(Warsash, England)- After the Easter break, the closing races in the
Brooks Macdonald Warsash Spring Series and Spring Championship took
place over 26th/27th April 2014. Having had no problems with gales or
flat calms, the event has been a great success all round, with new
entries joining week by week as the weather became warmer, especially
for the open sportsboats. Over the eight race days, the 100 plus team
from Warsash Sailing Club has run over 170 separate races and each week
title sponsors Brooks Macdonald have welcomed competitors back to the
Club with champagne prizes for the lucky class winners.
Saturday- Spring Championship Day 3
This was an exhausting but exhilarating day, especially for the
sportsboats in White Group which experienced gusts to 33 knots and lulls
at 18 knots. Understandably, there were a number of broaches. Boats.com
(Ian Atkins – J/70) shredded her spinnaker during Race 2 but
fortunately had a spare and still managed to win their race. Whilst most
of the J/80 fleet stayed out for four races, several eventually stuck
to white sails rather than risk using, and possibly losing, a spinnaker.
Some in the J/70 classes decided, having worked so hard for the first
two races, to call it a day.
The RAF-crewed J/70 Team Spitfire RAFBF clinched a win by just one
second from Django (Malcolm and Tristan Jaques) in the first race, the
remaining contests going to Ian Atkins’ Boats.com. Betty (Jon Powell)
took two wins in the J/80s; Jester (Michael Lewis) and Rock and Roll
(Gillian Ross) coming up trumps in the others.
Sunday- Spring Series Day 6/ Spring Championship Day 4
Sunday morning found the breeze had dropped to 16/20 knots. By the end
of the morning the rain cleared and crews finished the day wearing
sunglasses. Two races were scheduled for Black Group, starting with a
two hour course for Race 1, reduced to 45 minutes for Race 2. The design
was principally windward/leeward with beats south-easterly against the
tide which continued to build during the day. Race 1 used the area
between Ryde Middle and East Knoll banks and Race 2 to the east of the
North Channel. All classes, except IRC4, started at East Knoll with an
initial windward leg to Bart’s Bash followed by an exhilarating sleigh
ride downwind. During this leg some chose to make a speedy swap for
bigger headsails, ready for the next beat, to power more easily through
the Solent chop. This being the final day of racing, many competitors
needed to cover others, thinking about their placing overall as well as
in individual races.
The White Group committee boat had a busy time when one boat picked up a
laid mark and started dragging it along. A replacement mark was
deployed but that too was caught and removed by another boat; the two
giving the impression of an unexpected “gate” on the course! In the
confusion, the race was abandoned and restarted. Boats.com took the
first race in the J/70s by 24 seconds from Team Spitfire but dropped to
sixth place in the second race when Django was the winner. In the J/80s,
Betty has performed consistently very well and this year wins both the
Spring Championship and Spring Series. She finished with an eight second
win over Juicy in Race 1 and was runner-up to Aqua-J in the remaining
races.
CRO White Group Peter Knight commented that this was the first time in
his memory of the event that the Black Flag has stayed firmly below
decks for the whole Series. He puts this good starting discipline down
to an increasing number of boats having invested in new electronics to
mark the start line.
For the two sportsboat classes sailing in the White Group, it was a tale
of two worlds for the J/70s and J/80s. JOYRIDE skippered by Ian Wilson
took the J/70 spring series with a total of 65 pts. Taking second in
the series was Malcolm & Tristan Jacques on DJANGO with 78 pts and
third was Simon Cavey’s JUST4PLAY with 85 pts. In the J/70 Championship
series, it was clear that Ian Atkins’s team on BOATS.COM had benefitted
from their experiences sailing in Key West Race Week, taking ten 1sts
in fourteen races to win overall. Second was Simon Ling’s RAF SPITFIRE
crew with 34 pts, just one point ahead of Malcolm & Tristan Jacques
DJANGO in third.
The final weekly champagne prizes were presented by Brooks Macdonald
Director John Wallace, accompanied by his daughter Eleanor. The SLAM
jacket went to Brian Moreton of the J/70 Jukebox. Sailing photo credits- Tim Wright/ Photoaction.com For more Warsash Spring Series sailing information
