Welcome beer sponsor

Molson Coors back Royal Southampton YC's doublehanded series

The Royal Southampton Yacht Club is delighted to welcome Molson Coors as the new sponsor for its series which this year is named the Coors Light Double Handed Series.

This ever popular series of eight races which run from April to October each year has attracted even more boats than before, perhaps because in 2010 a new offshore trophy has been introduced for the first time. The offshore trophy will be awarded for 4 of the 8 races with an inshore trophy for the other 4 and a whole series trophy for all 8.

The 2010 season got off to a great start on Saturday 10th April in warm spring sunshine when a fleet of 65 boats competed in 2 IRC classes, 2 Club classes and 1 Multihull class. After a short wait for the wind to make a steady appearance, the five classes began their starts from racing mark ‘Simon Vigar’ on the Hillhead plateau at around 1130 in a light SE wind and a west-going tide.

The fleet beat their way east up the northern shore to stay out of the tide before making for the eastern end of Ryde Middle, then ran back down to Flying Fish in deep water to get the best of the tide. With the tide under the boats, there was barely enough wind to fill symmetric spinnackers; the asymmetrics appeared to fare better by gybeing down to the mark. The original course took boats back to the first mark again before a finish at 'RORC' but the wind had other ideas: Light and patch for most of the race, by around 2PM, just on the turn of the tide, the wind became even less reliable and the Race Committee made a great job of shortening class 4 at Mackley Construction and all other classes at SE Ryde Middle.

Provisional results were announced at a prize giving at the Ocean Village Clubhouse on Saturday evening where a racing supper menu was also available:

Class 1 Strait Dealer took line honours, but on corrected time it was No Retreat! then Strait Dealer followed by Jo Jo Gunne.
Class 2 it was With Alacrity ahead of J Arrow then Jika Jika
Class 3 Squander finished in front of the two Maxis Asante and Tosara Blue
Class 4 it was Fusion III then Green Kestral and Meg
Multihulls Cold Fusion Reloaded took first place from Tinkerbell in second and Scooby in third.

The next event in the Coors Light Double Handed Series and the first race in the offshore series will be the Coors Light Cherbourg Double starting from the central Solent on the evening of Friday 30 April. The race ends with a prize giving and competitor's meal at the Cherbourg Yacht Club on Saturday 1 May.