Plymouth Gin Series Week 1

by Chris Hampe 7 Apr 2015 08:21 BST 5 April 2015

Plymouth Gin Series Week 1 © Chris Hampe

The Plymouth Gin Series returned to Plymouth Sound on Easter Sunday for the first two races of the four week long series. This year saw a change of format to make all races windward leeward and to also conduct the first UK trial of the ORC handicap system. This would see boats triple scored under IRC, NHC and ORC.

So the big question of the day should have been who would win the first ever ORC race in the UK? But such were the conditions at the scheduled start time of 10AM a bigger question was would we get any racing in at all? The weather station at Rame Head was reading 3 knots easterly But within Plymouth Sound the wind had other ideas with a very light north westerly initially blowing down from the mouth of the Tamar. Eventually the land heated up and a 4 knot southerly filled in Once the committee boat had relocated close to Drakes Island the first race got underway at 11:50.

Race 1 saw Alan Meredith's Prima 38 Al Fresco establish a good lead on the chasing pack and they would hold on to win under both NHC and IRC. The winner of the first race under ORC however went to the J24 of Steve Wassell from Torpoint Mosquito Sailing Club. Steve Andrew's J70 Red Dog scored 3rd place in both NHC and ORC and the Corby 25 belonging to Sean Koehler rounded out the podiums with 3rd under IRC.

For the second race the course was extended in length with the wind having built to 7 knots and it was the pair of J70's that dominated the results. Steve Andrew from the Royal Western Yacht Club took Red Dog to victory in all three classes ahead of Steve Northmore on Waterjet. Al Fresco held onto a 2nd place under IRC But fell to 7th under NHC following their race 1 victory.

After racing the days prize giving saw copious amounts of Plymouth Gin handed out thanks to our generous series sponsors and the usual talk of handicaps filled the bar as the experts discussed the pros and cons of each of the three handicap systems. It looks like we are going to have a fantastic series and it will be very intresting to see how the results differ between NHC, IRC and ORC as the series progresses.

Week 1 Results:

