Warming Pan report and results

Updated - with Peter Slimming's report of proceedings

On Saturday, it was blowing 25 knots, with gusts to 30 and more, so we decided to postpone the outside fleets (Int 14, Laser 4000, RS 400), to give a chance to hold their races in the sheltered area round Cat Head at high tide (1400). The first race of the inshore fleet (Merlin, RS 200 and Firefly) was started, with a simple windward/leeward course to Hamble Point, and back upriver to a downwind mark off Port Hamble.

There were several capsizes, but everybody was coping well. During the second lap, the Hamble Harbourmaster's office telephoned the Club, and asked us to bring all boats ashore. It was therefore decided to abandon the race (flags N over A were displayed), and the fleet came safely ashore. It was decided to abandon any racing for the offshore fleets, as the wind was showing no sign of moderating.

As you can imagine, there were mixed views over the rights and wromgs of this situation. Competitors (who anyway are free to decide whether or not to race), were upset thet they were unable to complete the race. Many Club officials felt that shortening course would have been better than immediate abandonment, but the Assistant HM's intervention could not be ignored. Nobody was hurt, and nothing damaged (other than peoples own boats). Discussions were held with the HM during the afternoon, and it was agreed that more consultation was needed in future.

The forecast for Sunday was for more of the same, but mercifully the wind moderated to 15-20 knots, so all fleets were able to sail. The Int 14's proved a bit fragile on the outside courses, so were limited to 2 races, whereas the Laser 4000's and RS 400's managed three races. The inside fleets completed two races without any problems. We ended up with a fine and sunny afternoon !

Considering the dire weather forecasts for the weekend, we were pleasantly surprised with the entry of 61 boats in all - of which the Merlins were the biggest fleet with 16, the 14's had 15 and Fireflies 12.

Provisional Results:

Int 14	Helm	Crew		Race 3	Race 4	Total
1	Mark Upton Brown	Ian Mitchell	HISC	1	1	2
2	Tony Dencher	Andy Hetherington	Netley	3	2	5
3	Matt Larmin	Geoff Larmin	WW SC	4	3	7
4	Julian Pearson	Louise Hickey	HRSC	2	16	18
L4000	Helm	Crew	Club	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Total
1	Mark Cam	Susan Winter	RAF YC	2	2	1	5
2	Gregg Eaton	Helen Kerr	Datchet	1	1	5	7
3	George Kingsnorth	Roger Shopland	BVSC	3	5	5	13
4	Mark Flanders	Peter Flanders	Parkstone	4	5	5	14
RS400	Helm	Crew	Club	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Total
1	Phil Jackson	Gerard Barron	Parkstone	2	1	1	4
2	Nick Craig	Keith Redborough	Frensham	1	5	2	8
3	Robin Kenyon	Toby Lewis	HRSC	3	2	3	8
4	Hywel Roberts	Mellisa Storey	Parkstone	4	3	6	13
5	James Ross	Nev Watson	HRSC	6	6	5	17
6	Tom Halhead	Chris Priest	Bristol YC	12	4	4	20
7	J Goodes	T Foster	Soton Uni	7	7	7	21
8	Stuart Elford	Phil Elford	Newhaven	9	8	8	25
9	Ben Meakins	Nick Purser	HRSC	8	9	9	26
10	C Pallot	R Fairman	Weston	5	12	12	29
Merlin	Helm	Crew	Club	Race 3	Race 4	Total
1	Phil King	Chris Downham	Bowmoor	1	1	2
2	Pat Blake	Alex Jackson	Cookham	5	3	8
3	William Warren	Rachel Cooper	Shoreham	7	2	9
4	Will Rainey	Jennie King	Cookham	3	6	9
5	Dan Alsop	Anna Blake	Lyme Regis	6	5	11
6	Paul Gilbert	Sally Gilbert	Ranelagh	8	7	15
7	Simon Blake	Linton Jenkins	Cookham	2	17	19
8	David W	Jill Blake	Sustoke	17	4	21
9	Simon Potts	Lizzie Pugh	Hampton	4	17	21
10	Andrew Mills	Eline Mills	Sustoke	9	17	26
11	James Davies	Lou Johnson	Shoreham	10	17	27
RS200	Helm	Crew	Club	Race 3	Race 4	Total
1	Hamish Clader	S Rees Jones	RH YC	1		1
Firefly	Helm	Crew	Club	Race 3	Race 4	Total
1	Ian Sanderson	Sally Wilson	RL YC	1	1	2
2	Sarah Allan	Elinor Haines	HRSC	3	2	5
3	Heather Back	Sofie Mackley	HRSC	4	3	7
4	Bryony Meakins	Becky Morgan	HRSC	6	4	10
5	Chris Gillard	S Hancroft	HRSC	5	5	10
6	Jamir Barber	Matt Dixon	HRSC	7	6	13
7	Richard Thompson	Luke Thompson	Waldringfield	2	13	15
8	Hamid Thornton	Charlotte Gosling	HRSC	8	13	21