Winter series winds up

Eddie Mays reports on the prize giving for the Tyco Healthcare Hamble Winter Series

After eight weeks of intense racing in fourteen divisions the 2003 Tyco Healthcare Hamble Winter Series held the Series prizegiving at the Hamble River Sailing Club last Saturday evening. The Protest Committee had resolved the outstanding problem with the Laser SB3 class on Thursday evening and all the winners are confirmed below.

The formula for deciding the two top prizes, Yacht & Sportsboat of the Series, is like all the best recipes a closely guarded secret but Race Director Jamie Wilkinson admitted that but for the unfortunate accident to a crew member on Ian Dawson’s X-332 in the last race the decision would have been much tighter.

The Yacht of the Series was awarded to Eurof Phillips & Barbara Mackay in IRC 3. They won six races and were adjudged OCS in the 7th race. With only one discard allowed they scored a perfect 6.

The Sportsboat of the Series went, for the second year running, to Ian Southworth and Nigel Smith in their 707. In a fleet of 40 boats they scored 9 wins, a 2nd and a 5th to win this high competitively class by 18 points.

At the Prize-giving three local charities were each presented with a cheque for £1,000 from the proceeds of the Charity Pursuit race that was run in the middle of the series. Ian Walker represented the John Merricks Trust, Janet Motherwell, daughter of the founder, represented Hamble Inshore Rescue and John Santy collected the cheque for Sail 4 Cancer.

The final act of this year’s Series was on Sunday when the Race Director and the Flag Officers held a thank you lunch for the club members who had helped with the Series. 50 members attended and in thanking them for their efforts Jamie Wilkinson emphasised the level of commitment they had given over the past two months. To run such a large series, 262 entries this year, from such a small club, 300 members, was a significant achievement.

Winners

Yacht of the Series	Great Scot II		Eurof Phillips & Barbara Mackay
Sportsboat of the Series	Chilli Chaser		Ian Southworth & Nigel Smith
IRC 0	I-Site	Ker 11.3	Robbie Cameron-Davies
IRC 1	Exabyte 2	IMX-40	Shaun Frohlich
IRC 2	Kier building with Flair	Elan 40	Jim McGregor
IRC 3	Great Scot II	Mills 10	Eurof Phillips & Barbara Mackay
IRC 4	Purple Haze	¼ Tonner	Tony Dodd
X 332	Glide-X		Ian Dawson
Sigma 38	festina lente		The Meakins Family
Sigma 33	Whippa Snappa		Richard Puddifoot
Bowsprit	Jazolo		Robert Shaw
Mumm 30	Highlander III		Gregor Logan
1720	Splash Test Dummies		Andrew & Jane McLelland
Laser SB3	Sublime		Mike Ewart-Smith
Sportsboat	Impetuous	Beneteau 25	Messers Morton, Brown & Devonshire
707	Chilli Chaser		Ian Southworth & Nigel Smith