerry Hill in Three Sad Old
Blokes ended on a high note in the third race, with his first win.
PRO Jon Spencer was running the other line
for Hunter 707s and J/80s. He managed to complete four races before the wind
became too erratic. The 707s had a good day’s racing. There were three
different winners in the four races, so no one got the upper hand. Miles
Dalby’s Tequila took the first and
last. Had he competed on the first weekend of the championship, this could well
have seen him at the top of the table overnight. As it was, Dicky Barnes held
that honour ahead of Paul Gray. In the J/80s Ian Atkins led after the first
weekend but he was caught OCS in the second race of the day and had to add 14
points to his total score. He made amends by winning the last two races but was
second overall to Chris Savage, helming his sister’s Savage Team Racing.
Raymarine
Warsash Spring Series and Spring Championship - Sunday 27th April
Competitors were greeted by sullen skies
and very little wind as they made their way out to the three race courses.
About thirty minutes before the start sequences were underway, a violent
thunder storm broke out with heavy rain. When it departed, it took with it
every breath of wind.
The Black Group committee boat set up
station at Universal Marina buoy and for an hour boats
circled Condor
just as the wind circled the compass. When the new breeze seemed to settle, PRO
David Greenway set courses with an initial beat with the tide to South East
Ryde Middle followed by legs varying in length for different classes but all
finishing at Air
The combination of tide and wind left the
race management team with no alternative but to shorten all classes. Dark and Steamy was far enough ahead to
spot the new wind early, changed headsails and made good progress from Daks out
to the finish. Only two other boats managed to finish within the time limit.
The two J/Boat classes got stuck in the central
In White Group conditions were equally
taxing. Only one race could be held for the Laser SB3s, won by Jerry Hill in Three Sad Old Blokes from Geoff Carveth
in Palava. The J/80s and Hunter 707s
managed two races but then called it a day at 2pm. There were double wins for
Ian Atkins in Boats.com and Dicky
Barnes in Cacciatore.
When the provisional Series and
Championship points were calculated Dark
and Steamy was the runway winner in IRC1 with four first places in five
races after two discards. Points were closer in IRC2 where Andrew Webster’s Circus beat Steady Barker (Michael Brough) by three points. Until the 14th
place in the final race,
In the Laser SB3s Geoff Carveth (Palava) won both the Spring Series and
Spring Championship. Cacciatore
(Dicky Barnes) topped the Hunter 707s in the Spring Championship whilst the
Spring Series title went to Miles Dalby in Tequila
after 13 races. Ian Atkins showed outstanding performance in the J/80s, taking
the Spring Championship with eight wins from 13 races, but Liz Savage in Savage Team Sailing was only one point
adrift. These skippers also topped the Spring Series points table though by a
larger margin of 18 to Atkins and 24 to Savage.
The prize giving for the Raymarine Warsash
Spring Series and Spring Championship takes place on Friday 16th May
at Shore House, Warsash, Southampton. The Commodore and Flag Officers of
Warsash Sailing Club look forward to welcoming all skippers and crew who are
able to attend, whether trophy winners or not.
News
release 22nd April 2008
RAYMARINE
WARSASH SPRING SERIES BUILDS TO A FINALE
It was another complex weekend on 19th
and 20th April for the race management team of Warsash Sailing Club
but a satisfying one. The sportsboats started their Spring Championship on
Saturday whilst the Big Boats completed theirs. On Sunday the Spring Series
continued and in addition to the normal
programme, competitors in IRC2 caught up
on the race lost due to the freak snowstorm a fortnight ago, leaving IRC3 and 4
to get back on schedule during the final meeting. WSC also ran a class for Commodore’s
Cup Class 3 trials, for boats that had missed out over the Red Funnel Easter
Regatta - altogether a busy time with four separate start lines and sailing
areas.
