PYC 2018 Yacht Haven Friday Evening Series 1 Race 3 4th May 2018
The weather was dull with high level clouds but yet very clear visibility for this, the third race of the series and with neap tides about 3 hours after high tide and a flat glass- like sea, we were in for a quiet but demanding race. What wind there was came from south, south west and appeared to be about 4 knots in strength.
Race Officer Paddy O’Connor set two different courses for the two fleets hopefully for more than one round for each although we would have to wait to see how the evening progressed.
The A Fleet would start with a long beat from West Mallard out to Kildare Buoy, right under the outer breakwater followed by a spinnaker run down to Dunstone Rock before continuing through South Mallard and completing the first lap at West Mallard. This would be followed by a shorter lap reaching over to Melampus and returning past Dunstone once more to finish at west Mallard.
The B Group would start with the reach over to Melampus and a run over to Dunstone then down through South Mallard to the start line once more ready for a second lap.
Starting well on time the 11 boats of the A Fleet left West Mallard slowly with Sean Koehler’s Joyride leading John Gorman in The Italian Job. Aquaessence and the Seascape 16 with Ben Gilbert and Ian Luscombe in Curly Wurly came next just ahead of Jos of Avon with Mike Nuttall. The later boats of this group were only just passing the start line when the B Fleet were called to their start. And the 6 smaller boats edged out in their quest for fame led by Duchess, Larrikin and Poppin. Janie Smallridge in Duchess and Terry Cross in Larrikin chose to try reaching straight across to Melampus whereas the remainder decided to tack out well into the Sound before aiming across to Melampus. Unfortunately for Duchess and Larrikin they soon found that the tide coming down the Tamar kept them back and took them gradually more to the north rather than in the direction required.
Poppin with Tim Burne led the B’s across closely followed by Keith Woodgate in Calvados and eventually turning round Melampus ahead of the rest with Summertime ahead of Larrikin. This order was retained to the final buoy when the second round was abandoned.
The A Fleet, having struggled out into the Sound were finding it extremely difficult to make ground out to Kildare but eventually they did make the buoy and spinnakers started to show as they rounded, staring the run down to Dunstone Rock. Curly Wurly showed first but quite a tight grouping of boats followed soon after. Joyride who had tended to tack rather well over the Sound to the west found she had lost position and was relegated to the latter part of the fleet well before reaching home. The single round was all the Race Officer decided he could allow as the wind had really died away to a zephyr. Curly Wurly did pass the finish post first but the Seascape took 2ndspot just ahead of Robin Butterworth’s Soundbite and 2 seconds later came The Italian Job.
Results
A Fleet IRC. 1st Italian Job, John Gorman. 2nd Curly Wurly, Ian Luscombe. 3rd Mischief, Ashley Crawford.
ORC. 1st Soundbite, Robin Butterworth. 2nd Seascape No Name, Ben Gilbert. 3rd Mark And, Hue Spencer.
NHC 1st Marks And, Hue Spencer. 2nd Jos of Avon, Mike Nuttall. 3rd Soundbite, Robin Butterworth.
B Fleet NHC 1st Calvados, Keith Woodgate. 2nd Poppin, Tim Burne. 3rd Summertime, Chris Tyrell