Photos © Ben Meakins Photos © Barney Smith Two Impalas – Imptish and Polly – hit the water for the second Warsash Spring Series race on Sunday. In a unusual but welcome turn of events, the race committee got IRC 4 away in the only patch of wind in the Read more…
Photos: © Laura Starling The season begins: ‘Imptish, with new owners Barney Smith and Graham Tullett competed in race 1 of the Warsash Sping Series on Sunday. Launched just a few days ago after a three month winter refit, her owners were very happy to be out sailing rather than Read more…
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 Read more…
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.
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.
What a difference to last week! Day 2 of the Hamble Winter Series and the Solent was filled with thick fog, no wind and the foghorns of ships sounding their way up Southampton Water. What a surprise, then, to get in a race in, in 5-10 knots of breeze that Read more…
Three Impalas – Curved Air, Trudi and Polly – ventured into the Solent yesterday in a large wind-against-tide chop and gusts of 25 knots for the first weekend of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series. After two races, Polly is lying first overall in IRC 4, with Trudi 3rd and Curved Read more…
We had four days of great sailing in Plymouth. Atalanta came from Falmouth and Zulu made it back from the Championships in time for the first two races on Thursday afternoon in a brisk wind. On Friday winds were over 30 knots at times with a very lumpy sea outside Read more…