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Royal Southampton Yacht Club Frostbite Series - Race 1
Author: Geoff Lynch
Sunday 7th January, 2001
Superb Weather provides un-seasonal start to Series
Race Officer Peter Bateson (Rear Commodore Sailing) was accompanied by Roger Townsend - Rear Commodore House, and a number of other notable RSYC racers aboard the Hound for the first race in the 6 race Frostbite series. Sunday
saw a cold but sunny start to the day, with a light breeze from the West at between 7 and 10 knots. With the spring tide on the ebb, racers had to contend with some interesting tactical problems as the wind shifted and
varied in strength in Southampton Water. By the end of the race the wind had veered to Northwest, to some extent frustrating the race officers plans with regard to the course!
The only starter from the Multihulls, Shakatak, got away on time at 10:10am, but then the wind started to lighten and shift, preventing the other two classes from starting until 10:40 after a postponement to allow a new course to be set.
Class 1 saw Stuart & John Danby aboard the Corby 25 'Kid Gloves' get a superb start, with the first beat being from the start on the Netley shore to NW Netley. In theory the right side should have paid, being out of the tide, but the main channel on the left had significantly more wind, and
those that took the left gained a major advantage. This included the Farr 25 Headache and the Sigma 33 Hooligan. The J-120 'Jongleur' soon caught up and overtook the leaders, closely followed by 'Kid Gloves'. Blazer and Revival II ended up having a close tussle on the water, with Blazer gaining the advantage towards the end taking third place on corrected time a minute and thirteen seconds behind 'Jongleur'. However 'Kid Gloves' showed how a
close-pointing yacht can really clean-up when beating against the tide by coming first by just over two minutes.
Class 2 saw the H-boat 'Badger' also get a superb start, and for the first half of the race she was well ahead of other boats with higher handicaps. However, she got involved in a luffing match near one of the marks, and as a
result of the strong tide, had to put another tack in to lay the mark, loosing her at least two places as a result. In Class 2 few of the competitors noticed the major disadvantage that the Netley shore had on the beats, and as a result the time differences once corrected were much higher than in class 1. However Brian Verstage's 'Escapade' with previous owner John Cooper aboard certainly did realise where the wind was, and got well ahead by the first mark, and never lost her advantage, coming first by over
five minutes on corrected time, with Malcolm McCarthy on 'Shades of Blue I' second. Peter Sanders has recently spent some elbow grease on fairing the keel on his Bavaria 36 'Inspired', and considering the light winds did well
to come third in such a heavy displacement yacht.
Racing continues with Race 2 on Sunday 21st January. For entry details contact Cathy Crawley, Sailing Secretary, RSYC, Tel: 023 80 223352 or email racing@rsyc.org.uk
Results:
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