Testy Warsash Spring Series- Act II

(Warsash, England)- If patience was the key factor in Race 1, then endurance and good waterproofs (and wellies) were the key factors in Race 2 of the Helly Hansen Warsash Spring Series. The forecast for the Solent was SW 20 knots gusting 30 knots, and when the RC committee boats arrived on station, the wind was varying around 20 kts.  During the morning, however, the wind increased to 25 knots with gusts of 30 kts.  So, after one successful race, the decision was taken to send the White Group back in.

With a lee going tide you might have expected the sea to be fairly flat, but this wasn't the case- it was lumpy making the foul tide beats a struggle to keep the boats in the groove when both wind and sea were determined to knock them out of it.

Starting at the “Darling Boy buoy” (formerly Meon), the White Group fleet got away cleanly, with a good starting discipline; possibly due to the strong foul tide. The skill level in the fleet was high, with spinnakers being flown and few broaches considering the conditions. The lead J/80 was laid out flatter than a cow-pie during a spectacular broach letting the chasing J/70 in second place through, before recovering.

The J/70 SOAK RACING (Marshall King and Ian Wilson) leads the J/70s and the combined White Group, with BETTY (J/80 - Jon Powell) and JEEPSTER (J/70 - Graham Clapp) in equal second place. For the series, Powell’s BETTY leads the 80s, with Terry O’Neill’s AQUA-J in 2nd and Mike Lewis’ JESTER in third. For the 70s, SOAK is leading with Andrew Barraclough’s JENGA 8 tied for 2nd with Graham Clapp’s JEEPSTER.

In Black Group J/109 fleet, the first beat saw some boats with full mains and No 4s up and others with one reef and a No 3, but the upwind speeds between the boats remained very remarkably similar.  On the first foul tide beat to Prince Consort from the start line near “Kilchoman buoy” on the tail end of Bramble Bank, JYNNAN TONNYX (Owain Franks) left the rest of the fleet beating up the tail of the Bramble Bank and decided to beat up the island shore instead. Despite the dreaded "Norris Naggers" sailing in flatter water, the decision paid her handsomely.  She then led the fleet round to win with JAGO (Mike & Susie Yates) following in second, and JIRAFFE (Simon Perry) in third.

In the J/88 one-design class, it was TIGRIS (Gavin Howe) winning for the day with JONGLEUR (Richard Cooper) second and J-DREAM (David and Kirsty Apthorp) in third.  As a result, JONGLEUR leads the series with TIGRIS 2nd and J-DREAM tied with Dirk & Dianne van Beek’s SABRIEL JR at 7 pts each.

The IRC 3 Class was won by J’RONIMO (J/92 - David Greenhalgh) with JUMBLESAIL 12 (J/97 - Rachel and Robert Hunt) third.  In the big boat IRC 1 Class, it was JITTERBUG (J/111 - Cornel Riklin) second and KESTREL (J/111 - Simon Bamford) in third.  For more HELLY HANSEN Warsash Spring Series sailing informationAdd to Flipboard Magazine.


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