RSYC DOYLE SAILS FROSTBITE SERIES RACE 9

KEEN EYES AND DYNAMIC TACTICS THE NAME OF THE DAY
Contrasts have been the flavour of the RSYC Frostbite series sponsored by Doyle Sails. The last pair of races in the series were no exception with 30 boats enjoying the bright sunshine and light variable NE winds. It made for challenging but enjoyable racing. All eyes were on the water as new waves of wind came down Southampton water bringing short lived new breezes, usually from a different direction. The successful boats closely observed the effect of the wind shifts on the other boats on the water and used this to help determine their tactics. The race committee managed to set a reasonable course despite the difficult conditions for race 9 but decided the abandon race 10 due to the fading wind.

J/92s Concentrate in Light Airs – Photo by John Greenway/marineaction

Class 1 had a pretty full start line. Best progress to the first mark was made by boats that tacked early. ‘Malice’ with ‘Alice’ in hot pursuit took an early lead which she managed to hold until Alice just edged by at the penultimate mark. ‘Alice’ continued upwind hoping to sail the angles while ‘Malice’ decided to go downwind for the mark and made much better progress taking line honours and the class win. ‘Blazer’ took second and ‘In X Celsis’ third. ‘Alice’ just managed to take the series win with ‘Malice’ only one point behind in second and ‘Njos’ third.

Bill ‘The Wizard’ Howard - Photo by John Greenway/marineaction

Class 3, the RSYC club class had 9 boats on the line with ‘Beth’ the J109 heading the fleet. The higher handicap boats did well on the water today. Being last away they were in the best placed to position themselves for the wind. ‘Beth’ led but ‘Vader’ and ‘Arcadian’ were not far behind. ‘Beth’ took line honours and first in class with ‘Phoenix Too’ second and ‘Vader’ third. The series was very close but ‘Vader’ takes the series win, one point ahead of ‘Fusion III’ second and ‘Beth’ third.

The J92 class continued with the close racing that they have enjoyed throughout the series. The start was well contested and ‘Jammin’ was finally able to take advantage of being rated with a #1 headsail taking the early lead. ‘Jaya’ kept close as the J92’s picked their way through the class 1 fleet that started 6 minutes ahead of them. ‘Jammin’ held the lead to take line honours and the class win. ‘Jaya’ was second and ‘Jungle Fever’ third. The series position changed again with the last race with ‘Jammin’ taking the series win just ahead of ‘Java Lite’ second and ‘Jungle Fever’ third.

Provisional Results

Class 1 IRC Race 9
1 Malice HOD 35 Mike Moxley
2 Blazer Laser 28 Colin Woodruff
3 In X Celsis X 119 Peter Jones

Class 3 RSYC Race 9
1 Beth J109 Johnny Charterer
2 Phonenix Too Sigma 362 Mark Hammond
3 Vader Cork 1720 Doug Innes

J92 Class Race 9
1 Jammin J92 Andrew/Matt/Pete
2 Jaya J92s Paul Chapman
3 Jungle Fever J92s Mark Lloyd

Report produced by …. Andrew Campbell