2024 YachtsandYachting.com Racing Series - Round 5
by Terry Hunt 15 Oct 2024 17:45 BST
12-13 October 2024
The final round of the YachtsandYachting.com Racing Series organised by Prometheus Sailing was held over the weekend of the 12th and 13th October and saw nine Prometheus 41's entered. Due to the wind gods remaining asleep on day 2, only five of the scheduled seven races were sailed on windward/leeward courses.
Day 1 saw a generally steady Force 2 breeze, initially southerly but veering to the west as the day progressed. Race 1 saw Hyde Sails (David Miller / Deloitte) take an early comfortable lead which they held to the finish over a shortened course followed by Yachtmarket.Com (Grant Gillon / Zurich International Sailing Club), 3rd was Sunsail Zephyr (James Ainsworth).
Race 2 over the same course saw the same first 3 boats at the front of the fleet again, this time Yachtmarket.com was the worthy winner from Hyde Sails and Sunsail Zephyr.
Race 3 saw a change of course due to the wind veering south westerly. A wind shift just before the start caught out a number of the boats resulting in a very clear line. Hyde Sails led at the first mark closely followed by Sunsail Zephyr but a sudden squall caused some chaos with the rest of the fleet as they were still under spinnakers on the downwind leg. After the squall the breeze dropped making the second upwind leg more of a struggle against the tide. At the finish Sunsail Zephyr took the gun from Hyde Sails with Mermaid Spirit (Conrad Woodring / London Business School), third.
Race 4 saw yet another course change due to the wind clocking round further west. Mermaid Spirit led at the leeward mark at the end of the first lap but lost the lead to Sunsail Zephyr following some spinnaker drop problems. At the finish Sunsail Zephyr took the gun closely followed by Mermaid Spirit with Hyde Sails third.
Day 2 and the wind was too light for racing, the initial Force 1 dying away to nothing. The fleet was held under AP with the hope that a breeze might fill in before the cut off time. Half the fleet decided to call it a day as time went on and so missed the final race. With 15 minutes left before the cut off a light breeze established from the south-east and 4 boats were able to race over a short course with the assistance of a favourable tide. Sunsail Zephyr established and early lead and held this to the finish followed by Yachtmarket.Com and Magenta Project (Roger Stoney).
Overall Results:
| Pos | Yacht Name | Sail No | Skipper | Mate | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | Sunsail Zephyr | GBR4106X | James Ainsworth | Benjamin Reichmann | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | Hyde Sails | GBR4107X | David Miller | Celia Robinson | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 8 |
| 3 | Yacht Market | GBR4103X | Grant Gillon | Mihai Gheorghita | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| 4 | Mermaid Spirit | GBR4101X | Conrad Woodring | Alastair Stewart | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 14 |
| 5 | Magenta Project | GBR4102X | Roger Stoney | Hugo Stoney | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 19 |
| 6 | British Virgin Islands | GBR4108X | Keith Harding | Paul Russell | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 19 |
| 7 | Sunsail Solaris | GBR4110X | Matt Gourlay | Neil PM | 8 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 28 |
| 8 | Red Penguin | GBR4112X | Mark Bowers | Geoff Johns | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 30 |
| 9 | Southampton Sailing Week | GBR4109X | George Jacques | Vasileios Klianis | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 33 |
The 2024 series has seen a growth in numbers taking part across the five rounds with 34 teams taking part, with the top two teams from each round qualifying for the final which will take place in March.
If you would like to charter for the 2025 YachtsandYachting.com Racing Series and be involved in some great one design yacht racing, or are interested in corporate sailing events and team buidling events, please contact Terry Hunt at or call 02394 350505