Raymarine
Warsash Spring Championship - Saturday 19th/Sunday 20th April
Competitors and officials alike had to
contend with some very unpleasant conditions - sullen skies, a bitter driving
rain and cold Force 5 to 6 north-easterly. In the Big Boat classes, the 45
footers provided some very close on-the-water racing. Boat handling and tactical
skills proved often more important than boat design, which is the attraction of
this type of racing level handicapped. A good example of this was Tony
Langley’s Atomic, which raced
downwind without a spinnaker pole, picked up the gybe point to perfection and
passed McFly within feet of the finish for ninth place. This weekend,
Simon Henning and his crew on Alice II
were the masters of the fleet. They scored three wins, a second and a fifth
from the five races completed. They were hard on the heels of Eamonn O’Nolan’s Freddie Freeloader, but O’Nolan had no
result worse than a fourth over the two weekend series, so won by three points.
IRC1 provided a very interesting mix of
boats topped by three TP52s, through a bevy of 40 foot designs and larger J-Boats
down to Peter Rutter’s new Quokka, a
The First 40.7 Class was mainly a tussle
between three boats - Tarka, tfs Philosophie IV and Portia. Although Steve Anderson and Jane
Curwen in Encore scored a third and
first on Sunday, they had missed too many races to break into the top ranks.
David Richards’ Prime Suspect finished top of the table in the Commodore’s Cup
Class 3 but a final decision as to who is finally included in the team rests
with the RYA.
Entries for the sportsboat section of the
Spring Championship came from three classes. The J/80s and Hunter 707s raced
under the care of Jon Spencer, WSC’s Rear Commodore Sailing whilst the 48 Laser
SB3s had Commodore
The large SB3 fleet surprised the race team
with exemplary starting behaviour on Saturday. All four races got away cleanly.
Could this be the effect of a no discard series? David Cummings (Rumbleflurg) had a great start to the
day. He led the fleet until a poor spinnaker drop at the penultimate mark let
Geoff Carveth on Palava in for the
win. With the wind touching 33 knots in the gusts, it was always going to be a
test of early season seamanship, but there were no major calamities. No overall
lead was established at the end of Saturday. On Sunday the wind was mainly
north-easterly and subject to large shifts. Instead of the start discipline so
evident on the previous day, the fleet reverted to their old bad habits and the
black flag had to be invoked to ensure
all the races scheduled were completed. Jono Shelley (Team Touareg) missed the first race but took the last two and moved
into fourth place behind Carveth, Colin Simmons (Doolali) and Ian Southworth and Nigel Smith (Chilli Chaser). The Spring Championship for sportsboats will be
completed next weekend when a further seven races are programmed.
Raymarine Warsash Spring Series - 5th week,
Sunday 20th April 2008
The forecast showers did
not materialise and the
In Black Group, it was the
intention to hold two races for IRC2 and IRC1. PRO David Greenway used the
length of the eastern Solent for his courses which had finish lines away to the
east off
It was Class IRC2’s turn
to catch up on an earlier abandoned race. Andrew Webster on Circus has had a good series so far and
he consolidated his overall lead by winning the morning race and coming fourth
in the afternoon. Behind him, 10 points cover the next eight boats and the
title could go to any one of them. IRC 3 and 4 were set longer courses which
included shy spinnaker reaches as well as extensive beats against the tide.
The White Group committee
boats took up station near the Meon shore. These classes have preset courses of
winward/leewards, varying in length. In the Hunter 707s, some competitors were
out for the first time this weekend. These included Beaver
Hunter which took one win and Cacciatore
which took the remaining two. Tequila
heads on Series point. The J/80s saw three different winners - Just Chilling, Jevan and Savage Sailing Team - but Boats.com tops the Series results. The
SB3s had two one hour races and a 30 minute third race. At this point Geoff
Carveth heads Ian Southworth and Nigel
Jones by 26 points
News
release 14th April 2008
RAYMARINE
WARSASH SPRING SERIES BACK ON TRACK
The race management team of Warsash Sailing
Club were kept busy on Sunday 13th April, running over 20 races in
one day for the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series. Last Sunday’s unseasonable
With such a heavy programme, getting
everyone off on time was important. The Black Group committee boat set up
station near Universal Marina buoy. In a constantly varying breeze, no fewer
than four ODMs were set up to ensure no bias on the start line. The sequence
went well, although some classes were subject to individual recall. Competitors
were taken on an initial beat to well under the Isle of Wight shore, before
reaching across to the east and cascading across the central
Nick Haigh, helming his DK46 Dark and Steamy, continued to dominate
IRC1. Victory in the first race, ahead of Stuart Hawthorn in Jump, gave him three straight firsts.
