UK Double Handed Offshore Series - Race 3

Tim and Nigel Goodhew celebrating winning 4 categories on their Cora - Round The Island Race (UK Double Handed Offshore Series race 3) © Kate Cope

UK Doublehanded Offshore Series is a new race series providing a challenge for all double-handed offshore boats. It includes professional and amateur sailors as well as nurturing young talent.

Saturday 3rd July was Race 3 of the series: ISC's Round the Island Race. The forecast was for very light winds at the start building to a 10-15kt SW breeze.

Wind at the start was very light at 3-5kts with a fast ebb tide taking the fleet towards the line. Most of our doublehanders were in IRC 2, the 5th start, where the line was clear but the first 4 starts including IRC 1 all had boats OCS.

It was a gentle tack up the western Solent with the IRC 2 boats soon catching up and overtaking the previous start (ISC rated boats > 1.013). Hurst Narrows was busy and with the rain now falling it was a soggy tack up the Needles channel before close encounters at the Varvassi wreck as the fleet rounded the Needles - many of the lead boats chose the inside route.

By St Catherine's Point the wind had built to 10-13kts and as well as the Lighthouse there were two extra hazards to negotiate - Yacht Venomous was aground and Yarmouth RNLI was standing by to assist.

It was then a spinnaker run to Bembridge Ledge buoy with a nice back eddy for the boats going close inshore at Ventnor. The wind was now 13-17kts so whilst some boats carried Zeros for the reach to the forts many stuck to jibs. For the final leg up the Eastern Solent most boats headed into the bay to get out of the foul tide after negotiating a somewhat shifted Ryde sands which caught a few boats out.

After a slight battering by the "Norris Nadgers" it was a straight line to the finish.

Huge congratulations to Cora (Tim & Nigel Goodhew) for winning the Doublehanded Series Overall Trophy. Cora also won IRC 2 Overall beating the fully crewed boats. Second in our series and second in IRC 2 Overall was Jangada (Richard Palmer & Jeremy Waitt) and third was Chilli Pepper (Ellie & Jim Driver) who also won Group 2A Overall. Fourth in our Series and second in IRC 2A was Gentoo (James Harayda & Dee Caffari) and fifth was Swell (Henry Bomby & Shirley Robertson).

www.doublehandedoffshore.com

Chilli Pepper won the Mixed and Youth awards - Round The Island Race (UK Double Handed Offshore Series race 3) - photo © Kate Cope

Event results:

RYA MIXED (Male and Female co-skippers): Chilli Pepper with Gentoo second and Swell third
NORTH SAILS MASTERS (Combined age 90+ years): Cora with Jangada in second and Azora (Steve Thomas & Jerry Freeman) third
B&G YOUTH (Co-skipper under 25yrs): Chilli Pepper ahead of Gentoo in second and third Purple Mist (Kate Cope & Matt Beecher)
MUSTO CORINTHIAN: 1st Cora first, 2nd Jangada, 3rd Chilli Pepper
BEST JEANNEAU: 1st Cora, 2nd Chilli Pepper, 3rd Gentoo

Series results after 3 events:

SEA VENTURES RACE YACHTS OVERALL: 1st Gentoo, 2nd Cora, 3rd Jangada
RYA MIXED: 1st Gentoo, 2nd Swell, 3rd Purple Mist
NORTH SAILS MASTERS 1st Jangada, 2nd Tigris, 3rd Jago (Mike Yates/Eivind Boymo-Malm)
B&G YOUTH: 1st Gentoo, 2nd Purple Mist, 3rd Sea Bear (Peter Bacon/ Antonio Martinez)
MUSTO CORINTHIAN: 1st Jangada, 2nd Purple Mist, 3rd Tigris