Hamble River SC Wednesday Night Early Bird 1

Published 15:16 on 3 Apr 2014

In Spring many things emerge from hibernation. Wednesday night saw the latest arrivals as the Hamble River members hit the water in the first of the Early Bird series. Race officer Mike Dellar was in charge on a perfect
evening with a south easterly breeze of some 5 to 10 knots to smooth away the winter cobwebs with some thirteen boats in attendance.

Although the clocks have changed, tying up in the dark was unlikely to be a popular choice and the PRO kept the courses relatively simple and short. Given the XODs were still in winter mode, and with no sign initially of any Class 1 boats, the PRO elected for a combined start at Bald Head with a beat up to Coronation. With a strong Spring ebb the fleet were cautious on the start and well behaved.

In Class 1 Midnight Cowboy  (Stephanie Merry) gave Wee Bear (Chudziack, Horner & Malas) a sporting chance by making the start line some 25 seconds before the timeout, despite Wee Bear just making the official start. Despite a couple of attempts by Wee Bear to throw their kite overboard, Midnight Cowboy never really recovered enough to be back in the game, but at least took second.

Needlework (Peter & Ann Smith) in Class 3 took the honours from Forethought of Gosport (Mike James) despite a slight stutter on the seabed whilst rounding Bald Head (humble apologies from the PRO!) marginally in front of Forethought.

Mention must be made of Allons-y, Rich & Clare Thoroughgoods new non-standard Impala, which hit the water with a rock star crew to swell the numbers of Class 2. Nine boats battled around the course in this hotly contested class, but Xtract ( Dudley Stock) showed off her shiny new sails to good effect taking first place from Two Frank (Olly Love) with Imptish (Barney  Smith) in third. Several boats were sporting new paint jobs and Bambella (Jenny Shawcroft & Peter Halliday) took the concours d’elegance award overall.

It was great to see the Clubhouse buzzing again after racing and to catch up with sailing friends missed over the winter. RCH Phillippa Pountain and Chris Exton behind the bar showed off the new electronic food and beverage system to great effect, and the new membership cards were busy in action.

Entry to Wednesday night racing is free and only available to members, but all newcomers are invited to come out and try a race for free and to join the fleet back in the Clubhouse for supper afterwards. Full details on the Hamble River SC website so with the start of a new season come and break up the week with a dose of sanity each Wednesday evening until the clocks change.

Lis Robinson

P.S. there are a number of ladies, of varying experience, from the WoW section, itching to get involved in Wednesday racing, so any interested parties should contact Mike Dellar.

Last updated 13:16 on 16 April 2024