Plymouth Gin Series at Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club

Plymouth Gin Series at Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club - Week 4

by Chris Hampe 27 Apr 2015 23:50 BST 26 April 2015

Plymouth Gin Series Week 4 © Chris Hampe

If ever a day didn't live up to the expectations of the weather forecast than the last day of the Plymouth Gin Series was that day. The forecast promised 14 to 20 knots from the north east and that the early morning cloud cover would clear to bright warm spring sunshine. Even the unusually large number of shipping movements within Plymouth Sound wouldn't get in the way as the committee boat headed out towards Queens Ground looking to set a course keeping to the west of the main shipping lanes.

Unfortunately the wind had other ideas and with a light north westerly there was no way to set a course inside the Sound that would avoid the shipping movements so with some reluctance the committee boat headed south of the breakwater. A course was set with the windward mark close to the western end of the breakwater with the expectation that the wind would eventually veer to the northeast. As the competitors gradually arrived at the startline the wind headed 20 degrees to the west. This unexpected shift caused a delay as the new windward leg would have to be laid across the main shipping channel.

It was some 48 minutes after the scheduled start time that the fleet got away from the line and as the wind got lighter by the minute the skies darkened. Soon the fleet was struggling to make any progress with Alan Meredith's Prima 38 Al Fresco being closely chased by Dainel Flanigan's Farr 36 Sunburst. These two boats led the fleet downwind but it looked like the race was heading to hit the time limit before the wind finally went to the north east.

The wind however had still not settled and the next bunch of boats led by Robert Fletchers First 34.7 Say Ding Dong had to contend with beating to the line as a south easterly filled in. Well placed at the back of this group was the Seascape 18 of Jon Pegg who would win under NHC whilst the Prima 38 Al Fresco won to continue their dominance under IRC and finally the J24 of Steve Wassell won under ORC.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Boat Name	Boat Type	Owner	Club	Hcap	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	Pts
Class: NHC Yachts
1	7938	Al Fresco	PRIMA 38	Alan Meredith	RYA	varies	1	‑7	3	1	1	6	5	17
2	7207	Dogs Jorrocks	J 24 OD	Steve Wassell	TMSC	varies	2	‑4	4	2	4	4	3	19
3	230	Slipknot	Open 5.7	Daryl Conyers	RWYC	varies	7.5	‑9	1	8	3	3	6	28.5
4	62	Seascape	Seascape 18	Jon Pegg	Yealm YC	varies	‑10	8	7	5	5	5	1	31
5	6702	I Say Ding Dong	FIRST 34.7	Robert Fletcher	RWYC	varies	7.5	5	5	4	2	8	‑10	31.5
6	3531	Carnage	SB20 OD	Peter Kent	RYA	varies	‑9	3	8	9	7	7	7	41
7	130	Waterjet	J 70 OD	Steve Northmore	RYA	varies	6	2	2	3	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	47
8	7525	Slipstream	CORBY 25	Sean Koehler	PYC	varies	5	6	10	7	(DNC)	DNC	4	49
9	23	Sanuk	Seascape 27	John McLaren	Salcombe YC	varies	4	10	6	12	8	(OCS)	9	49
10	121	Marks & ...	Seascape 18	Hugh Spencer	RPCYC	varies	‑13	12	12	10	6	2	8	50
11	82	Seascape Distribution UK	Seascape 18	Peter Wanstall	RWYC	varies	12	‑13	9	11	9	1	11	53
12	50523	Sunburst	FARR 36M	Daniel Flanagan	RWYC	varies	(DNC)	DNC	11	6	DNC	DNC	2	70
13	146	Red Dog	J 70 OD	Steve Andrew	RWYC	varies	3	1	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	72
14	245	Ullman Sails	Seascape 18	Matt Valentino‑Owen	SSC	varies	11	11	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	90
15	1771		X 99			varies	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	10	DNF	DNC	95
16	263	SS18	Seascape 18	Paul Hutchings	RPCYC	varies	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	12	97
Class: IRC
1	7938	Al Fresco	PRIMA 38	Alan Meredith	RYA	18	1	‑2	1	1	1	1	1	6
2	7207	Dogs Jorrocks	J 24 OD	Steve Wassell	TMSC	0.887	2	‑3	2	2	2	2	3	13
3	6702	I Say Ding Dong	FIRST 34.7	Robert Fletcher	RWYC	0.993	4	‑6	4	3	3	3	5	22
4	7525	Slipstream	CORBY 25	Sean Koehler	PYC	0.936	3	4	5	6	(DNC)	DNC	4	31
5	130	Waterjet	J 70 OD	Steve Northmore	RYA	0.969	6.5	5	3	4	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	36.5
6	23	Sanuk	Seascape 27	John McLaren	Salcombe YC	139	6.5	7	7	7	4	(OCS)	6	37.5
7	50523	Sunburst	FARR 36M	Daniel Flanagan	RWYC	168	(DNC)	DNC	6	5	DNC	DNC	2	40
8	146	Red Dog	J 70 OD	Steve Andrew	RWYC	0.969	5	1	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	42
Class: ORC
1	7938	Al Fresco	PRIMA 38	Alan Meredith	RYA	varies	1.5	‑4	2	1	1	1	2	8.5
2	7207	Dogs Jorrocks	J 24 OD	Steve Wassell	TMSC	varies	1.5	3	‑4	3	2	2	1	12.5
3	230	Slipknot	Open 5.7	Daryl Conyers	RWYC	varies	5	‑8.5	3	5	3	3	5	24
4	62	Seascape	Seascape 18	Jon Pegg	Yealm YC	varies	‑9	8.5	7	6	5	4	3	33.5
5	6702	I Say Ding Dong	FIRST 34.7	Robert Fletcher	RWYC	varies	‑8	7	5	4	4	8	7	35
6	3531	Carnage	SB20 OD	Peter Kent	RYA	varies	‑10	6	6	9	6	7	9	43
7	130	Waterjet	J 70 OD	Steve Northmore	RYA	varies	6	2	1	2	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	45
8	7525	Slipstream	CORBY 25	Sean Koehler	PYC	varies	7	5	9	7	(DNC)	DNC	6	51
9	23	Sanuk	Seascape 27	John McLaren	Salcombe YC	varies	4	10	8	12	8	(OCS)	10	52
10	121	Marks & ...	Seascape 18	Hugh Spencer	RPCYC	varies	‑13	12	12	10	7	6	8	55
11	82	Seascape Distribution UK	Seascape 18	Peter Wanstall	RWYC	varies	12	‑13	10	11	9	5	11	58
12	146	Red Dog	J 70 OD	Steve Andrew	RWYC	varies	3	1	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	72
13	50523	Sunburst	FARR 36M	Daniel Flanagan	RWYC	varies	(DNC)	DNC	11	8	DNC	DNC	4	74
14	245	Ullman Sails	Seascape 18	Matt Valentino‑Owen	SSC	0.6171	11	11	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	90
15	1771		X 99			0.9683	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	10	DNF	DNC	95
16	263	SS18	Seascape 18	Paul Hutchings	RPCYC	0.6171	(DNC)	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	DNC	12	97