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Royal
Southern Y.C. May Regatta 17th
& 18th May 2008 Report by Eddie
Mays
There
was a good entry for the first of the season's monthly regattas from both
within the club and from visiting yachts.
The
weekend was also the Southern Area Championships for the J-80 class ahead of
next weekend's J-Cup, which the club is hosting.
Saturday's
light and variable breezes made setting courses for the different classes very
difficult but both Principle Race Officers, David Arnold for the Keelboats and
Tony Lovell for the Sportsboats, managed to complete two races for each class.
By the middle of the afternoon conditions were becoming so erratic that to try
and run the final race was impossible and everyone was sent home. Eamonn
O'Nolan's Freddie Freeloader, who won both races, dominated Class Zero with
Shaun Frohlich (RSrnYC) and Agne Nilsson each picking up a 2nd place. In Class
One Rob Napier (RSrnYC) sailing Iskareen won his first race but was unable to
finish the 2nd race and slipped down the leader board. This left Andrew Webster
(RSrnYC) tied with Tim & Sophie
Harrington at the top of the class. Matthew Boyle (RSrnYC) helming Shiva
made the best of the conditions to win both Class Two races. The aptly named
Runaway Bus, Paul Kelsey's Quarter tonner, ran away with both Class Four races
while Harry the Horse (Richard Willets) trotted in for 2nd place. Further
inshore on the Sportsboat course Tony Lovell had even less breeze to work with
but that didn't seem to deter the competitors. The large SB3 class with 28
entries was as keen as ever but their starting technique was good and there
were no premature starters or General recalls throughout the weekend. Ian
Southworth helming Chilli Chaser was too good for the rest of the fleet and won
both races with RSrnYC's Charles Whelan, Here comes Bod, 2nd in Race 1 and
another RSYC team, Mark & Libby Greenhalgh runners up in Race 2. The J-80 class also had a double winner
with Terry Palmer on board Just Do It. The Sportsboat class, although small,
had a real diversity of entries from the ultra fast Ultra 30 Zombie to the 707
One Eyed Willie. Their first race was a disaster with two boats disqualified
and another failing to finish. However they got their act together for the
second race, which was won by Zombie.
The fastest performance of the day was reserved for the
monkeyoffice.co.uk team who were first ashore back at the club and sprinted up
the pontoon to claim a bottle of bubbly as the first customers at the new Wet
Bar, courtesy of euroboats.com.
Sunday
morning brought much better conditions, plenty of sunshine and more wind, but
still in the Northeast.
The
Sportsboats' starts were delayed slightly whilst another regatta sailed across
in front of the start line. Club member Liz Savage had a good day in her J-80
Savage Team Racing scoring two 2nd places but Terry Palmer won the morning race
and came 4th in the afternoon to consolidate his overall victory. Ian Wilson's
Ultra 30 powered their way round the course in the morning to take both line
and handicap honours but in the afternoon Keiren Williamson sailing his 707 One
Eyed Willy saved his time and ended the weekend with a good win, almost
reminiscent of the tale of the Hare & the Tortoise. As always the Laser
SB3s provided plenty of excitement. With a strong tide running at the top of
the course many boats overstood the mark but it was at the other end of the
course that things became heated. Ian Southworth had gained a clear lead but
behind him boats were rounding in bunches and there was more than one instance
where a reluctant genniker pole became entangled in a backstay. Definitely not
the place for faint hearts! The afternoon race was a more orderly affair. Ian
Southworth's winning streak was broken by Craig Burlton but he had done enough
to win the class. Further out in the middle of the Solent PRO David Arnold had
set the keelboats a simple windward / leeward course between Fastnet Insurance
and West Knoll but with the wind shifting periodically some of the beats became
one-sided during the morning race. In Class Zero Freddie Freeloader was again
unstoppable but behind him the other big boats enjoyed some very close racing.
Stewart Hawthorn (RSrnYC) helming his J-133 Jump took both line and race
honours in the morning but the Harringtons
recovered well after lunch and scored their 2nd win of the weekend to win the
class from RSYC members Andrew Webster & Rob Napier, 2nd & 3rd. Michael
Brough, helming the highest rated boat in Class Two Steady Barker, made the
best of the variable conditions to score two wins but his 9th place in
Saturday's 2nd race meant that he had to concede overall victory to RSrnYC's
Matthew Boyle. No such hiccup for Paul Kelsey in Class 4, who finished with
four wins from four races. Well done!
Next
week the club is host to the J-Cup. There are already over 70 J-boats of
various designs entered and the regatta promises to be a very good
advertisement for the expertise of the club's race team.
Overall
Results
Class
Zero
1st
Freddie Freeloader Eamonn O'Nolan
2nd
Fortis Excel Agne Nilsson
3rd
Exabyte 4 Shaun Frohlich Royal Southern
Laser
SB3
1st
Chilli Chaser Ian Southworth & Nigel Smith
2nd
Doolalli Colin Simmonds Royal Southern
3rd
monkeyoffice.co.uk Craig Burlton
Class
One
1st
Vortex Tim & Sophie Harrington
2nd
Circus Andrew Webster Royal Southern
3rd
Iskareen Rob Napier Royal Southern
Sportsboats
1st
Zombie Ian Wilson
2nd
One eyed Willie Kieren Williamson
3rd
Mad Max Oliver Franks
Class
Two
1st
Shiva Matthew Boyle Royal Southern
2nd
Steady Barker Michael Brough
3rd
Tigh Sollius II Ken Grant
J-80
Southern Area Championships
1st
Just Do It Terry Palmer
2nd
Savage Sailing Team Liz Savage Royal Southern
3rd
Just Chilling Stephen Chiverton
Class
Three
1st
Runaway Bus Paul Kelsey
2nd
Harry the Horse Richard Willets