With storm Austen sweeping across the UK, closely followed by storm Boelo, the Solent Super Series Race Committee had a tense week preparing for Round 2, which was to take the fleet to the western Solent and the host port of Yarmouth. In complete contrast to the Sunday of Round 1 [when there were 2 knots of wind], a reduced fleet of 8 crews lined up in Cowes for a start on the Island Sailing Club line.
Race 1 on Saturday started in a benign 12 – 14 knots of wind, but by Gurnard the forecasted gusty conditions arrived, increasing to 30kts in the first rain squall. Teams were prepared with heavy-weather jibs and reefs beating to the West for a 16.31 nautical mile course to Yarmouth– the tidal offset making for true beats and competitors trading tack for tack in the conditions. Once in the Western Solent, the conditions had built to a steady 30 knots with occasional stronger gusts. RORC Griffin team showed why they are the reigning Super Series champions, being the only ones to fly a spinnaker – all others achieving plenty of boat speed under ‘white sails’. After 1hr45m racing Tigris pipped fellow Sun Fast 3600 Smash on the water by 15 seconds and a further 10 seconds later was RORC Griffin. After IRC Ratings were applied, it was the J109 Jumping Jellyfish who took the race win by two and a half minutes, Tigris second and Smash third.
“The forecast had put some teams off, but we appreciated the race officer creating a doable race in the gale force conditions and then the warm welcome in Yarmouth.” Commented Gavin Howe owner of Tigris “We went for the inside end of the Island Sailing Club line and the early ebb. Unfortunately, there was a big drop in pressure by the harbour entrance, and we struggled to get forward with a slab in the main and a heavy weather jib. Once clear of Gurnard the pressure came in and as it increased, we put a reef in the jib and the boat was in a good mode with decent upwind speed. RORC Griffin put up her spinnaker but had some obvious control issues in the 31-knot gusts. We finished first on the water just ahead of Smash and Griffin but lost 1st place to the Series leader, the J109, Jumping Jellyfish.”
With the conditions forecasted to worsen for the afternoon the fleet were relieved to be heading into Yarmouth Harbour for a relaxing afternoon. Teams monitored the wind increase and reviewed the GeoRacing Race Tracker from the comfort of the Royal Solent YC whilst some welcome drinks supported by FourthCape brought teams together to recount the day’s action. As dusk set on the final evening of British Summer Time all teams headed to The Hut for dinner where the wind conditions and sea state were apparent, looking out over the exposed Needles Channel and Hurst Narrows.
Ahead of dinner the Round 1 winners Jumping Jellyfish were rewarded with a crew set of Musto MPX Waterproof Caps, followed by the Round’s bumper Prize Draw. The draw was generously supported by Spinlock, who provided two top prizes of £250 vouchers. First out of the bag for a second ‘line honours’ of the day was Tigris; second out was One Way both teams eyeing up how they might use their vouchers. Next in the draw came RORC Griffin winning themselves a crew set of Musto MPX Waterproof Caps, finally as a reward for persevering in the difficult sailing conditions, Inka Luhrs was given the honour of making the final draw for a bottle of wine at Round 3. Quite by chance, Inka, owner of Zanzibar, pulled out her own token to much applause.
With teams well-watered and fed it was back in the Hut Trucks to be rocked to sleep in the safety of Yarmouth Harbour whilst the gale howled outside.
Sunday’s outlook was much clearer, no rain but still plenty of wind. Racing was delayed by an hour to allow the worst of the gusty conditions to blow through and a generous start line was set up, allowing teams to select some clear space to race in, reducing the risk of boats coming together. Gavin Howe, Tigris “The start line was extended and we chose the far end of the line near Lymington to get some tide shelter along the shore. Controlling the boat in these conditions was a challenge but we did and raced down the Solent close astern of RORC Griffin but we were both struggling to keep our headsails working below 155 degrees TWA. With gusts up to 37 knots it was all quite edgy, and Griffin had a go at goose winging in order to get down to the South Bramble turning mark. Unfortunately, they split their oldest J3 and sailed without a headsail for the remainder of the race. They were surprisingly fast, and we put a 2nd reef in the main and a reef in the jib for the short beat from the Royal London mark to the ISC line. We just had enough speed to catch Griffin on the line being given same elapsed time and a win on corrected by 6 seconds. A good result and a very enjoyable race on Tigris.
We look forward to the next round which will be in more regular racing conditions…”
After two races, Tigris took the Round 2 win with 3 points, ahead RORC Griffin in second and Series leaders Jumping Jellyfish in third. After Round 2 the overall standings with a discard already applied, are: Jumping Jellyfish on 4 points, Tigris on 6 and RORC Griffin on 9 points.
The second half of the Solent Super Series gets underway with Round 3 on 7th/8th November, which sees the fleet heading to Lymington, where they will be welcomed into the Lymington Yacht Haven to berth for Saturday night’s social programme, with a race back to the central Solent on Sunday.
Find the results, race tracking and images over on www.SolentSuperSeries.com by clicking on R2 Yarmouth.