Place	Sail No	Hcap	Name	Owner	Club	Type	Finish	Corrected	Points
NHC Race 1
1	7938	192	Al Fresco	Alan Meredith	RYA	PRIMA 38	12:21:57	00:34:53	1
2	7207	0.883	Dogs Jorrocks	Steve Wassell	TMSC	J 24 OD	12:29:45	00:35:06	2
3	146	0.928	Red Dog	Steve Andrew	RWYC	J 70 OD	12:28:14	00:35:29	3
4	23	0.984	Sanuk	John McLaren	Salcombe YC	Seascape 27	12:26:13	00:35:38	4
5	7525	0.937	Slipstream	Sean Koehler	PYC	CORBY 25	12:28:10	00:35:46	5
6	130	0.928	Waterjet	Steve Northmore	RYA	J 70 OD	12:28:50	00:36:02	6
7=	230	0.897	Slipknot	Daryl Conyers	RWYC	Open 5.7	12:30:13	00:36:04	7.5
7=	6702	0.971	I Say Ding Dong	Robert Fletcher	RWYC	FIRST 34.7	12:27:09	00:36:04	7.5
9	3531	0.921	Carnage	Peter Kent	RYA	SB20 OD	12:29:18	00:36:12	9
10	62	0.876	Seascape	Jon Pegg	Yealm YC	Seascape 18	12:32:55	00:37:36	10
11	245	0.876	Ullman Sails	Matt Valentino‑Owen	SSC	Seascape 18	12:34:24	00:38:54	11
12	82	0.876	Seascape Distribution UK	Peter Wanstall	RWYC	Seascape 18	12:34:26	00:38:55	12
13	121	0.876	Marks & ...	Hugh Spencer	RPCYC	Seascape 18	12:34:42	00:39:09	13
IRC Race 1
1	7938	18	Al Fresco	Alan Meredith	RYA	PRIMA 38	12:21:57	00:34:30	1
2	7207	0.887	Dogs Jorrocks	Steve Wassell	TMSC	J 24 OD	12:29:45	00:35:15	2
3	7525	0.936	Slipstream	Sean Koehler	PYC	CORBY 25	12:28:10	00:35:43	3
4	6702	0.993	I Say Ding Dong	Robert Fletcher	RWYC	FIRST 34.7	12:27:09	00:36:53	4
5	146	0.969	Red Dog	Steve Andrew	RWYC	J 70 OD	12:28:14	00:37:03	5
6	23	139	Sanuk	John McLaren	Salcombe YC	Seascape 27	12:26:13	00:37:38	6
ORC Race 1
1	7207	0.619	Dogs Jorrocks	Steve Wassell	TMSC	J 24 OD	12:29:45	00:24:36	1
2	7938	0.7719	Al Fresco	Alan Meredith	RYA	PRIMA 38	12:21:57	00:24:40	2
3	146	0.6605	Red Dog	Steve Andrew	RWYC	J 70 OD	12:28:14	00:25:15	3
4	23	0.7031	Sanuk	John McLaren	Salcombe YC	Seascape 27	12:26:13	00:25:28	4
5	230	0.6341	Slipknot	Daryl Conyers	RWYC	Open 5.7	12:30:13	00:25:30	5
6	130	0.6605	Waterjet	Steve Northmore	RYA	J 70 OD	12:28:50	00:25:39	6
7	7525	0.6744	Slipstream	Sean Koehler	PYC	CORBY 25	12:28:10	00:25:44	7
8	62	0.6171	Seascape	Jon Pegg	Yealm YC	Seascape 18	12:32:55	00:26:29	8
9	3531	0.6773	Carnage	Peter Kent	RYA	SB20 OD	12:29:18	00:26:37	9
10	245	0.6171	Ullman Sails	Matt Valentino‑Owen	SSC	Seascape 18	12:34:24	00:27:24	10
11	82	0.6171	Seascape Distribution UK	Peter Wanstall	RWYC	Seascape 18	12:34:26	00:27:25	11
12	121	0.6171	Marks & ...	Hugh Spencer	RPCYC	Seascape 18	12:34:42	00:27:35	12
13	6702	0.7719	I Say Ding Dong	Robert Fletcher	RWYC	FIRST 34.7	12:27:09	00:28:41	13
NHC Race 2
1	146	0.934	Red Dog	Steve Andrew	RWYC	J 70 OD	13:33:05	00:44:55	1
2	130	0.929	Waterjet	Steve Northmore	RYA	J 70 OD	13:34:43	00:46:11	2
3	3531	0.921	Carnage	Peter Kent	RYA	SB20 OD	13:35:37	00:46:37	3
4	7207	0.894	Dogs Jorrocks	Steve Wassell	TMSC	J 24 OD	13:38:08	00:47:30	4
5	6702	0.972	I Say Ding Dong	Robert Fletcher	RWYC	FIRST 34.7	13:33:55	00:47:33	5
6	7525	0.941	Slipstream	Sean Koehler	PYC	CORBY 25	13:35:44	00:47:44	6
7	7938	1.107	Al Fresco	Alan Meredith	RYA	PRIMA 38	13:28:28	00:48:07	7
8	62	0.866	Seascape	Jon Pegg	Yealm YC	Seascape 18	13:40:46	00:48:18	8
9	230	0.898	Slipknot	Daryl Conyers	RWYC	Open 5.7	13:39:07	00:48:36	9
10	23	0.989	Sanuk	John McLaren	Salcombe YC	Seascape 27	13:34:21	00:48:48	10
11	245	0.865	Ullman Sails	Matt Valentino‑Owen	SSC	Seascape 18	13:43:21	00:50:28	11
12	121	0.865	Marks & ...	Hugh Spencer	RPCYC	Seascape 18	13:43:43	00:50:47	12
13	82	0.865	Seascape Distribution UK	Peter Wanstall	RWYC	Seascape 18	13:45:18	00:52:10	13
IRC Race 2
1	146	0.969	Red Dog	Steve Andrew	RWYC	J 70 OD	13:33:05	00:46:36	1
2	7938	18	Al Fresco	Alan Meredith	RYA	PRIMA 38	13:28:28	00:46:57	2
3	7207	0.887	Dogs Jorrocks	Steve Wassell	TMSC	J 24 OD	13:38:08	00:47:08	3
4	7525	0.936	Slipstream	Sean Koehler	PYC	CORBY 25	13:35:44	00:47:29	4
5	6702	0.993	I Say Ding Dong	Robert Fletcher	RWYC	FIRST 34.7	13:33:55	00:48:34	5
6	23	139	Sanuk	John McLaren	Salcombe YC	Seascape 27	13:34:21	00:51:16	6
ORC Race 2
1	146	0.6605	Red Dog	Steve Andrew	RWYC	J 70 OD	13:33:05	00:31:46	1
2	130	0.6605	Waterjet	Steve Northmore	RYA	J 70 OD	13:34:43	00:32:50	2
3	7207	0.619	Dogs Jorrocks	Steve Wassell	TMSC	J 24 OD	13:38:08	00:32:53	3
4	7938	0.7719	Al Fresco	Alan Meredith	RYA	PRIMA 38	13:28:28	00:33:33	4
5	7525	0.6744	Slipstream	Sean Koehler	PYC	CORBY 25	13:35:44	00:34:13	5
6	3531	0.6773	Carnage	Peter Kent	RYA	SB20 OD	13:35:37	00:34:17	6
7	230	0.6341	Slipknot	Daryl Conyers	RWYC	Open 5.7	13:39:07	00:34:19	7
8	62	0.6171	Seascape	Jon Pegg	Yealm YC	Seascape 18	13:40:46	00:34:25	8
9	23	0.7031	Sanuk	John McLaren	Salcombe YC	Seascape 27	13:34:21	00:34:42	9
10	245	0.6171	Ullman Sails	Matt Valentino‑Owen	SSC	Seascape 18	13:43:21	00:36:00	10
11	121	0.6171	Marks & ...	Hugh Spencer	RPCYC	Seascape 18	13:43:43	00:36:14	11
12	82	0.6171	Seascape Distribution UK	Peter Wanstall	RWYC	Seascape 18	13:45:18	00:37:13	12
13	6702	0.7719	I Say Ding Dong	Robert Fletcher	RWYC	FIRST 34.7	13:33:55	00:37:46	13