Prima 38s at the Chartering International IRC Championship

6th - 8th June

Bob Gateshill brought Bare Knuckles up from Plymouth to the Solent for the second event of the 2003 Prima 38 Inshore Series which took place within the IRC championships, dominating the one design racing as well as securing second place in IRC Class One.

Racing on the first day, sailed in rain and 15 - 20 knots of breeze, set the general pattern for the three day regatta, with Bare Knuckles taking first, the Army Sailing Association's Longbow second, and Tom Hayhoe and Natalie Jobling's Mostly Harmless third, in each race. Warm sunshine, five to ten knots of breeze and a shift of course to the West Solent, promised some changes, but Bare Knuckles took first place again the first two races of the day, with Jonathan Perry's Firestorm and Mostly Harmless taking the second places. With Firestorm, Mostly Harmless and Andrew Hinton-Lever's Gusto IV taking penalties for over-enthusiasm on the start line in the last race of the day, Guy Spurr's Kylidh and Longbow took first and second, pushing Bare Knuckles into third. Races seven and eight on the final day were raced in the Central Solent in a breeze that kicked off at Force Five and built during the day. Bare Knuckles took first from Kylidh and Longbow in the morning but, with first place overall in the bag skipped the afternoon race, leaving Kylidh to take the gun from Longbow.

Overall Results: