31.7s in the Garmin Hamble Winter Series - Week 7

The Beneteau 31.7 'Electra' on week 7 of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series © Andy Phelps

With a following tide and the large number of OCSs last week the 31.7s, racing in IRC 4 had an understandable conservative start this week. The Northerly wind had steadily increased during the morning and with 17 knot gusts just prior the start, the 31.7s started with a variety of headsail choices.

The first beat favoured those that went left with the following neap tide that seemed to contradict common sense and the tidal atlases. Sonic Boom and Tai Pan made best use of this and rounded the windward mark a few boat lengths ahead of Electra. Manaru suffered badly in this leg as they unfortunately tore their #1.

On the following downwind leg Tai-Pan and Sonic Boom were battling it out boat-on-boat. Wanting to sail on opposite gybes, they pinned each other for a while allowing Electra to gradually close the gap. Catching a very timely gust, Electra then headed-up and with a burst of acceleration managed to overtake both boats to windward. Tai Pan then headed off on port looking for clear air, while Sonic Boom stayed with Electra and managed to push through to leeward to regain the lead. Electra, just managing to hang-on to her overlap, rounded the leeward mark ahead of Sonic Boom with Tai Pan a few boat lengths behind.

On the downwind leg Electra had changed down from the #1 to the #3 and with the wind now at a steady 18 knots this proved to be the right decision. Electra retained her lead on the next beat, with Tai Pan passing Sonic Boom before the windward mark. The three boats continued to push hard, but the positions remained the same until the finish.

The overall standing for the series now has the top four 31.7s separated by only 9 points. So it is still all to play for in the final race of the Winter Series. Thanks again to HRSC for another great days racing.

Overall Results: