J/122s Ramble-On @ Winter Series

(Solent, Hamble, England)- A bit like their musically spiritual compatriots in England, "Led Zeppelin", the J/122s continue to "Ramble On" and keep the pedal-to-the-metal in class this past weekend.  Not sure what got this train running down the tracks so fast, but surely the crews on the J/97 JIKA-JIKA and INDULJENCE have got it dialed in so far this fall season on the Solent.

This weekend HRSC hosted some close racing and some epic on-water battles in the Hamble Autumn Championships and Garmin Hamble Winter Series, in conditions that ranged from gusty to fresh & frighteningly epic?! There was some masterful sailing - and the odd impressive wipeout - across the fleet.

In IRC results are starting to look like a classic American "roller-coaster".  In IRC 1 Class, Doctor Ivan Trotman is now leading with his J/122 JOLOU with a 1-4-3-6 record for 14 pts.

Next weekend sees the third Winter Series race day on Sunday.   Sailing photo credits- Hamo Thornycroft   For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

A Smashing Day for J/122s

Hamble Winter Series Update
(Hamble, England)-  After the first weekend's boisterous conditions, light winds saw in the 2nd weekend of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series, with the conditions giving all classes some sparkling sailing and nail-bitingly close racing.

This weekend featured the Hamble Big Boat Series on both days, with top-class racing for everyone. Thanks to Rule 26 who sponsored the event. Saturday dawned with 8-12 knots of breeze from the east, expected to shift to the right during the day. Four races were run, with a windward-leeward course set across the North Channel from a committee boat at East Knoll

By contrast, Sunday morning saw thick fog, with ships sounding their way slowly up Southampton water with foghorns blaring. PRO Jamie Wilkinson set an hour's postponement to let the fog clear, later postponed by a further hour when ABP, backed up by a competitor in a RIB reported that the Southampton Water was impassable. Every cloud has a silver lining, however, and this wasn't an unpopular move as it allowed competitors to watch the end of the rugby.

By 1000 the fog began to clear to reveal a millpond, with zero wind – but by 1230 a light breeze had built from the WSW and the race committee hurriedly set a course for all classes, with starts combined to get racing underway as soon as possible.

After a false start, the wind built to 10 knots during the race, which meant that all classes converged on the leeward mark at once, with large gains for the taking for those with an inside overlap.

In IRC 1 Class, the good Doctor Ivan Trotman continues to be a force amongst the leaders on his J/122 JOLOU with his 1-4-5 record to be currently lying 2nd in class.  Ken Lowes J/122 GHOST is showing improvement every race  and with his current progress may be winning by next week!  So far GHOSTS record of 9-8-4 for 21 pts is promising. 

Next weekend sees the third Winter Series race day on Sunday.   Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth   For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information

  

J/122 Wins Silver in RORC Season Championships

(London, England)- It was a tough year.  It was a Fastnet year.  And, an RORC 600 year.  It was not going to be easy for any boat participating in this years RORC Seasons Points Championships to easily walk off with all the silverware and pickle-dishes.  Nevertheless, some J/Teams prevailed despite some harsh and very, very challenging conditions offshore- some absolutely not within the "wheelhouse" of where these J/Teams can succeed, if not dominate offshore.  Again, this year's series points to the fact that a good all-around design is critical to offshore success-- too "type-formed" and you win big in one event and get crushed in the next.  Such was the case this year.

In the IRC Classes the best five offshore races are counted towards the RORC Season's Points Championship. These were heavily contested and in some of the classes, the results were undecided until after the Cherbourg Race, the last race of the season.  For the J/Teams, "Congratulations" are in order for those that persevered and prevailed against the best offshore sailors from Western Europe.  Here's the scoreline for these J/Teams:

- Emily Verger Plate - IRC Two Overall-  JOOPSTER- J/122 - Neil Kipling (GBR.

In addition to the winners, special mention should be made of the following performances:

- IRC Overall- the J/122 sailed by Neil Kipling was third overall.

The net, net of the 2011 RORC summer sailing season is that it takes solid, easy-to-sail, all-around boats to succeed in the RORC events.  Again, with primarily all amateur/ corinthian teams, the fleet of J sailors not only had fun but won their fair share of silverware, too.  Nothing like adding a few more pickle-dishes to the serving inventory at home!  For more RORC Offshore Season sailing information.

