Howard takes Finn qualifier

Unseasonal November racing at Warsash SC reports Phil Laycock

19 Finns, shorty wetsuits, suntan cream and a balmy November weekend on the Solent was not what the Finns expected when they arrived at Warsash SC. Such is the way of the British weather.

Day one was light and shifty with the wind swinging through 180 degrees; a race officer’s nightmare and with the jury boats in evidence there was a certain nervousness in the fleet when the race got underway as the judges were very keen on body movement relative to rule 42.

The wind dropped immediately after the start from 5 knots down to a drifter and it took the boats nearly 30 mins to reach the first mark. The fleet split left and right with what little wind there was filling in from the left, Ed Thorburn led around the mark from Howard Sellars and Tim Carver. Tim was done under rule 42 for flexing his right knee and sneezing and at the leeward mark Howard had taken the lead. Short lived though it was as the race officer abandoned the race halfway up the next beat and ‘sods law’ ensured that the wind filled in approximately 2 minutes later.

Race two was started in a fairly steady breeze and John Greenwood lead off the line followed by Charlie Cumbley (OCS) and was never headed, leading home from Ed Greig, Matt Howard and Tim Carver. The wind died on the way in and darkness fell in the dinghy park as the boats were packed away; Sunday had to be better than this.

Sunday morning’s blue sky and a fresh autumnal breeze brought new hope to the dinghy park and after 30 mins of the world cup semi-final there was a mass exodus from the beach. The wind filled in to a steady 10 knots and the day was set for four races.

Charlie Cumbley, Matt Howard and Phil Laycock lead around the first mark with the right hand side of the course paying on the beat. These three stayed the same until the next beat when Mark Andrews, Tim Carver and John Greenwood came through.

Word quickly spread from the race boat that England were through to the Rugby World Cup final and for a while sailing was forgotten except for young Frenchman Mathieu in FRA 61 who kept his head down for a while.

The wind stayed steady in race three and with a port biased line the fleet set off to the left. A big right hand shift left Phil Laycock and Tim Carver leading around the first mark with Matt Howard and Charlie Cumbley in hot pursuit. This order stayed the same until 200 yards from the windward mark when Laycock and Cumbley fund a hole. Tim Carver led the fleet home from Charlie Cumbley who recovered his position on the last run.

Race four followed much the same pattern and again Carver, Laycock and Andrews rounded the first mark in that order with Matt Howard eventually coming through to follow Carver across the line not before Mark Andrews had led the race on two separate occasions, blowing it on his approach to the last windward mark..

Equal on points going into the last race were Tim Carver and Matt Howard. The fleet eventually had worked out that going right up the beat paid off and there was no surprise when everyone went right soon after the start. Places were tight at the top mark. Tim Carver had again got it right leading around the mark from Nick Scott who was leaning fast in his first Finn regatta in a borrowed boat. Matt Howard was in hot pursuit and got past Nick to tail Tim up the last beat. All it needed was a loose cover on Matt for Tim to win the regatta, a very loose cover ………… any cover would have done it but Tim was so keen on the right hand side that he left Howard to his own devises. The wind went left for the only time of the day, Matt Howard got around the mark in front and held his lead to take the gun and with it the regatta from Tim Carver by one point. Nick Scott held off John Greenwood to take 3rd place.

Final results

1st Matt Howard
2nd Tim Carver
3rd John Greenwood
4th Mark Andrews
5th Ed Greig
6th Nick Scott
7th Phil Laycock
8th Tom Greig