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YACHT RACING REPORTS
FRIDAY RACES SERIES 2
Plym Yacht Club Friday night Series 1 Race 1
At the start of a new seasons racing at the Plym Yacht Club we had 23 boats out on a lovely sunny evening to compete in three classes all taking a course to Asia first then out to Duke Rock before returning via Dunstone Rock and home through the Mallards.
The Fast A Fleet of six boats made a good clean start and were soon on their way with little between them on the short run to Asia but tacking out to Duke Rock allowed Ashley Crawford’s Mischief to take a lead which she held for the first lap passing the last buoy at the same time as Steve Andrew in Jostix. Mischief went on to win after three rounds on corrected time with Jeff Foster in Persuasion second and Chris Cload in Happy Daze third.
The PYA and the PYB Fleets started together and came to the start in a close line, being pushed by wind and tide that took 8 of them over before the signal and great fun was had by all with boats going in all directions to correct their start. All was well eventually however although some boats were never able to catch up the time lost. An exception was Mike Nuttall’s Jos of Avon who although last to start overtook all other boats before the end of the first lap.
In the PYA class we had a very close tussle between Sean Koehler in Fundamental who won just ahead of Stuart Woodger’s Locust with Tim Burne in his Ballad Poppin coming a close third. A very close race with 9 competing.
The PYB Class of 8 boats was decisively won by Mike Nuttall in Jos of Avon with Keith Woodgate in Calvados second and Patrick Chapman in Sixpence third.
A grand opening evening enjoyed by all.
Plym Yacht Club Friday Series 1 Race 2
Another lovely evening with a fresh breeze blowing from the South East saw 27 yachts raring to go for the second race of the season.
The course was set taking boats to Asia before tacking out to Duke Rock and returning via Dunstone Rock and home through the Mallards. A good start for the Fast A class of 8 yachts made for close encounters at the first buoy but the fleet spread out thereafter with the wind dropping fairly early and many changes took place later in the second round. A clear winner taking line honours was Kelvin Crago in Gannet with Chris Cload in Happy Daze taking second place on corrected time and Jeff Foster in Persuasion third.
A combined start of 19 boats for the PYA and PYB classes made a grand sight. Having learnt the lesson from last week when many boats hit the line too early this week’s start was excellent. The leading boats rounded Asia very close together with Mike Nuttall’s Jos of Avon just ahead. Mike kept his lead for a time and eventually finished as the winner in PYA even though being overtaken as the wind died by Stuart Woodger in Locust who took third place on corrected time. Mark Gatehouse in Phileas was second.
PYB provided a very close two lap race with Keith Woodgate registering a fine win ahead of Patrick Chapman’s Sixpence with Chris Tempest in Whiffler only seconds behind taking third place. Even though all classes had their races reduced to two laps as the breeze died, all boats finished in time after very pleasant racing.
Plym Yacht Club Friday Night Series1 Race 3
A bit of a change in the weather this week but it didn’t put off the intrepid sailors who came out in force to take on the wind and rain for race three of the series.
With a strong breeze blowing from West South West we sent the fleets out to Queens Ground for the Fast A and PYA Class and New Ground for the smaller PYB class, with both returning via Duke Rock for the first lap but shorter laps thereafter.
Martin Northcott’s Aquaessence took an early lead in the Fast A class but was chased closely by Mark Gatehouse in Phileas, who was over the line at the start, and Ashley Crawford in Mischief. Martin couldn’t stretch his lead far enough to gain a victory owing to his handicap but Mischief raced well to win a fine three lap race. Jeff Foster in Persuasion closed up to take second place with Martin in Aquaessence taking third.
In PYA Sean Koehler in Fundamental took line honours to win a two lap race with the third lap cancelled as the wind died. Second place went to Mike Nuttall in Jos of Avon with Tim Burne in Poppin third even though Tim crossed the line just ahead.
PYB taking a slightly shorter course managed to complete three laps and a serious duel was fought between Patrick Chapman in Sixpence and Keith Woodgate in Calvados. This struggle continued throughout the three laps and Sixpence was able to take line honours and also to hold on to first place. Second place, on corrected time, came Roger Bloomfield in Hesione relegating Calvados into a very close third place.
The weather actually relented and eased during the evening and the sailors had no complaints.
Plym Yacht Club Friday Night Series 1 Race 4
A rather overcast evening with lighter winds from ENE made for a two lap race for all three classes on this forth race night of the series. We sent the Fast A Fleet of 9 yachts out to New Ground with spinnakers flying gaily before tacking back to F.Buoy and home through the Mallards. Steve Andrew’s Jostix took an early lead over a tight group of boats chasing that resolved into a duel for second place between Ashley Crawford’s Mischief and Martin Northcott in Aquaessence with all others closely behind. Jostix was able to extend her lead throughout the race and eventually took line honours and a convincing win. Second on corrected time came Jeff Foster in Persuasion with Ashley Crawford in Mischief third.
The PYA and PYB Classes were set a course running out to Yachthaven before tacking to Dunstone Rock and then home via Asia. With 20 boats making an impressive start it was some time before leaders emerged but before long it was clear that Geoff Phillips in Hilarity was making great progress with Mike Nuttall’s Jos of Avon and Stuart Woodger in Locust keen to make their mark. Not to be outdone however Keith Woodgate in Calvados, the first of the PYB Class, was mixing it successfully with the A Boats. Jos of Avon came to an abrupt halt a little later when gear trouble caused a member of the team to have to go aloft to clear the problem. It didn’t put the crew off however as they caught up somewhat to take second place to Hilarity on corrected time, easing Locust into third place.
The PYB Fleet meanwhile was led home convincingly by Keith Woodgate’s Calvados who registered a fine win with Roger Bloomfield in Hesione second on corrected time with Peter Laniado in Strange Magic third.
The combined Fleets made a colourful sight on rather a dull evening with close racing throughout.
Plym Yacht Club Friday Night Series1 Race 5
This week we were faced with a very light south east wind that meant setting a short course taking boats out to F Buoy, returning through North West Winter and back through the Mallards. Set for three laps but knowing that we might have to cut it short. As it happened the breeze went from light to almost non-existent and a single lap proved difficult for all particularly as a strong ebbing tide came into the equation. The Fast A group of 10 boats made a good start with only one over the line and took their time easing out to F Buoy where Ashley Crawford’s Mischief was seen to round together with one of the University J 80’s. progress was even slower under spinnaker but the Uni Boat edged ahead and eventually took line honours but was relegated to 2nd place on handicap with Mischief taking the win. Kelvin Crago in Gannet came third.
The PYA and PYB Groups had the worst of the tide and lack of wind but even so 11 boats completed and the remaining seven boats stuck it out to try and get a result. Never let it be said that Plym Racers give in. They tried so hard but were eventually out of time.
The winner of the PYA class was Stuart Woodger’s Locust taking Line honours with Barry Cooper’s Synergy second and Geoff Phillips in Hilarity third.
In PYB only three boats were able to complete with Keith Woodgate in Calvados coming first, John Freeman in Sirene second and Jon Keeping’s Barecat third.
PIPS Plym Yacht Cloub Long Distance Race. Sunday 11th May
On the previous Sunday, the 11th, we had the first of the PIPS, Plymouth Inshore Points Series, with the Plym Yacht Club’s Long Distance Race. With good weather and a fair South West Wind competitors were sent out to the Hand Deeps Buoy, a 26mile race. We had three IRC Boats that were pretty evenly matched and their final finishing times when corrected showed only 6 minutes between first and third after a four hour race.
Dave Oliver’s Xtorsion8 come first with Ashley Crawford’s Mischief second and Ian Mills, who took line honours in Exposun, third.
The PY Fleet of 6 boats were headed home by Chris Hughes in River Dance with Patrick Chapman and Sixpence taking second place. We had a two handed section in this race for PY Boats and this was won by Mark Hanley in Moondragon with Jeff Foster’s Persuasion second. This series continues throughout the season with the next event starting on June 5th, the races to Fowey and Back
Plym Yacht Club Friday Series 1 Race 6
The sun shone on a quiet summers evening with hardly a cloud in the sky and very little breeze to encourage the 26 boats of the Plym Yacht Club Fleets to go racing but setting a short course out to Melampus, thence to Dunstone Rock and back to home through the Mallards seemed a possibility if set for a number of laps.
A good start considering the vagaries of wind and tide allowed the 9 Fast A Boats to get away tacking to Melampus but it certainly wasn’t clear who, if any, would make the mark. Mark Gatehouse in Phileas and Ashley Crawford in Mischief seemed likely to head the fleet but when tacking took place boats parted into two mini fleets.
The second start of the PYA and PYB Fleets added to the confusion as in no time at all yachts were spread in all directions with little possibility of any making good the first mark in reasonable time.
Rather game of patience for the members of the race committee to see whether the race would have to be abandoned but it was seen that several boats appeared to have hopes of making Melampus and patience was rewarded when after nearly 90 minutes Phileas rounded the mark followed by Mischief and later Martin Northcott’s Aquaessence. The incoming tide round Melampus was making things very difficult for all boats but once round the buoy progress seemed to improve considerably and the sight gave encouragement to others of the fleet and several other boats made the rounding.
On the run down to Dunstone Rock Stuart Woodger’s Locust and Mike Nuttall’s Jos of Avon came into the picture and soon were catching the early leaders. Locust turned for home in first place followed by Phileas with Mischief lying third but changes were to take place even on the run in.
The Fast A fleet were led home by Ashley Crawford in Mischief with Mark Gatehouse in Phileas second and Martin Northcott’s Aquaessence third.
In PYA Although Stuart Woodger’s Locust took line honours he was relegated to second place by Mike Nuttall in Jos of Avon with Janie Smallridge in Duchess third.
Only two PYB Boats managed to complete the one lap with Keith Woodgate’s Calvados first and John Freeman’s Sirene second.
All credit must be given to all the members for their perseverance in sticking it out to make a race of it in trying conditions.
Plym Yacht Club Friday Night Series1 Race 7
We had breeze this week for the 7th race of the Friday night series of the Plym Yacht Club but a somewhat reduced fleet because of other events taking place over the weekend. For the boats competing however a course was set sending them beating out to Yachthaven Buoy then running back to Dunstone Rock with a further beat out to New Ground before running for home.
The breeze started to get lighter as the race progressed but for all that some highly competitive racing took place in all classes.
In the Fast A Group Ashley Crawford’s Mischief soon made her mark to take a lead that she never relinquished coming home to take line honours ahead of Jeff Foster in Persuasion with John Mclaren’s Seascape taking third spot.
PYA were led throughout by Sean Koehler in Fundamental taking a well deserved first place some way ahead of the opposition. Jason Hamlyn‘s Jelly bean meanwhile was having a right tussle with Mike Nuttall’s Jos of Avon with places changing more than once before Jelly Bean finally crossed the line to take second place with Jos of Avon third. Forth boat Stuart Woodger’s Locust was always in the hunt but just lost out on corrected time.
In PYB John Freeman’s Sirene had a superb race to outclass the rest of her fleet and finished by winning well ahead of her opposition. Roger Bloomfield in Hesione took second place on corrected time with Patrick Chapman’s Sixpence third. Two of the remaining boats were slightly hampered by a merchant vessel coming in under Pilot but we give great credit and thanks to the skipper and Pilot Boat for allowing most of the fleet to finish before they came into the Cattewater
Plym Yacht Club Friday Series 1 Race 8
Balmy breezes from the southwest at a gentle force 3 meant setting a fairly short course for the 25 yachts competing this week A short tack out to Melampus gave way to a shy run down to Dunstone rock before reaching down to the entrance of the Plym where boats were faced with rounding RAF Buoy before starting a second and third lap.
A fine sight they made under spinnakers for much of the time in glorious sunshine and in the Fast A group Paul Hollett in D-Tox led the way closely followed by Kelvin Crago in Gannet who eventually claimed first place with Paul relegated by handicap to third. Robin Butterworth in Soundbite sailed an excellent race to take second place on corrected time.
Mike Nuttall in Jos of Avon stormed away in the PYA Class to win comfortably ahead of Sean Koehler’s Fundamental and these were soon followed in by third placed Chris Tyrrell’s Summertime. All 11 boats in this class finishing within 14 minutes after a three lap race.
PYB provided a fair scrap with six boats competing and these were led in by Keith Woodgate’s Calvados followed by Patrick Chapman’s Sixpence with Jon Keeping and his Barecat only seconds behind in third.
It really was an evening when the weather was kind to all with the breeze holding up throughout and the sun shining brightly.
Plym Yacht Club Friday Evening Series 1 Race 9
What started as a gentle evenings sailing with a North East Wind of about force 3 saw a gradual increase in wind strength up to a force 5 with many changes in direction with gusts adding to the excitement. All the 24 yachts were faced with the same three lap course tacking out to F Buoy before running to North West Winter with a close reach back to the Mallards that gave problems for a number of boats aiming to fly spinnakers. Quite a few places changed back and forward during all three races.
In the Fast A group Kelvin Crago’s Gannet took Line honours and also the winning place but all 8 boats finished in very close order with Robert Fletcher in Major Clanger coming second and Jeff Foster’s Persuasion pipping Ashley Crawford’s Mischief for third place by just 4 seconds.
In the PYA Class Stuart Woodger’s Locust gained a clear win ahead of Janie Smallridge in Duchess with Sean Koehler’s Fundamental closely finishing in third place.
The increasing wind suited Roger Bloomfield’s Hesione in the PYB Group and enabled him to win on corrected time ahead of second placed Patrick Chapman’s Sixpence with Peter Laniado in Strange Magic third. Chris Tempest in Whiffler was second home over the line but lost out on handicap and had to settle for forth place.
A fine evenings racing with very close finishes in all classes.
Plym Yacht Club Friday 1st Series and Regatta Results.
Plym Yacht Club had a very busy weekend starting with the last race in the First Friday Night Series then following with their 40th Anniversary Regatta over the weekend.
On Friday we had light winds from ESE with a longer course for the Fast A group taking boats out to Duke Rock for the first leg. Robin Butterworth’s Soundbite had an excellent race to win this class with Ashley Crawford in Mischief taking second place ahead of Jeff Foster’s Persuasion third.
The PYA class was won by Jason Hamlyn in Jelly Bean but closely contested by Stuart Woodger’s Locust who took second with Mike Nuttall’s Jos of Avon third.
For PYB Patrick Chapman sailed Sixpence home convincingly to take first Place with Keith Woodgate in Calvados second and John Freeman’s Sirene third.
The Series Results were as follows:-
PY Fast Class. 1st Ashley Crawford’s Mischief, 2nd Jeff Foster’s Persuasion, 3rd Robin Butterworth’s Soundbite.
PYA Class. 1st Mike Nuttall’s Jos of Avon, 2nd Stuart Woodger’s Locust, 3rd Sean Koehler’s Fundamental.
PYB Class. 1st Keith Woodgate’s Calvados, 2nd Patrick Chapman’s Sixpence, 3rd John Freeman’s Sirene.
For the Regatta we had 5 races on a back to back basis over the two days using the International Format with two classes only PYA and PYB.
In the PYA Group Tom Cload took Jelly Bean to an overall win with three firsts and one second. Second place went to Mike Nuttall in Jos of Avon with three seconds and one third. Third place went to Peter Wonstall in Jasmine with two firsts and a third.
The PYB Group was won convincingly by Patrick Chapman in Sixpence with 4 firsts and one second. Second place went to Roger Bloomfield in Hesione with 1 first, 2 seconds and 1 third. The third place was taken by Stuart Jones in Pearl with 2 seconds and 2 thirds. A great weekend of racing in fickle but reasonable winds with plenty of sunshine.
Plym Yacht Club Friday Night Series 2 Race 1
With a Southerly Breeze of about 10 knots we set a course tacking out to the Kildare Buoy with a return Spinnaker run via Dunstone to the Mallards for all yachts with shorter second and third laps for the slower classes.
The Fast A Group of 7 boats made a clean start but it wasn’t until Kildare that we could see who was leading the first leg. It was Ashley Crawford’s Mischief who rounded first ahead of Martin Northcott in Aquaessence and he led by a good margin for that lap but was not able to keep ahead for the second lap and eventually took third place with Jeff Foster’s Persuasion coming in to take first place with John McLaren in Seascape taking a deserved second spot.
The second start of PYA and PYB with 16 boats made a fine sight crossing the line cleanly “en masse”. It was soon clear that a major tussle in the A group was to take place between the two Jouet 920’s and so it proved with Jason Hamlyn’s Jelly Bean coming out on top to take line honours ahead of Mike Nuttall’s Jos of Avon even though Janie Smallridge’s Duchess was only just beaten over the line by Jos. Third place however went to Geoff Phillips in Hilarity who had a fine race.
The PYB class meanwhile were mixing it with the A group and certainly were not far behind. The winner proved to be Patrick Chapman’s Sixpence who crossed the line some way ahead of the field with Keith Woodgate in Calvados leading the rest in only to be overtaken on corrected time by Roger Bloomfield in Hesione taking second place with Calvados third. We were so lucky that the wind stayed the course for the tide was very strong against the incoming boats.
Plym Yacht Club Friday Night Series 2 Race 2
The wind has changed round to the South West and blowing at a good force 3 to 4 which allowed us to set longer courses for all three classes of boats this week.
For the Fast A class we sent them tacking out to Queens Ground then running to Duke Rock before returning to the Mallards with slightly reduced further rounds. After the full distance it really was amazing that on corrected times only 40 seconds separated the first 4 boats with Ashley Crawford in mischief coming first followed by a tie between Jeff Foster in Persuasion and Pete Duffy in Altura, joint second, with Martin Northcott in Aquaessence fourth.
No less exciting in PYA we had a front runner in Fundamental helmed by Sean Koehler who led the field throughout on a slightly shorter course to win convincingly ahead of Jason Hamlyn’s Jelly Bean with Mike Nuttall’s Jos of Avon seconds behind in third. All 11 boats in this group had some exciting encounters at Duke Rock with the Fast Group for they all reached it at about the same time, quite a sight!
We had 7 boats out in the PYB Class and these were led throughout by Patrick Chapman in Sixpence but on corrected time he had to give way to Roger Bloomfield’s Hesione who sailed an excellent race to win. Sixpence came second with John Freeman’s Sirene third but all boats finished in close order after an exhilarating evenings sailing in superb conditions.