It hits the fan for Ship 4 Brains!

Trip home by road for beached SB3 at incident packed Touareg Grand Prix reports Eddie Mays

The second Volkswagen Touareg Laser SB3 Grand Prix took place at the weekend from the Royal Southern Yacht Cluba and for all those taking part in this event will remember it for the weather, the exhilaration and fear of Saturday's wonderful southwesterly blow and then the frustration of Sunday's fickle southerly.

Only two races were completed on Saturday but within those few hours there was a near sinking, three dismastings and enough broaches to fill the display window of a Bond Street jeweller. The day started quietly. Random safety inspections had found a few minor transgressions amongst the boats and these were penalised by having a place penalty on their finishing positions in each race.

Once afloat a good stiff southwesterly breeze and a typical short Solent chop greeted the competitors. With a forecast of increasing winds during the day P.R.O. Tony Lovell set a starting line off the Hill Head shore. Most of the fleet coped well with the conditions, the beats were bearable, the reaches furious and the gybes frenetic. It was on the last second downwind leg that the first dismasting occurred. At the front of the fleet Volvo CEO Glenn Bourke helming Musto had established a solid lead from Simon Blake on Sworded Fish and Geoff Carveth with Palava.

A collision during the starting sequence of the second race caused a further postponement. Ian Hunt's Ship 4 Brains suffered major structural damage and with the help of the support boats and the RNLI was put ashore at Lee-on-Solent and returned to Hamble by road. By the time the race did start the wind was starting to build and with the tide turned the waves were becoming distinctly unfriendly. Glenn Bourke again seemed impervious to the conditions and quickly gained a commanding lead. Behind him the next few boats, including Russell Peters, Craig Burlton, Jerry Hill, Daniel Geoghegan and Geoff Carveth, were also enjoying the ride. For many of the others each gybe seem to be a trip into the unknown, very few managed it without a broach of some sort and a third of the fleet decided to seek the comfort of the clubhouse. With gusts of 30 kts being recorded on the Committee boat it was time to call it a day and hope that more moderate conditions on Sunday would allow extra races to be sailed.

Overnight the weather pattern changed completely and Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny with clear blue skies, and no wind. By 11:45 Tony Lovell had found enough southerly breeze off the Meon shore to set a course and the fleet started cleanly.

By the top mark Russell Peters held a small lead over the rest of the front-runners. The main priority on the run back was to keep clean air and sail the angles correctly. Peters went to the starboard hand gate buoy and everyone followed him. The resultant bunching left many boats at a distinct disadvantage starting the beat back. Duncan Pryde sailing 3-some spotted the problem and went to the port hand gate, got clean air and a lee-bow tide and went from the 30s to 15th at the top mark.

On the second lap the wind, such as it was started to fade, and, as always, those in front extended their lead. Overnight leader, Glenn Bourke, chipped away at those in front and finished fifth - but some distance behind Peters. Very frustratingly many boats did not manage to beat the time limit as they struggled to find any movement at all. At 13:10 with no sign of any breeze anywhere in the central Solent all racing was abandoned for the day. Glenn Bourke's fifth place was enough to secure him the overall win ahead of Russell Peters.

The next round of the Touareg Grand Prix series is at Seaview on the Isle of Wight in a fortnight's time.

More pictures on the following page..