  

J/122s Sail Light Air Warsash Finale

(Warsash, Southampton Water, England- April 16-17)- The last weekend of the Warsash Spring Series and Spring Championship took place on 16-17 April. The event has been running since 1984 and now involves over 100 Warsash members afloat and ashore. What was different this year was the persistent light conditions which race officers around in the early days cannot remember happening before. On only two days did the wind stay in double figures but more often than not loitered in the 5-8 knot range for racing. This may have meant less toll on boats and equipment but a real challenge, especially for tacticians and helms.

Saturday- Spring Championship- Day 3
Again a high pressure system hung over the Solent – wonderful sunshine but the water resembled a mill pond.  The postponement flag was raised at 0950 with race officers constantly checking for wind in the area. As the day wore on, there had been no change or likelihood of a breeze filling in by soon after midday and there was no choice but to cancel all racing for the day. This proved to be a wise move since although a 6 knot breeze did perk up in the afternoon, it vanished again within half an hour.

Sunday- Warsash Spring Series- Day 6 & Spring Champs- Day 4
The forecast promised slightly better conditions for Sunday but as the Black Group fleet gathered near East Knoll, it looked unlikely. When the first signal was due to be sounded, visibility was obscured by a veil of haze from which emerged a stream of commercial traffic inbound for Southampton. The postponement flag was hoisted and race officers made the first of several radio announcements to keep competitors aware of their intentions. Shortly after noon, everyone’s patience was rewarded. A south-easterly breeze filled in and, whilst never more than 8 knots, was sufficient to allow racing. Courses were set with Flying Fish the first windward mark, followed by runs and beats in the area of Hill Head and Universal Marina. With some classes combined, the first start consisted of IRC1, Big Boat and Farr 45s. With a strong adverse tide, some skippers were slow to reach the line and AP was flown again to allow these boats to clear the line. This also coincided with a brief wind shift and when it had steadied again came the turn of IRC2 and J/109 classes with a slightly shorter course. The ODM end of the line was favored. 

Spring Championship Final Results
The Spring Championship does not allow discards and six races were finally counted to decide the overall standings.  In the Black Championship BB2 Class, Ian Matthew's J/122 JINJA sailed to a 2-8-2-3-4-7 to finish third, only 2 points out of second.

Spring Series Final Results
In the Spring Series, IRC1 Overall results,  Neil Kipling's J/122 JOOPSTER also sailed nicely to win two of the six races sailed to get 6th, only 1 pt from 5th overall IRC despite counting a DNS in Race 1 and tossing a DNS in Race 5-- had they gotten one more race under their belts, the J/122 JOOPSTER would certainly have had a shot at 1-2-3 overall in IRC.

In the breakout IRC1-B Class, third was the J/122 JOOPSTER sailed by Neil Kipling, sailing to a DNS(13)-1-1-1-DNS(20)-4 score for 20 pts.

In challenging light conditions the fact that the vast majority of races were completed is a credit to the patience of the race management team and the competitors in equal measure. The prize-giving will be held on Friday 20th May when all competitors and crews will be welcome at Warsash Sailing Club’s Shore House to join club members in celebrating a very successful event. The 2012 Warsash Spring Series starts on Sunday 11th March.    Sailing Photo Credits- Eddie Mays.    For more Warsash Spring Series sailing results.

  

JINJA & JOOPSTER Sailing Spring Championship

(Warsash, Southampton Water, England- April 9-10)- It was a busy weekend for Warsash Sailing Club when Saturday racing for the Spring Championship was added to the penultimate gathering of the Spring Series on Sunday. On Saturday the Solent provided “champagne sailing” – a sparkling day with a perfect sailing breeze. Sunday was a time for patience.  The weather forecast for the weekend proved very accurate, promising quite different conditions for the two days. Saturday brought a south-easterly 10-15 knots blowing in from the Nab Tower direction. Overnight the high pressure built and Sunday morning saw the same blue skies but with very little wind.

The Spring Championship got off to an excellent start with testing but ideal conditions. Course setting was comparatively easy for the race officers in the steady breeze. The Black Group Spring Championship classes were divided into Big Boats 1 and 2 and J/109s. Race Officers David Greenway and Peter Bateson used laid marks to adjust the length of the beats and runs for the different classes and efficiently completed four races.  Again the full schedule finished just in time for everyone to be back in the clubhouse to watch the Grand National.

