Hamble Winter Series- Week 5- Dark'n'Stormy!

(Hamble, England)- The fifth weekend of sailing had nearly a full-blown gale all weekend long.  The remnants of a Caribbean hurricane decided to take a right turn into the North Atlantic Ocean and headed right for Scotland, Ireland and the United Kingdom.  The storm thrashed the western coasts of the islands with 60-80 kts winds- basically a hurricane by any other definition.  But, in the U.K. Met offices jargon, a “major depression”.  Sure.  Just like “Fastnet Force 10” many blue moons ago.  As a result, Saturday’s racing was canceled on the Solent due to sustained winds of 25-30 kts gusting to 45+ kts, as some wags put it in The Bugle in the Hamble, a “bit of a dust-up” on the Solent.  Then, on Sunday the winds moderated enough for the IRC classes and the J/88s to go racing in something less than 25 kts of wind.

In the Hamble Winter Series IRC 1 Class, Paul & Marie-Claude Heys’ J/112E GP DAVANTI TYRES continued their blistering pace, adding another 1st to their series tally to be leading the fleet with 8 pts net and a clear 7 pt lead on the fleet.

The HWS IRC 2 Class is full of J/109s, the top boat is still Simon Perry’s JIRAFFE in third place.  Then, Tom Chatterton’s RED ARROW crew got a 3rd on the weekend and leaped into 4th on the series leaderboard.

Continuing their strangle-hold on the top two spots in HWS IRC 3 are Annie & Andy Howe’s J/97 BLACKJACK II with just 9 pts net in seven races and in 2nd place is Robin Stevenson’s J/92S UPSTART with just 13 pts net.

Finally, in the HWS J/88 Class, Avia Willment’s crew on GBR 2688R piled on yet another bullet to their tally, further strengthening their firm grip at the top of the class with just 6 pts net.  Sitting 7 pts back is Gavin Howe’s TIGRIS with 13 pts net, followed by Richard Cooper’s JONGLEUR with 16 pts net, then David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J-DREAM with 18 pts.  The eight-boat class is tough, no one is giving one centimeter (or, is it a double pfennig) to each other as they fight tooth and nail around the race track. Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth.  Hamble Winter Series follow on Facebook page  For more Spinlock Hamble Winter Series sailing information.Add to Flipboard Magazine.


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