Lymington Respect Gin XOD Week 2024 Day 3
by Rory Paton 11 Jun 05:48 BST
8-12 June 2024
Respect Gin evening during Lymington Respect Gin XOD Week 2024 © Amber Baker
A grim, shifty looking, 25 knots of northerly greeted the fleet this morning. Our race team set us a moveable windward and spreader mark up to the river mouth with a leeward mark a leeward mark at No 2 and Yarmouth.
The sailors must have been cold because they were keen to get going. Too keen as it turned out and after a general recall under flag Z the race got going under the dreaded "unicorn" flag. Sadly a few boats got several boats got caught by this leading to a long wait for the race to be over. The windward mark was hotly contested but on the run to No 2 near Yarmouth the boats that hard worked their way east gained the most. The race committee shorted the race at B and at the end X Ray won from Claire de Lunne, Zest, Heyday and our Respect Gin sponsor Jonathan Clark, Fin Morris and Ed Wilson in Tortoise.
Race 2 got away surprisingly easily perhaps it was because the tide was now ebbing hard, the wind was still plenty shifty and patchy. Zest lead the charge to the right hand side of the course followed by Mayfly who almost laid the windward mark in one. There was a fair amount of tension at the windward mark but once the boats set off down wind it all appeared to calm down. Eddie Warden Owen aboard Beatrix and Tortoise made a huge gain by setting off on starboard whist everyone else was heading up tide on port. On the beat back from no 4 to mark D there was over a mile of separation. Zest and Mayfly made big gains on the right hand side to finish ahead of Claire de Lunne, Beatrix and Venus.
The fleet then met ashore for a lovely Respect Gin evening, there may be some sore heads in the morning.
Kindly supported by Sanders Sails, Respect Gin, Copper Lining Wine, Harken/Baker Marine, Force 4 and North Sails
Full results can be found here.