Tyco Healthcare Hamble Winter Series

Eddie Mays reports from a sunny Solent

Splash Test Dummies leads in the 1720s

The prolonged spell of bright and dry weather continues to tempt large numbers of competitors onto the water. This week 189 boats took part in Sunday’s racing, which was sponsored by the Hamble Point Marina. The mainly Northerly wind was both cold and shifty as it came off the northern shore.

The White Group of Sportsboats had the most excitement, not that the Race Officer and his team probably saw it that way. The crew on board the 1720 O’Fiver saw their mast collapse before the start of the first race. In the first Laser SB3 race Stewart Hawthorn, Wee Jamarama, made a perfect port tack, pin end start but could only convert that into a 4th place by the end of the race. Then, another club laid a windward mark downwind of the 707s starting line and at the end of the first lap only one 707 rounded the correct bottom mark. The race had to be abandoned and re-sailed. This led to a short morning race to enable the class to have a proper afternoon race. Ian Southworth and Nigel Smith, Chilli Chaser, were unfazed by the day’s ups and downs. They recorded another pair of victories and are well on their way to taking a stranglehold on the class by the halfway point. Another boat with four wins to their credit is the husband and wife team of Andrew & Jane McLelland sailing Splash Test Dummies in the 1720 class.

Further out in the Solent the Black Group had an easier time with only a strong Spring tide and an oscillating wind to contend with. The IRC Zero class is bigger this year with 13 entries. First over the line this week was the Volvo RYA team on Atomic but it was Fenton Burgin out for the first time on his new Ker 11.3, Skipjack of Cowes, who took the win on handicap. He had led the race for a long period and was only overtaken by four of the larger boats. Robbie Cameron-Davies, Ker 11.3 I-Site, made a very good recovery from a poor first part of the race to finish 9 secs behind Skipjack and take 2nd place. Another boat having a good last leg was Poole sailor Jim MacGregor, Kier building with Flair, in IRC 2. He made up sufficient ground on the last beat to finish just behind Keith Passmore’s Reflex 38 Walk on By and save his time from Mike Brough in Steady Barker.

The Bowsprit class is in its third season as a separate class and is becoming the preferred option for an increasing number of owners. 16 boats so far have entered the class and Robert Shaw sailing his J-109 Jazolo, won his 2nd race in the series. Shaun Murphy sailing his J-109 Slingshot lost the mast during the first, very rough race, two weekends ago. Working with Paul Heys from Key Yachting they located a spare in France. They managed to get it out of France and into the boat within the week and Shaun recorded his second 3rd place in the class this week.

Class Winners:

Class		Yacht	Owner
IRC 0	Ker 11.3	Skipjack of Cowes	Fenton Burgin
IRC 1	IMX40	Exabyte 2	Shaun Frohlich
IRC 2	Elan 40	Kier building with Flair	Jim MacGregor
IRC 3		Great Scot II	Eurof Phillips
IRC 4	¼ tonner	Purple Haze	Tony Dodd
X 332		Glide-X	Ian Dawson
Sigma38		Mefisto	Kevin Sussmilch
Sigma33		Whippa Snappa	Richard Puddifoot
Bowsprit	J-109	Jazolo	Robert Shaw
Mumm 30	Race 1	Offbeat	Ian Gill & James Ives
	Race 2	Moonshine	Jack Kelly
1720	Races 1&2	Splash Test Dummies	Andrew & Jane McLelland
Laser SB3	Race1	Smee agen	John White
	Race 2	Bish Bash Bosh	Roger Hexton
Sportsboat	Races 1 & 2	Impetuous	Morton, Brown & Jay
707	Races 1&2	Chilli Chaser	Ian Southworth & Nigel Smith

James and John Owen's J109, Jet