Southampton doublehanders

Simon Forbes describes RSYC's doublehanded racing to Weymouth and back

Southampton to Weymouth

The Royal Southampton Yacht Club’s Double-Handed series continued on Saturday 3rd May with the Southampton to Weymouth Leg and saw a south-westerly breeze of up to 25 knots.

The Race Management Team had postponed the start from the Friday evening due to the strong winds. They set the Committee Boat near Harwood Buoy to the east of Yarmouth and set the classes away from 1040. The fleet had a beat to St Alban’s Head with the breeze decreasing and turning into a run on the final leg into Weymouth Bay.

Class 1 IRC saw Paul Peggs and Morse Blaker on the water-ballasted JOD35 Audacious take line honours in a time of 5 hours 14 minutes, but it was Simon Curwen and Wez Absolon on the J/105 Voador who beat them on corrected time by four minutes. The J/92 Jamblaya of Andrew Bird and Phil Ryan took third place.

Class 2 IRC saw James Yarrow’s Starlight 35 Dreamer take first to finish, but first on corrected time went to Chris Rustom and John Syms on the Scampi Garnele. Second was the Trapper 300 Google–Eye sailed by Pat Stables and Nigel Hunter with Mist, a Nicholson 33, sailed by Ross Elliston and Peggy Dorothy in third place.

Class 3 Club handicap, saw the Bavaria 44, Faze 3 of Andrew and Linda Campbell take line honours. Jonathan Meeson and James Cooke on Fantastic Mr Fox took corrected time victory by eight seconds after seven hours of racing from Indiana Jones II a Robber IIIE sailed by Jon Woolgar and Peter Sprake with the 35ft Nicholson one-off ‘A day at the Races’ sailed by Barrie Martin and David Ives in third place.

In the Multihull Class Firebird II sailed by Julian Yates and Kennton Johns was first to finish in a time of 4 hours 19 minutes, with victory on corrected time going to Ben Goodland and Mike Yates on the Strider 24 Tigger with second George Burn and Carol Tomkinson on the Corsair F27 Smokey Bear with Firebird II third.

PROVISIONAL RESULTS LEG 1 to WEYMOUTH

Class: 1 – IRC
1. Voador, J/105, Simon Curwen/W Absolon
2. Audacious, JOD 35, Paul Peggs/Morse Blaker
3. Jambalaya, J/92, Andrew Bird/ Phil Ryan

Class: 2 – IRC
1. Garnele, Scampi, Chris Rustom/John Syms
2. Google-Eye, Trapper 300, Pat Stables/Nigel Hunter
3. Mist, Nicholson 33, RossElliston/PeggyDorothy

Class: 3 – Club
1. Fantastic Mr Fox, Trapper 250, Jon Meeson / James Cooke
2. Indiana Jones II, Robber IIIE, Jon Woolgar/Peter Sprake
3. A Day at the Races, 35’Nicholson, Barrie Martin/David Ives

Class: Multihulls
1. Tigger, Strider 24, Ben Goodland/Mike Yates
2. Smokey Bear, Corsair F27, George Burn/CarolTomkins
3. Firebird II, Firebird, Julian Yates/KenntonJohns

Weymouth to Southampton Leg

The Royal Southampton Yacht Club’s Double-Handed series continued on Sunday 4th May with the Weymouth to Southampton Leg and saw a south-south easterly breeze of Force 4 at the start which increased in the middle of the day.

The Race Management Team set the Committee Boat off Weymouth and set the classes away from 0740. The fleet had a beat to St Alban’s Head, a fetch to the Needles and a reach up the Solent with the breeze decreasing and a strengthening west-going tide proving a problem for the slowest boats.

Class 1 IRC saw Paul Peggs and Morse Blaker on the water-ballasted JOD35 Audacious take line honours in a time of 6 hours 24 minutes and win on corrected time by twenty minutes, from Simon Curwen and Wez Absolon on the J/105 Voador. The X-332 Pyxis sailed by Kirsteen Donaldson and Mary Sturgess took third place.

Overall in the series after three races, Voador leads Audacious by 1 point with Jambalaya third.

Class 2 IRC saw James Yarrow’s Starlight 35 Dreamer take first to finish, but first on corrected time went to Chris Rustom and John Syms on the Scampi Garnele. Second was the ¼ tonner Moondog of Jersey sailed by Andy and Peter Pickett with Polly, an Impala 28, sailed by Philip Meakins in third place. Overall after three races Ganele leads by six points from Google-Eye with The Flying Fish in third place.

Class 3 Club handicap, saw the Bavaria 44, Faze 3 of Andrew and Linda Campbell take line honours and corrected time victory. Dehler 43 Drake sailed by Stephen and Rena Lineker took second place 22 minutes behind with the Westerly Fulmar Marsh Mist in third sailed by Gregory Harris and Timothy Lloyd.

Overall after three races Faze 3 leads by one point from Marsh Mist with ‘A Day at the Races’ in third place. In the Multihull Class Firebird II sailed by Julian Yates and Kennton Johns was first to finish in a time of 5 hours 34 minutes, with victory on corrected time going to Ben Goodland and Mike Yates on the Strider 24 Tigger with second George Burn and Carol Tomkinson on the Corsair F27 Smokey Bear with Firebird II third.

Overall after three races Tigger leads by 11 points from Scooby III with third Triptych 2.
The RSYC Double-Handed Series continues with the Cherbourg Double on Friday 23rd May. RSYC Clarkson Cup Regatta is on Saturday 10th and 11th May. Twilight series continues on Thursday evenings for details contact Cathy Crawley, Sailing Secretary, RSYC, Tel: 023 80223352 or email racing@rsyc.org.uk

PROVISIONAL RESULTS LEG 2 WEYMOUTH to SOUTHAMPTON

Class: 1 – IRC
1. Audacious, JOD 35, Paul Peggs/Morse Blaker
2. Voador, J/105, Simon Curwen/W Absolon
3. Pyxis, X-332, K Donaldson/ M Sturgess

Class: 2 – IRC
1. Garnele, Scampi, Chris Rustom/John Syms
2. Moondog of Jersey, Jones 1/4Ton, Andy and Peter Pickett
3. Polly, Impala 28, Philip Meakins

Class: 3 – Club
1. Faze 3, Bavaria 44, Andrew & Linda Campbell
2. Drake, Dehler 43, Stephen & Rena Lineker
3. Marsh Mist, Fulmar, Gregory Harris/Tim Lloyd

Class: Multihulls
1. Tigger, Strider 24, Ben Goodland/Mike Yates
2. Smokey Bear, Corsair F27, George Burn/CarolTomkins
3. Firebird II, Firebird, Julian Yates/KenntonJohns