Poole YC Open 22/23 May 2004

17 Mirrors, mainly from the Poole YC Squadron with a couple of visitors from the West Country contested the Poole YC open over the weekend 22nd/23rd May. Saturday was a pleasant sunny day with a very shifty & variable force 2 to 4 Easterly and a neap tide.

The fleet got away cleanly at the start of Race 1. There were lots of place changes on the 1st beat as the shifts and gusts came and went. Eventually Ania Booth and Jenny House in "Festino Lente" climbed they way out of the pack to lead at the first mark from Matt & Ben Mills in "Chalk N Cheeze" followed by Charlotte Hine & Jenny Llewelyn in "The Immaculate Contraption". On the 1st reach the most boats misjudged the ebb tide and ended up running into the gybe mark allowing Martin Egan and James Wilkinson in "Blyskawica" to take 2nd. There were further place changes on the next reach with Thomas Ridge & Richard Tite in "Jet Black" and Jamie Knill & Lewis Rumbol in "Checkmate" pressing the leading pack. By the 2nd windward mark Ania & Jenny had extended their lead with Matt & Ben 2nd, Martin & James 3rd narrowly ahead of Charlotte & Jenny. On the final beat there was a massive but short lived shift to the north which favoured Martin & James but Ania & Jenny just held on to win with Charlotte & Jenny 3rd.

Over enthusiasm got the better of the fleet at the start of Race 2 with 5 boats OCS. Only Matt Rainback & Hannah Diamond in "It's a Girl Thing" and Sarah Burge & Sam Cobb in "Out of Order" came back and restarted. Ania & Jenny built up a good lead at the end of the1st beat but on the reach the wind dropped allowing the pack to catch up by the gybe mark. Ania & Jenny withstood the pressure well and still held their lead at leeward mark with Matt & Ben 2nd. Ania & Jenny went on to win comfortably with Martin & James getting the better of the shifts on the 3rd beat to finish ahead of Matt and Ben who were one of the 3 boats that were OCS and did not restart allowing Matt & Hanna to claim 3rd place.

After Lunch the wind had swung to the North so the course was reset. About 1 min before the start there was another shift switching the line bias from the Committee boat to the pin end. Those who spotted it rapidly changed their starting strategy. Martin & James and Matt & Ben lead off the line with Martin & James narrowly ahead at the windward mark followed by Ania & Jenny then Matt & Hanna. On the 2nd beat Ania & Jenny stormed through to take the lead narrowly ahead of Matt & Hannah with Martin & James 3rd and Jamie & Lewis 4th. Ania & Jenny continued to show the good boat speed and pulled away to win comfortably.

Sunday was even sunnier with a Southerly force 2-3 sea breeze. There was a pin end bias at the start of race 4 which Martin & James exploited to cross fleet and lead for 1st lap from Jamie & Lewis 2nd with Hanna Diamond now steering "It's a Girl Thing" 3rd and Ania & Jenny 4th. At the end of the 2nd beat the wind favoured boats who were closer to the port lay line so Jamie & Lewis took the lead with Ania & Jenny 2nd then Hanna & Matt. Positions on run and beat to the finish remained unchanged.

Race 5 started with only a slight pin end bias and a very even start. The wind seemed to favour the boats that went up the left hand side of the beat. Martin & James and Sarah & Sam were neck and neck at the end of the first beat. Martin & James misjudged the angle to the gybe mark and were promptly sailed over by the chasing pack of Jamie & Lewis, Kate Macgregor & Emily Hunter in "What a girl wants", Hannah & Matt and Sarah & Sam. At the end of the 2nd beat Jamie & Lewis were leading from Kate and Emily with Martin and James 3rd. At the end of the 3rd beat positions were unchanged but on the final two reaches and beat to the finish 2nd place changed hands several times. Jamie & Lewis won comfortably and in the end Martin & James just managed to cross the line right by the Committee boat mast to take 2nd place from Kate and Emily with Ania & Jenny 4th.

Thanks to OOD Steve Thompson, Colin Rainback and their teams for excellent organisation on and off the water.

1st 70024 "Festino Lente" Ania Booth & Jenny House, Poole YC

2nd 69667 (15563) "Blyskawica" Martin Egan & James Wilkinson, Restronguet SC

3rd 70125 "It's a Girl Thing" Matthew Rainback & Hannah Diamond, Poole YC

4th 70258 "Checkmate" Jamie Knill & Lewis Rumbol, Poole YC

5th 69648 "Out of Order" Sarah Burge & Sam Cobb, Poole YC

1st Poole, non-squad boat 69725 "Baptism of Fire" Giles & Piers Strong, Poole YC

Endeavour prize 59635 "Little Chuck" Luke Quincy & Alex Wilding, Poole YC