Royal Lymington Yacht Club Monday Night Dinghy Series - Day 5

A less predictable race would be hard to imagine for the 64 dinghies. The fifth Monday Evening Dinghy race started just after the wind veered 60 degrees from east to south.

The race team led by Ken Hay and Stuart Jardine had sensibly set courses up tide to the east, against the building spring ebb - a good thing as the wind died completely once the fleets had beat out into the Solent. Several competitors looked grimly at the oily calm sea stretching all the way to Cowes, dropped their spinnakers and headed for home, but persistence paid for the keen ones who, after drifting backwards for what seemed like an eternity, eventually picked up a light NE wind and ended the long leg east on a beat.

The RS400s in the Fast fleet made the most of the tricky conditions to keep ahead of the faster RS700 and RS800 on the water until the new wind filled in. Rob and Jan Martin judged the difficult layline call from their safe inshore position to the tide-swept windward mark perfectly, sneaking past brother John and Pam Martin. That move regained them the race on corrected time and the series lead overall. Meanwhile Keith and Julie Willis took a radical offshore route, hoping for better breeze to battle the tide, and found just enough wind to hold onto third place.

In the Medium fleet the Merlin Rockets were revelling in the light airs, with Nigel and Suzie Brooke building up an impressive six minute lead over Merlin rivals Mark Barwell and Lou Johnson. The ever-consistent Richard Russell and Sylvia Weger had a great start in their Tasar, helping them to third in the race and the slimmest of series leads on tie-break.

Meanwhile in the Slow fleet, Henry Collison won his first race of the series For the Scow fleet Monday's race was a tale of changing fortunes. Once down the river and into the Solent Rory Paton in Wizard opened up a clear lead over Jane Pitt-Pitts in Daffy Duck with the rest of the 27 strong fleet already well spread out behind. But then the wind started to back, dropped to a whisper and by the second beat against a strengthening ebb tide everyone found it difficult to make headway. Off a muddy point on Pylewell Island, almost level with the windward mark, most of the fleet came together, the leaders having lost the breeze while the tail-enders kept it.

In the ensuing scrum Barry and Carol Dunning in Snow Goose demonstrated their roll-tacking skills and worked up the shore into the lead. Eric Williams in Anna, who had been steadily working his way through the fleet, also did well but the early leaders fell back. At the finish (at the River Gate as the course was shortened) the order was Snow Goose, Dunning from Anna, Williams with Simon Hagen in SeaTalk third, his first time in the top three places. Meanwhile, the tail-enders struggled to round the windward mark and six boats retired.

Full results are at www.rlymyc.org.uk/Racing/Results/results.shtml