Things went very differently for the second race in the afternoon. Most of the
fleet decided to start at the pin end. A few got away, but in the ensuing melee
Dark and Steamy snagged the pin, got
held up and penalised. Even so, they managed to climb back to third on the
water and 12th on handicap. This leaves the boat holding on to the
top series place but by just one point from Jump
which took line and handicap honours in Race 2. With four boats separated by
four points in IRC1, good start line discipline could prove vital.
The asymmetric J/109s and J/105s had a good
reaching leg across from their windward mark to the turning mark at South Ryde
Middle. Matthew Boyle on Shiva set
the pace in the bigger class but Ben Richards helming Zelda chased hard and finished a handful of seconds behind at the
line. Clever race course management on the first race meant there was little
hanging around for the boats between races. Again in the afternoon, careful use
of differing beat lengths meant the three classes finished at more or less the
same time. Zelda reasserted her
superiority in the J/109s whilst Rob Dornton-Doff brought Java home in the J/105s ahead of Paul Griffiths’ Fay-J, the current series leader.
IRC2, 3 and 4, having one race each, were
set longer courses and found they were more prone to the vagaries of the wind.
Certainly IRC3 and 4, racing to the west, found stronger winds blowing down the
In White Group, the Laser SB3 class were
all set to start on time when, after a brief but heavy rain squall at 0955, the
wind seriously diminished in strength for their first race. This set the
pattern for the day with the strength and direction of the wind being
proportional to the amount of cloud cover at any time. Ian Southworth (Chilli Chaser) established an early lead
in Race 1 and was not challenged over the next two laps. Craig Burlton (Team Touareg) held of Steve Pears in Impact Promotions for second and third
place. After a general recall PRO
The J/80s have been enjoying very good
turnouts for their racing and this week the competition was as close as ever.
John Fowler (Jugular Vain) started
the day well by just winning the first race from Savage Sailing Team but then Liz Savage went from strength to
strength taking the next two races and climbing the overall table to third. Ian
Atkins (Boats.com) kept a grip on the
series lead with a 4-3-3 scoreline. Honours were very nearly split in the 707
class between Harry Hall (This is Jeff),
just edging ahead from Miles Danby’s Tequila.
These two boats have a lead of over 10 points from the rest of the class.
Saturday 19th April sees the
start of the sportsboat section of the Spring Championship as well as the
second weekend of the ‘Big Boat’ racing. The regular Raymarine Warsash Spring
Series continues on Sunday 20th April. Warsash Sailing Club’s team
will certainly be having another busy time.
News
release (2) 7th April 2008
SNOW
STOPS PLAY IN THE RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES
Competitors in the Raymarine Warsash Spring
Series come from far and near. By 7.30am on the morning of the fourth Sunday on
6th April, the phone at Warsash Sailing Club was busy with calls
from many skippers reporting atrocious weather conditions from
Warsash Sailing Club has published plans to
recover one race for each class in the remaining weeks. White Group classes
will each have a third race on Sunday 13th April. Black Group will
be split so that IRC1, J/109 and J105 classes will have a second race on 13th
April whilst IRC2 has an extra race on 20th April with IRC3 and IRC4
catching up on 27th April. These arrangements mean that the starting
sequence will be altered with some classes starting earlier each week.
Every week the Series sponsor Raymarine
supplies bottles of champagne to class winners present in the clubhouse. On the
remaining Sundays, this will take place slightly later to accommodate the extra
races. The target time will be 1530-1600 and all competitors, whether winners
or not, are welcome to enjoy hospitality
at Warsash Sailing Club where fast hot food and a fast results service are
available.
The Raymarine Warsash Spring Series
continues on Sunday 13th March 2008.
News release (1) 7th April 2008
BIG
BOATS JOINS THE RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING CHAMPIONSHIP
Over 10 years ago the Raymarine Warsash
Spring Series was extended to include a Spring Championship for sportsboats and
later for “Big Boats”. 5th and 6th April saw the first
weekend dedicated to the “Big Boats”. The 45 foot class was aimed at Farr 45s,
Swan 45s, DK46s and Ker 46s. Boats needed to comply with IRC rules but raced
level. The BB1 class was for boats with a rating of 1.090 or above and the
First 40.7 class raced under IRC. Following the atrocious weather over the
Easter weekend, the Commodore’s Cup Class 3 trials had been effectively lost.
The RYA approached Warsash Sailing Club to run extra races for the three boats
involved which the Club was happy to include. Windward/leeward courses were set
for races lasting 50 to 60 minutes each time.
Saturday morning saw a brisk north to
north-westerly breeze and a strong ebb tide, both of which faded as the day
wore on. In the 45 foot class, the day belonged to Eamonn O’Nolan’s Farr 45 Freddie Freeloader. Nick Lutte just got Shockwave (DK46) to the top mark first
in Race 1 but Freddie overtook her on
the first run and extended the lead to the finish. The fleet was spot on with
their start in Race 2. Shaun Frohlich’s Exabyte
established an early winning lead but Freddie who came in second. Bernard
Lambilloitte was unlucky when Nemo of
Cowes had to retire at the bottom mark, sending a man aloft to sort out a
halyard problem. Most of the fleet were a few seconds early at the start of
Race 3 but they got away cleanly at the second attempt. Racing was tight
throughout but once again it was Freddie
that had the edge taking this and the fourth race to establish a good, but not
invincible lead, on overall points. With just three boats competing in the
Commodore’s Cup 3 section, Paul Jones sailing Passion cleaned up the first three races but lost out to David
Richards on Prime Suspect in the
final race.
The 20-strong BB1 class was an interesting
mix of designs. Chernikeef, John Merricks
II and Henri Lloyds Cutting Edge, being 50 foot plus, tended to get away from
the others but the smaller boats also had their moments, without any one boat
showing dominance. Cutting Edge lost
time at the end of the first lap in Race1, dropping her down the overall
standings significantly. The starts of Races 2 and 3 went without incident.
Jerry Otter’s Erivale and John Dean’s
pretty Poppy of Portland Marina could not be separated on handicap for Race 2 results, to share points for fourth
place. The Dutch Grand Soleil 43 Roark
had a good day, taking third place in three races. When the spray had settled,
the RYA Volvo Keelboat Team were leading by half a point from Jerry Otter, with
Neil Martin’s J/133 Jammy Dodger and Roark a couple of points behind. Seven
40.7s are contesting the Championship. Honours were fairly divided between
three boats. First blood went to Nicolas Gaumont-Prat’s tfs Philosophie IV. Guy Prest helmed Tarka to wins in the second and third races whilst Andrew Iyer on Portia finished the day on a high taking
the final gun.
The following day saw a freak hour long
snow blizzard which was so severe as to cancel all racing. The Spring
Championship for “Big Boats” continues on 19th and 20th
April when it may be possible to recover one race in addition to the further
six races cheduled to decide the final outcome.
The Raymarine Warsash Spring Series
continues on Sunday 13th March 2008.
-ends-
News
release 31st March 2008
PATIENCE
PAYS OFF IN THE RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES
What a difference a week makes to the
weather in the
The two sportsboat courses were laid along
the Meon shore near the entrance to Southampton Water and they enjoyed the best
of the early morning breeze. The Laser SB3s started cleanly and Pieter Heyn’s Go Hard or Go Home arrived at the
windward mark first just ahead of Sbeed
and Palava. Pieter then took a flyer
out to the right which proved fatal
allowing Palava a small lead.
Positions constantly changed. Pambere
for instance rounded in 11th place, climbed on the downwind leg to
third, only to fall back to 11th again by the finish. At times the
boats struggled to make progress. The breeze went so light that the wind
turbine on the shore came to a halt. As the leaders reached the line, the wind
had shifted dramatically to the south, where it steadied, making the second
race a much fairer test. Palava took
both wins - the second by a slender eight seconds from Eau No!
The Hunter 707 class enjoyed some of the
closest racing of the day. Russell Mead, helming Ant Hill Mob, was out for
the first time and put in a fine performance to take both races. In the
14-strong J/80 class Mosquito (Duncan
and Michelle Johnston) led Boats.com
(Ian Atkins) in the first race whilst Boats.com
edged ahead of Savage Team Sailing in
the second. Ian’s consistency gives him three wins from the four races held so
far.
Out in the deeper water, the Black Group
committee boat set up station near North Ryde Middle and as the breeze hovered
around the 5 knot mark, after an hour’s postponement, the first four classes
got away, albeit slowly and IRC1 with
seven boats over the line early. The sequence was then halted when the wind
disappeared again. In the fickle conditions the leaders of IRC2 were amongst
the IRC1 backmarkers and many boats found difficulty rounding the downwind mark
against the tide. Rafael Duplan helming Magic
Mix read the conditions well on the reach to East Bramble and picked up a
gust to round under spinnaker. Nick Haigh’s DK46 Dark and Steamy also broke free to make steady gains. They went on
to finish 20 minutes ahead of second placed Magic
Mix. Whilst not so convincingly, Neil
Vardy sailed his Elan 410 Esprit to a
good win in IRC2.
After a further postponement to reorientate
the course completely in the new wind, IRC3 got underway on the third time of
entering the start sequence. By now the windward mark had moved from Flying
Fish buoy to Gales HSB near the island shore. Progress to the windward mark was
slow and subject to many fluctuations in the breeze.
Next week the “Big Boats” join in Saturday
racing in the spring Championship, whilst the Spring Series continues on Sunday
6th April 2008.
News
release 18th March 2008
CHALLENGING
CONDITIONS FOR RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES
The first race of the Raymarine Warsash
Spring Series took place on Sunday 16th March under grey skies with
persistent rain but this did not deter the 200 boats entered for this Silver
Jubilee year of the event. The early north-westerly breeze shifted during the
morning to the north and built during the day from 12 knots to 20/24 with gusts
to 30 knots. These were just the kind of
challenging conditions to blow the winter cobwebs away for those back racing
for the first time this season. There were exhilarating runs and demanding
beats but also a number of retirements during the latter part of the day.
Unluckiest was Robert Hillman’s Exuberant
which lost a crew member overboard during a broach whilst another hit his head
on a winch necessitating a fast airlift to hospital where he was discharged
later that evening. With the sea water temperature at 8°C, the man overboard
was grateful to be recovered speedily by the Sigma 33 Sixes and Sevens.
The Black Group committee boat set up
station near North Ryde Middle and IRC1 got away cleanly led by the TP52 Ran although she later retired leaving
the class win to Nick and Anne Haigh’s DK46 Dark
and Steamy. The remaining classes were set a longer beat to Hill Head buoy.
The J/109 class normally run a closely matched race but on this occasion
Michael Jones helming Joyride got a
good lead by the mark but eventually retired leaving the way clear for Ben
Richards on Zelda. In IRC2, the
Reflex 38 Puma Logic led Andrew
Webster’s Seaquest 36 Circus across
the line. However, Puma’s handicap
gave her a third on corrected time whilst the class win went to sistership Jaguar Logic. A dead heat occurred in
IRC3 where Nick and Suzi Jones’ Astarte
tied with Russell Hodgson’s Dehler 34 Rushlex
for fourth place. The winner was
This year, as the Laser SB3 fleet continues
in popularity, the class has been given a separate start line and sailing area,
away from the other sportsboats. Courses were laid off the north Meon shore
where the wind and tide made conditions anything but easy. Nonetheless Chaotic managed to rescue a man
overboard from one of the J/80s. By the
second race the class was diminished in number. Geoff Carveth in Palava rounded the top mark first and
set a blistering pace downwind until an accidental spinnaker drop lost him
time. Sun Systems had been second
rounding the mark and were going even faster when a gust tore their spinnaker
from top to bottom leaving the way open for a second win by Craig Buriton’s Team Touareg. In the Hunter 707s, Miles
Dalby in Tequila made a great port
tack start for the second race and established an early lead but Harry Hall in This Is Jeff finally managed to catch up
towards the end of the first lap to take another first. Boats.com was the provisional winner in the J/80s but this class is
subject to protest.
