Plymouth Gin Series at Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club - Week 2
by Chris Hampe 13 Apr 2015 19:55 NZST
12 April 2015
The second week of the Plymouth Gin Series dawned as a complete contrast to the previous week with bright sunshine and around 17 knots of breeze blowing in from the south. This week the racing also formed part of the Ullman Sails training regatta which saw on the water coaching and analysis from the team at Ullman Sails UK.
Race 3 of the Gin Series began at the scheduled start time of 10AM with the wind easing to 14 knots. With the competitors spread along the full length of the line there was just one boat recalled at the pin end. Daryl Conyers sailing the Open 5.7 Slipknot won under both NHC and ORC whilst it was the Prima 38 Al Fresco sailed by Alan Meredith that continued their strong grasp of the IRC division from Steve Wassell's J24 Dog's Jorrocks.
By the start of race 4 the wind had shifted to the right as the cloud cover rolled in across Plymouth Sound this led to the bulk of the fleet wanting the committee boat end. With 15 seconds to go it appeared that the bulk of the fleet would be OCS. A fortunate opening granted as the bulk of the fleet were forced down along the line saw the SB20 Carnage of Peter Kent lead the fleet away for a clean start.
With the wind fluctuating between 12 and 14 knots it was Alan Meredith's Prima 38 that dominated the race to claim victory in all three divisions and denying Steve Wassell's J24 the gin as the Dog's Jorrocks would finish 2nd in each class. Despite charging downwind Steve Northmore's J70 Waterjet could only score third in NHC and ORC with third place under IRC going to Robert Fletcher on the First 34.7 I Say Ding Dong.
Photo Album: www.flickr.com/photos/33348457@N07/sets/72157649587846464
Race 3 Start
Race 4 Start