Wednesday Early Points Results and Reports
Wednesday Early Points - 28th April - Dying breeze leave slow boats adrift
Written by Leslie Ross Thursday, 29 April 2010 00:00
On 28th April Wednesday evening racing was a light wind affair. The fleets got away from the river line in very light airs but only the fastest finished the course. 25 boats failed to finish as the wind died. In the fast fleet the RS 400 Rarely Sober took a tight hold of the series with an excellent win. Sailed by John Cooper and Becci Wigley are not new to winning in the fast fleet with many victories to their credit. It was different in the medium fleet where Nick Fagan, an up and coming Blaze sailor won his first Wednesday evening race. Nick grabbed the lead as Simon Ward misjudged a mark rounding and had to do turns. The Wanderer sailed by Mike and Jane Saqui took third and Richard Russell's RS100, the scratch boat in the fleet, could not make his time in these condition. 17 boats could not complete the course.
Wednesday Early Points - 22nd April
Written by Leslie Ross Thursday, 22 April 2010 00:00
For the second week running Wednesday sailing was sailed in pleasant sunny weather. The turnout of 36 dinghies across 4 fleets was down slightly on the first race. Already, three crews are setting the pace each with two wins. In the Wayfarer Class Outlaw sailed by Marcus Malanaphy and Doug Bird again dominated the race to notch up their second win. The RS100 of Richard Russell has a 100% record in the tough medium handicap as do Suzanne Sutherland and Sara Unsworth sailing Valmag in the slow handicap.
The fast fleet is lead by Rarely Sober as the consistent John Cooper and Becci Wigley had another second place to lead by two points from Nick Simmons and Julie Willis who were third. Tig Williams in his RS600 bagged his first win of the series.
Wednesday Early Points - 14th April - Champagne conditions for evening racing
Written by Leslie Ross Wednesday, 21 April 2010 08:38
Champagne conditions welcomed the 34 dinghies racing in the first evening race of the year. With a breeze averaging 12-14 knots with gusts of 18 knots, the race was sailed in evening sunshine. All classes started at the club line but starts were delayed as the ferries were running late on timetable. The courses took the fleet out of the river and into the Solent where a flood tide made the down wind leg slower and the beats relatively short.
The fast fleet had a disappointing turnout of five dinghies but it was a high quality fleet. Giles Lloyd Williams and Fiona Ramus lead from the start to take the first win.
The Wayfarer Fleet had a solid turnout of 10 entries. This class has close one design racing but Outlaw sailed by Marcus Malanaphy and D Bird started the season as they finished last year with a convincing win. Part of the joy of the Wayfarer is that relative beginners can sail the course in this forgiving design, while it is rewarding for excellent sailors.
The medium handicap was the largest class with 19 entries. The fleet was very mixed and spans considerable speed and capability differences. The wind dropped as the race proceeded giving advantage to the faster boats in the fleet. There was a good duel at the front between Richard Russell’s brand new RS100 and Leslie Ross in his Blaze. Russell won the start but Ross overhauled him before No 10. Ross built up a lead but Russell flew off wind from east to Wallbank. Ross closed the gap upwind but Russell had almost 30 second in hand after handicaps. The course suited the Blaze class and Simon Ward took third despite being some 2 minutes behind Ross.
The club runs a personal handicap scheme on Wednesdays to encourage individual improvement and to enable all abilities
Wednesday Early Points Results (PY) >>
