It’s not only on the South Coast that Impalas are still dominating the racing results. John Williams from Pembrokeshire writes: Thought I would send the results of our recent 2011 winter series, as you can see it was totally dominated by Impalas, with Inca being totally dominant, no excuses they sail it incredibly well – Fred Fisher who owns Inca has had her since 1985!! But it was nice for us to be able to regularly beat a modern Corby.
Not bad for a class that’s three decades old!
Check out the 2012 Nationals page for the latest info on the event, which will be in Plymouth from the 13-15 July. The racing will be run by Royal Western Yacht Club of England from their clubhouse in Queen Anne’s Battery and fleet will be based at Yacht Haven Quays (YHQ). Entries are already in double figures – let us know if you’re planning on coming. It looks set to be a great event!
Happy new year to all Impala sailors around the world. Here’s to a successful sailing season in 2012!
A freezing cold race finished off the final race in the Garmin Hamble Winter Series. It was a close race, and after the whole series, Polly is 1st, with Trudi 2nd and Curved Air 6th.
There’s a provisional Solent calendar on the South Coast page – have a look and let us know which events you’re planning on doing in 2012 so we can get a good impala entry! And don’t forget the nationals at Plymouth from the 13-15 July – there’s a great entry already and it should be the biggest event for many years.
This took place on Sunday Nov 20th.
Course is HK Island to Starboard, with a number of racing marks on the southern shore which have to be left to port to keep the yachts out of the very busy shipping lanes. Also there are a couple of small islands which must be left to starboard and a final starboard turning mark to line the fleet up for the final beat up the harbour from the west.
The starting and handicapping is similar to IOW RTIR with two start lines off the Club House, with an event handicap based on IRC with non IRC boats slotted in as the handicappers see fit.
Simultaneously Starting from the southern point of the island, from the Middle Island clubhouse is the RTIR for outriggers. These are strange craft in which the occupants, eschewing the wind that nature has provided, expend vast amounts of energy paddling the boats along. With gentle coaxing and the offer of rum and coke, and genial relaxed company whilst letting the sails do the work the male paddlers can usually be brought back into the fold. The female paddlers on the other hand strike fear into the souls of the humble and gentle sailing folk. With their highly developed physiques, bulging biceps, and steely eyed, they are best avoided.
Read more…
The Lipton Trophy – Hong Kong Harbour Saturday 19th November
This is a pursuit race around marks in the harbour in which the boats first sail three triangles of about 1 ½ miles per leg, then between windward/leeward marks about a mile apart until the target finish time of 16.30 is reached; the race is finished when the leading boat next reaches the leeward mark. Starts are staggered from 14.00 hours when the Pandoras set off, with starts every two minutes. Ruffians 14.08; Sonatas 14.12 Impalas go off at 14.22; SB3s 14.30; Etchells and j80’s 14.32, all the way up to IRC 1.51 (yes there are such boats !) at 15.16
It’s a finely tuned system designed to have all fifty-five entrants crossing the finishing line overlapped. As you will see it does not always work out that way.
Read more…
November 28th, 2011
admin
With winds that started at 27 knots and eased to 10 by the finish, the Impalas in Class 4 had an interesting day’s racing in the penultimate race of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series. The steep, short chop had the consistency of concrete, making upwind speed elusive. Polly was first, with Trudi 3rd and Curved Air 7th.
We need your race reports! Send in a paragraph or two and some results – and let us know what racing you’re planning on doing next year… email info@impala28.co.uk
November 24th, 2011
admin
“Its been a windy winter series at Hamble this autumn, with winds consistently in the 20 knot range, and often more. After 7 years away, coming back to sail Impalas has been great fun, and an opportunity to apply experience learned in other craft to help understand the fascinating business of getting to windward in a breeze. The Impala’s light weight, easy sections and relative lack of beam contribute to the slippery performance that we all find so appealing , but upwind in a breeze these same attributes make it very easy for her to be knocked over in the gusts . So how should we set the boats up to perform best in these conditions? ”
Read on from this new article on how to go upwind quickly in a breeze from a long-time Impala sailor recently returned to the class, in the Tuning section of the website. Any tips of your own you’d like to share? Send them in!
November 24th, 2011
admin
A beautiful sunny day with 9-12 knots of breeze? In November? The sixth Garmin Hamble Winter Series weekend could have been in the Caribbean – apart from Fawley power station chimney, of course. Polly crossed the line first, ahead of a very close battle for second by the next five boats. See you next sunday – hope the weather holds!
November 14th, 2011
admin
A gusty and shifty breeze that started at 20+knots and ended up at 8 knots in the lulls made for an interesting race on Sunday, in the latest Garmin Hamble Winter Series weekend. The three Impalas in IRC 4 did well, with Polly first, Trudi second and Curved Air 4th. Best of all, the race was sailed in bright sunshine and 18 degrees air temperature. Beautiful!
It’s not only on the South Coast that Impalas are still dominating the racing results. John Williams from Pembrokeshire writes: Thought I would send the results of our recent 2011 winter series, as you can see it was totally dominated by Impalas, with Inca being totally dominant, no excuses they sail it incredibly well – Fred Fisher who owns Inca has had her since 1985!! But it was nice for us to be able to regularly beat a modern Corby.
Come and 'like' the Impala class on 
