Gosling maintains lead

Shifting conditions affect racing in day two of the Amicus IR2000 National Championships reports Peter Bentley

With the sun brightening and the wind dropping at an almost equal rate, the combined IRM and IRC fleets enjoyed excellent racing on a tide-swept course to the east of Portsmouth. Both the well supported IRC class and the smaller but perhaps more competitive IRM boats enjoyed tough racing in a range of conditions.

After a postponement to allow the race committee to realign the course - not for the last time in the day - the bigger boats set off with the last of the ebb tide and decent breeze on the first of their three windward-leeward courses. Behind them the smaller boats enjoyed some powerful reaching on the outer loop of the parallel if shorter trapezoid course.

Sailing the chartered ILC45 Yes!, Adam Gosling (pictured) and his regular crew started off as they had finished the day before with their fourth successive victory. But shifting conditions in the second race of the day consigned the mighty Yes! to seventh in fleet. A strong recovery after Gosling had been caught out by a big right shift after the start in race three saw the well practiced team pulling through to second and a well deserved six point lead at the end of the day. With just two races to sail on the final day, second placed Nigel Bramwell aboard the other ILC45 Hawk will have his work cut out to overtake Gosling in the overall results.

Conversely, in IRC class one nobody has any kind of a lead to protect with three boats tied on 13 points apiece. Keith Miller's Crackerjack relinquished her first day lead with a series of lackluster results while Charles Dunstone's Nokia Communicator and Terry and Sue Robinson's Assuage both produced solid performances to pull level on points. With Robert Barr's Maverick II just three points behind, you can bet there will be plenty to play for on the final day here.

Magnum, an MG335 raced by Andrew Pearce in IRC class 3 was fortunate to recover a man overboard without any outside assistance. Having been involved in an incident at the start of the race and believing herself to be in the wrong, the boat executed a 720˚ turn and in the last gybe, the unfortunate crew member was flipped over the lifelines into the water. With little speed on during the penalty turns Magnum quickly came head to wind. The crew member, by now some 20 yards astern, swam very quickly and pulled himself aboard.

A combination of strong tides and a very variable breeze that often shifted 20 degrees˚ during the course of a starting sequence, made getting off the line the most difficult part of the day for most competitors. Several were called over the line though all returned with the assistance of the race committee calling their numbers over the VHF - though not until at least one minute after the start. Several boats were involved in incidents and there were six protests pending, the results of which were not known at the time of writing.

Full results tables click here and photo gallery here