	Boat Name	Helm	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	Musto	Glenn Bourke	1	1	5	7
2	Tacktick	Russell Peters	7	2	1	10
3	3 Sad Old Blokes	Jerry Hill	11	4	2	17
4	Champagne Blonde	Daniel Geoghegan	5	5	8	18
5	Team Touareg	Craig Burlton	10	3	7	20
6	Palava	Geoff Carveth	4	6	10	20
7	Virtual Human Resources	Danny Brooks	14	8	3	25
8	Badger Racing	Paul Lovejoy	RDG(5)	RDG(9)	14	28
9	Rumble Flurg	David Cummins	25	10	4	39
10	Boo	Sam Temple	19	12	13	44
11	Outkri	Rupert Matthews	16	13	17	46
12	Kelpie	Matthew Glasgow	18	9	24	51
13	Doolalli	Colin Simonds	21	15	16	52
14	Finitor 7	Stewart Reed & John Mawdsley	22	16	18	56
15	Stripped Bare	Tom Vernon	28	30	6	64
16	Dirty Harry	Charles Whelan	20	28	21	69
17	The Baron	Edward Wheldon	29	22	20	71
17	Cheeky Monkey	Ian Sullivan	15	31	25	71
19	Grey Matter	Chris Gillard	36	19	28	83
20	Geronimo	Simon Hume	33	32	19	84
21	PamBere	Nick Jones & Ian Harrison	45	18	26	89
22	Traxu	Mark Richards	12	DNC	15	92
23	Baloo - Team Driving Logic	John Outhwaite	13	21	DNF	99
24	Royal Thames Lucky Lady	James Fox	23	14	DNF	102
24	Squat Thrust	James Struth	26	11	DNF	102
26	Millgate Homes	Ann Jackson	31	17	DNF	113
27	3-Some	Duncan Pryde	29	DNC	22	116
28	Sybarite	D. Akers-Douglas & J. Wardle	17	41	DNF	123
29	Airtight	Ian Watts & Martin Bowmer	32	DNC	27	124
30	Bathstore	Tim Cork	41	20	RAF	126
31	Sail Navy	Joe Henry	RDG(36)	RDG(26)	DNF	127
32	Flamin Galah	Jonno Brech	40	23	DNF	128
33	ASBO	Richard Purssell & Dave Robinson	24	40	DNF	129
34	Sworded Fish	Simon Blake	2	DNC	DNF	132
35	Hooligan	Gray, Jackson & Hawkins	35	33	DNF	133
35	Barbarian	Benjamin Sturges	39	29	DNF	133
37	Scoundrel The T'rd	Peter Smithin	27	42	DNC	134
38	3 Fat Lads	Martin Wadsworth	43	27	DNF	135
39	Shaun Beaver	Tim & Sue Fells	6	DNC	DNC	136
40	Ship 4 Brains	Ian Hunt	8	DNC	DNF	138
41	Chaotic	Nick Phillips	9	DNC	DNF	139
41	Black 'n' Blue	Marshall King	DNC	DNC	9	139
43	3318	Bruce Huber	37	ZFP	DNF	140
44	Risk Premium	Mark Rushall	DNC	DNC	11	141
44	Bear Behind	Andy Heather	RDG(49)	RDG(27)	DNF	141
46	Black Pig	Jason Pyke & Pauline McCracken	DNC	DNC	12	142
47	Flippet	Jonathan Blanshard	44	35	DNF	144
47	Ribictium	Sam Cook	42	37	DNF	144
49	Striptease	Henderson-Williams	46	39	DNF	150
50	Trunk Monkey	Mike Cooper	DNC	DNC	23	153
51	Trio	Gary Baker & Nick Bashford	DNC	34	DNF	164
52	3252	Alexandre Labouret	DNC	36	DNC	166
53	Heart of Gold	Natalie Jobling	DNC	38	DNF	168
53	Eau No	Mark Stokes	38	DNC	DNF	168
55	Red Kite	Roger Harford	DNC	DNC	DNF	195
55	Camel Pie	Mark Cam & Fiona Frankling	DNC	DNC	DNF	195
55	Sbeed	Toby Litton	DNC	DNC	DNC	195
55	Gill Racing Snake	Mark Reddington	DNC	DNC	DNC	195
55	Norfolk and Chance	Kepple Stratton-Brown	DNC	DNC	DNC	195
55	Bish Bash Bosh	Roger Hexton	DNC	DNC	DNF	195
55	Silverback	Steve Wilkinson	DNC	DNC	DNC	195
55	Whizz Bang	Nick Wright	DNC	DNC	DNF	195
55	Powder Monkey	Ian Poynton	DNC	DNC	DNF	195
55	La Dolce Vita	Stephen Dyer	DNC	DNC	DNC	195