Royal Lymington Yacht Club Summer Dinghy Open Meeting
by Hannah Neve 30 Jul 2012 15:44 BST
28-29 July 2012
Considering this is 2012 and coincided with the start of the Olympics, the weather was uncharacteristically sunny for the RLymYC Summer Dinghy Open. 77 sailors in 49 boats enjoyed ample breezes, perfectly-laid courses and the club's famous tea and doughnuts in what turned out to be a great weekend of Solent racing.
Visitors travelled from as far away as Harwich, and a strong contingent sailed their boats from Keyhaven. Sunday brought stronger winds of 20-25 knots against the ebb tide, giving the competitors and the safety boat crews a real challenge which they all took on admirably.
The Firefly fleet showed us how close racing should be, with Steve Greaves and Caroline Edwards finally triumphing by one point over local ex-National Champion Stuart Hudson, crewed by Sally Wakefield and Emily Sanderson. Stuart was caught out by a sharp and very un-Lymington 30 degree windshift veering away from the normal sea breeze direction in the second race, capsizing his boat to windward on the beat.
Ella Mitchell and James of Weston SC took advantage of the shift as they blasted downwind in their RS800 to take the lead in the Fast Handicap, but in the resulting drag race RS800 "SP High Modulus" sailed by Luke and Emma McEwen was able to overtake on what had become a tight spinnaker reach as the fast boats negotiated the rest of the fleet coming upwind on Starboard. David Gautier in his Contender sailed very quickly to win the first race by over a minute and take second overall, one point ahead of Keith and Julie Willis in their RS400.
Jon Gorringe from Parkstone YC showed the way round for the Medium Handicap his Merlin Rocket, winning every race but hotly chased by Tom Britz and Saskia in their 420 – a superb effort by Saskia who was learning to trapeze. Stuart Watson sailed very consistently to take third overall.
The Teras justified their entry in the regatta with some great sailing and dominated the Slow Handicap after Eleanor Watkins' Cadet dropped out in the first race due to crew injury. Race wins were shared between Robbie Boyd on Saturday and Liam Willis on Sunday. A very close battle for third between Jonny Tait and Charlotte Bassett was over when Charlotte capsized in the boisterous conditions on Sunday and her mast was damaged.
On Saturday evening the club laid on an excellent supper. Those who were not exhausted by the day's racing then fought another close battle in the Olympic Games Bar Quiz, won by father-and-son team Keith and Liam Willis – possibly helped by the fact that prolific sailor Keith had owned almost every class in the "identify the dinghy" rounds.
The Lymington Town Sailing Club generously donated prizes for the best overall performance on Sunday, calculated as the best total corrected time compared to the other boats on the same course. Jon Gorringe's Merlin won decisively, sailing 18% faster than the fleet's average speed.
Keep an eye on the calendar for next year's Lymington Dinghy Regatta, which promises to be even bigger and better.
Overall Results:
Fireflys:
1st Steve Greaves & Caroline Edwards in "Cumulus"
2nd Stuart Hudson & Sally Wakefield/Emily Sanderson in "Fursty Ferret"
3rd Dan & Ella Vincent in "Tic Tac"
Fast Handicap
1st Luke & Emma McEwen in RS800 "SP High Modulus"
2nd David Gautier in Contender "Next Time"
3rd Keith & Julie Willis in RS400 "Still Thinking Of 1"
Medium Handicap
1st Jon Gorringe in Merlin Rocket "Oakey Doakey"
2nd Tom Britz & Saskia S in 420 "Nessa"
3rd Stuart Watson in Blaze "Wild Thing"
Slow Handicap
1st Liam Willis in Tera "Teradactill"
2nd Robbie Boyd in Tera "Seafire"
3rd Jonny Tait in a Tera