The weather couldn’t have been better for the first race of the new year. Sunshine and warmth greeted the racers, as they gathered in Southampton Water. The wind was somewhat light at the scheduled start time but within half an hour the forecast F4 westerly set in, getting racing underway. The start line was set with a slight port bias, which spread the competitors along the line. The finish for each race was well away from the start line and manned by a second committee boat which allowed a quick turn around between the first and second races. The delay to the initial start prompted the CRO to set a fairly short sprint first race which woke crews up after the Christmas break with a much longer second race to get the series off to a great start. 

The 9 boats in IRC class 1 were first away and the fleet soon split into two groups with Mike Henning’s ‘Alice’ taking the lead hotly pursued by ‘Njos’ and ‘J Dream’. ‘Alice’ took line honours and the class win with ‘J Dream’ second and ‘Njos’ third. Race 2 saw a repeat performance by the three lead boats but after 90 minutes of racing there was only 90 seconds between first and third. 

Next away was the J92 fleet with 7 of the 8 entered boats lining up for the start which was hotly contested. ‘Jammin’ was called back for being OCS as the rest of the fleet made hast towards the first mark. ‘Jarrow’ got a good start and stayed at the front of the fleet for the whole race to take line honours and the win. The rest were close behind with ‘Java Lite’ taking second and ‘Black Jack’ third. The second race had everyone closer together with only 2 minutes covering the fleet after 90 minutes of racing. ‘Jaya’ took line honours & the win just 6 seconds ahead of ‘Java Lite’ second and ‘Jungle Fever’ third. 

In Class 3 RSYC ‘Vader’ the Cork 1720, enjoyed the conditions and together with ‘Arcadian’ and ‘Me Julie’ took an early lead. Although ‘Vader’ took line honours the lower handicap of Peter Slimming’s Hunter 30 ‘Anne Louise’ gave him the class win with ‘Escapade’ second and ‘Vader’ third. Race 2 allowed ‘Vader’ to take a big lead on the water with ‘Arcadian’ again in second but the handicap finish had ‘Anne Louise’ in first with ‘Vader’ second and ‘Escapade’ third.

The next pair of races in the series is on 31st January when it is hoped that more boats will join in. 

For details contact Cathy Crawley, Sailing Secretary, RSYC, Tel: 023 80 223352 or email racing@rsyc.org.uk

Report by Andrew Campbell