3000s at the Langstone Harbour Race Weekend

Challenging conditions on day one of the Langstone Harbour Race Weekend © Tudor Sailing Club

Challenging conditions on day one of the Langstone Harbour Race Weekend © Tudor Sailing Club

The 3000 Class very much enjoyed its open meeting at the Langstone Harbour Race Weekend. Racing was within the 32-strong Medium Handicap fleet (which a 3000 won - we did warn them we were quick!).

The format of one race per day surprised some, but the reward was long courses exploring the harbour and a more relaxing event than the usual 3-races-per-day, with plenty of time for exchange of ideas and socialising. There was some close racing among the 3000's, the Vandercraft boats by no means having it so much their own way as the final results might suggest, with local heroes Ian Tonge/Nick Martin and Sam/Stuart Denyer giving Martin Brown/Max Caston a hard time on Sunday. Ben and Graham Blake's charge was ended on Sunday when they found their buoyancy contained as much water as air; officially the reason is unclear, though much reference was made to bungs...(only joking guys).

Here are the impressions of Max Caston, 3608:

The Langstone Harbour Race Weekend for us consisted of two races over two days, we were part of a seven-strong 3000 fleet. When we arrived early Saturday morning we were warmly greeted and were allocated our own area of the dinghy park so that all of the 3000’s were together. Shortly after we arrived a second 3000 turned up from Weirwood Sailing Club; we assisted them in rigging their boat and this provided us with an ideal opportunity to speak to a fellow 3000 owner. After each day's sailing the organisers had allocated the three sailing clubs: Langstone, Locks and Tudor a specific evening in which they had to provide food and entertainment for us. Following an interesting day's sailing on Saturday we went to a BBQ hosted by Locks, where we were met by extremely friendly hosts. The presentations were given with a generous helping of humour. On Sunday after the sailing we were asked at Tudor SC if we would like a roast dinner, this turned out to be a truly delicious meal. Both these informal afternoons gave us a chance to network with others where we were able to exchange hints and tips.

Prior to starting on Saturday we were given local knowledge as to where the shallow areas of water were [though this turned out not to be critical at all - TH] and where the start would take place. For us it is unusual to write down the course whilst on the water, we are used to writing the course whilst still on land, this unusual way of writing down the course provided us with our own difficulty on Sunday; thankfully we were assisted by being given a replacement tape from a fellow 3000. Sailing at different clubs has its own challenges, it is easy to get complacent sailing at your home club; this weekend gave us the opportunity to meet others, experience a very different sailing course and we also had enough free time to explore the local area. At the end of the weekend the general feedback was that everybody had enjoyed the sailing and the whole weekend was deemed a success.

Overall Results: