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Garmin Hamble Winter Series report Weekend 5

Published 00:00 on 11 Nov 2013

by Ben Meakins

After weeks of gales, it was with some trepidation that the Garmin Hamble Winter Series fleet nosed out of the river on Sunday in time for their start. Fears of wintry weather were misplaced, however, and some hours later the fleet returned with grins on their faces. ‘Awesome day on the water’ and ‘Champagne sailing conditions’ were some of the phrases heard bandied around the clubhouse after racing by competitors sporting that most unseasonal of things – sun-kissed faces.

15-18 knots from the north-west provided some delightful but testing sailing conditions for the assembled racing yachts, with big shifts offering up big gains for some competitors with their eyes out of the boat and big losses for the less fortunate. One race was sailed.

In IRC 0, James Gair’s Localletterbox Zero II continued their winning streak with another first, finishing ahead of Paul Aisher’s Tangent Minus 1. In IRC 1, Allie Smith’s Puma Logic beat Andy Uren’s Winston to add another bullet to their scoreline and consolidate their position atop the class.

In IRC 2, Mike Bridges’ Elaine also scored another first, beating Robbie and Lis Robinson’s Hot Rats to extend their overall lead.

Nick Munday’s IndulJence won IRC 3 ahead of David Greenhalgh’s J’ronimo and Chudziak, Horner and Malas on Wee Bear. Toby Gorman’s Sigma 33 Stan the Boat finished ahead of Quarter Tonner Menace and Impala 28 Trudi to extend her lead over the IRC 4 class.

In the J/109s, it was Ivan Burden’s Jacobi who won, ahead of David McLeman’s Offbeat. David & Kirsty Apthorp’s J-Dream topped the J/111 class.

Nigel Goodhew’s Persephone won the close-matched Sigma 38 class, ahead of Rob Denning’s Light in second and Chris and Vanessa Choules’ With Alacrity in third. Persephone now leads the class by 7 points with three races to go.

Day prizes were generously provided by Rigmaster back in a buzzing HRSC clubhouse after racing.

Photographer Paul Wyeth was afloat, and his excellent photographs are available at www.pwpictures.com.

See you next week!