On Sunday, the television reported that the temperature in Bournemouth was higher than in Bermuda!! In the Solent the high pressure system resulted in brilliant sunshine but virtually no wind. Competitors and race officers had a long wait whilst some skippers carried out housekeeping jobs aloft on the rig and others read the Sunday papers. During long postponements like this it is customary for some crews to enjoy a swim, but not usually during the Spring Series when the water temperature is 10 degrees Celsius!

It was an agonizing time for the race officers hoping for the breeze to be sustained above 5 knots and from a steady direction. The mark laying boats were constantly being sent off in readiness only to return when the fickle breeze spun round and back. Just after noon, Black Group PRO David Greenway and his team stationed near Universal Marina buoy took the brave decision to get racing underway in a very localized south-easterly gusting to 6 knots. Classes were combined into three starts with the time limit extended to two and a half hours. IRC1 were set a laid windward mark just north of the Ryde Middle Bank followed by a run to Fastnet, beat to North East Ryde Middle and three further laid marks finishing near the start.

The first start comprised IRC1 and both “Big Boat” classes. The ODM end of the line was favored by many. Two were caught out as OCS but only Neil Kipling’s J/122 JOOPSTER failed to return although she is contesting this. The breeze held whilst the boats were beating and, with a weather-going tide, everyone made the top mark in reasonable time. The bigger boats in the first race made good progress but as they started their second beat the wind was already fading and their course was shortened at the end of the next run which enabled everyone to record a valid finish.

For the smaller boats in the second and third starts, life was more difficult. The boats were slowing down by the windward mark and progress was painfully slow on the run which sometimes turned into a shy spinnaker reach to Hamble Yacht Services where the course was shortened.  Two factors were critical. Gaining clean air was vital with so many boats sailing lower trying to gain an advantage only to find that the wind shadows from the boats above them extended much further than normal and the increased adverse tidal flow held them back. The other element was to choose the correct time to gybe along the mainland shore. Those that got it right made significant gains.

Amongst the Big Boats, the J/122 JINJA sailed by Ian Matthews managed to get a consistent 2-8-2-3-4 score for 19 points.  Short of a regrettable "toss race" with their 8th, they sailed solidly enough to be a winner for the Spring Champs.   Sailing Photo Credits- Eddie Mays.    For more Warsash Spring Series sailing results.

  

J/122 JOOPSTER Dominates IRC 1 Again

(Warsash, Southampton Water, England)- At last, on the fourth week of the Warsash Spring Series, there was an opportunity for crew to sit on the windward rail whilst spray whipped across the foredeck.  After three quiet weeks, on Sunday 3rd April the breeze blew steadily from the south-west. Competitors and race officers alike enjoyed the livelier conditions.

The situation did not look favourable when the Black Group committee boat first anchored near Hamble Yacht Services buoy, in poor visibility with no discernible breeze. Then the mist slowly lifted, the wind filled in through the Needles Channel and by late morning the sun was shining. With this constant breeze and a midday high tide, Chief  Race Officer Peter Bateson proclaimed it "a most glorious day" and was able to set a range of courses with an initial windward mark at RORC buoy and a common finishing mark at East Knoll. For the first time this year, all classes were taken west of the Brambles Bank, to Williams Shipping buoy.  As the morning progressed, there was a clearly defined racing channel established, with all classes using the same strip of water. However, with some of the smaller classes using shorter legs and rounding marks to starboard, crews in the faster designs needed to keep a sharp look out for converging boats.

IRC1 was boosted by a growing contingent of J's, all preparing for the “Big Boat” Spring Championship which starts next weekend. This brought 15 entries to the line at 1000. Going around the track, the smaller boats in class were making good time against their handicap ratings against leading-edge teams like Nick Zenstroms' Swan 45 RAN, Neil Kipling’s J/122 JOOPSTER won the class for the second week running on handicap and moved to fourth in the overall standings, just three points up on the J/111 ARABELLA.  Second for the day was Ian Matthews J/122 JINJA.

The final two weekends (9th/10th and 16th/17th April), see additional racing on Saturdays for the Spring Championship. The Warsash Spring Series continues on 10th April 2011.  For more Warsash Spring Series sailing results.    Sailing Photo credits- Eddie Mays