Once back ashore, competitors were pleased
to enjoy the hospitality offered at Warsash Sailing Club where sponsors
Raymarine provided a well-earned bottle of champagne to the class winners. The
Raymarine Warsash Spring Series now takes a break over Easter and resumes on
Sunday 30th March.
RAYMARINE
WARSASH SPRING SERIES - READY FOR ACTION!
A lull before the storm on Sunday 9th
March enabled the 50-strong race management team for the Raymarine Warsash
Spring Series to hold a rehearsal for the big event. All systems afloat and
ashore were checked, ready for the first race next Sunday 16th
March. With three separate start lines this year, Warsash Sailing Club will
have four RYA National Race Officers and an International Judge afloat to see
all goes smoothly. 2008 marks the Silver Jubilee of the Spring Series and Black
Group Chief Race Officer David Greenway was one of the original competitors in
1984.
Even a week before the first race, over 190
skippers have entered, including Luca Bacci bringing his Laser SB3 over from
As well as the six race Spring Series on
Sundays, the Spring Championship will comprise weekends with multiple races.
For sportsboats the dates are 19th/20th and 26th/27th
April. Big boats have 5th/6th and 19th/20th
April reserved for their Spring Championship. A keen line up has already
registered. The 45 foot class includes four Farr 45s joined by John Shepherd’s
Ker 46 Fair Do’s VII, already selected for the Commodore’s Cup, Nemo of Cowes (Swan 45) and Shockwave
(DK46). The Big Boat IRC section has a range of designs with the TP52 Henri Lloyd Cutting Edge highest rated.
Previous Spring Series winner Jim MacGregor
will be competing in Premier Flair
one of three Elan 410s currently entered. David and Kirsty Apthorp, winners of
the 2007 Raymarine Trophy, will be transferring from the J/105 to J/109 class,
doubtless hoping to repeat their success.
Once racing is over, everyone is welcome at
Warsash Sailing Club on the River Hamble, where there is a friendly bar at club
prices, hot food and fast on-screen results as well as champagne, courtesy of
Raymarine, for the weekly class winners present in the clubhouse.
Last minute entries are welcome and these
can be made on-line via www.warsashsc.org.uk.
-ends-
News release 11th February 2008
ENTRIES
OPEN FOR RAYMARINE WARSASH SPRING SERIES 2008
The
The Raymarine Warsash Spring Series dates are 16th and 30th
March; 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th
April. There will also be the Spring Championships, with multiple races over
two weekends. For White Group classes these will be on 19th/20th
ad 26th/27th April. The quarter ton class will also be
racing.
The “Big Boat” weekends on 5th/6th
April and 19th/20th April comprise three classes: 45
footers , boats with IRC rating over 1.090 and First 40.7s. The RYA will be
using the Raymarine Warsash Spring Series as a trial event for selecting teams
for this year’s Rolex Commodore’s Cup.
White Group will have two separate start lines and courses this year so
that the SB3s will be separate from the Hunter 707s, J/80s and SBR sportsboats.
Black Group comprises four IRC classes plus J/105s and J/109s racing as one
designs.
After racing there'll be the usual warm welcome at Warsash Sailing
Club, for fast, on-screen results. Our sponsors Raymarine will also be
presenting the weekly class winners with Champagne Mumm.
2008 marks the
Silver Jubilee of the event. In spring 1984 the Sailing Committee of Warsash
Sailing Club, under the chairmanship of David Laskey, introduced a six race
open series for the Warsash Salver, run on the six weekends prior to Easter.
From the start it attracted a good entry and was renamed Warsash Spring Series
in 1987. At that time the yacht designs of choice were Nicholson 303 and Sigma
33. One of the early Chief Race Officers was David Thomas, whose own Sigma 33 Circe was often a winner.
Online entries can be made via the website www.warsashsc.org.uk
or contact:
Warsash Sailing Club,
-ends-
The Raymarine Warsash Spring Series is run
by Warsash Sailing Club,
Media enquiries to:
01962 855544
07855 253452
Event enquiries to:
Warsash Sailing Club
01489 583575