Royal Harwich Open Winter Series 2015 - Overall

Royal Harwich Open Winter Series © Joe Hunt

Royal Harwich Open Winter Series © Joe Hunt

The annual RHYC Winter Series is an open dinghy series running from mid-October to mid-December, reprising for a separate charity Boxing Day open, often provides some of the most competitive racing the RHYC sees all year.

Unfortunately this year, the weather according to club racing stalwart and local legend Graham Ireland, was the worse the winter series has ever had (in the past 45 years that Graham had attended). On the first Sunday, only one boat made it to the 2nd mark of the course, with the rest of the fleet unable to sail against the tide, so racing was abandoned.

For the 2nd Sunday, a few sailors braved the foggy conditions to find the River Orwell hidden behind a blanket of thick fog, with the majority of the slipway not visible from the shore, let alone any racing marks! So, again racing was abandoned.

3rd time lucky, although slightly breezy, with 20kts of wind. The number of club racers were almost matched by visitors joining in the fun. With Graham Ireland finishing 2nd to Geoff Mayhew (RS200) and to Mart Hart (Laser) it looked as though this series might see Graham knocked off his usual top spot.

The next weekend saw gusts in excess of 30kts and 4 very brave helms and crews, with 2 more laser sailors appear in an attempt to continue the series which had only managed 2/6 races so far. After some very strong gusts and large wind shifts all but one boat completed the course, with all sailors going for a swim at least twice. As the wind began to increase, the Race Officer decided to cancel the planned 2nd race.

The next weekend was the only weekend with sensible winds out of the whole series and two races were completed without much drama, aside from the high competition, with 3 sailors, Joe Hunt (RS200, crewed by Dan Patten), Ashley Deaton (Laser) and Graham Ireland (Laser) all fighting for 1st place.

For Races 6 & 7 on the 6th Weekend of the series, the wind had returned to gusting over 30kts and the strength of the gusts were displayed to everyone on the first run when a gust hit Simon Ruffles (Laser), causing fatal damage to Simon's top mast section and throwing Simon into the water. However, this did not put Simon off as he sailed ashore to find another mast section, ready for the 2nd race of the day. In the 2nd race Joe Hunt (RS200, crewed by Dan Patten) showed everyone how it's done and sailed to victory, finishing 2 minutes 30 seconds ahead of George Finch (Laser) who had battled against Graham Ireland (this time with a radial rig, but still Graham went for a swim) and Simon Ruffles (Laser).

The penultimate weekend saw the wind, once again, gust in excess of 30kts and despite the wind coming off the Club's bank; it didn't put 4 hardy sailors & respective crews from going out. With the majority of the downriver leg a broad reach, the course was always going to favour the RS200s of Joe Hunt/Dan Patten and Mark Hodge with 11 year old crew Ed Smallwood. Unfortunately Ed's weight wasn't enough to keep in front of Joe but all the competitors led at one point during the first race. For the 2nd race of the day, Joe decided a crew swap between Dan and Ed would benefit both parties. The crew swap didn't go as planned and with two minutes to go before race 2, Joe was still upside down on the start line. However, he recovered the boat in time and began chasing the lead, which was George Finch (Laser).

As the wind speed began to increase, so did the number of boats capsizing, including the lead one, just after the first mark. Mark Hodge with new crew Dan Patten proceeded to take part in a reaching battle with George Finch, eventually coming out in front. The battle allowed the rest of the fleet to catch up, but upwind George Finch (Laser) still managed to stay ahead, although being challenged by Graham Ireland (Laser) and Mark Hodge (RS200, crewed by Dan Patten).

With the wind continuing to increase, Mark and his crew managed to creep ahead of George and then Graham Ireland started to challenge. With Mark rounding the top Mark well ahead, it looked like they would be certain to win, as George and Graham were struggling to keep their lasers moving forward in the gusts. However, as Graham was about to tack into Starboard and cross George, he capsized and inverted due to catching the wrong side of a shift. Mark and Dan also had come into difficulties, boldly attempting for final kite run towards the bottom of the course but getting caught in a gust and capsizing. This gave George Finch (Laser) a clear path to the last mark then a short beat to the finish. This was successful and he finished a minute ahead of Mark who managed to recover quickly.

The final weekend of the series dawned, with Joe Hunt/Dan Patten and Graham Ireland fighting for 1st place and Mark Hodge / Ed Smallwood and George Finch fighting for 3rd. Having been put off by the weather for the majority of the series, a few club members appeared to want a practice before Boxing Day or have a final sail of the season. The only issue this time was a lack of wind. After a 30 minute postponement, a few zephyrs could be felt and a rather keen fleet of sailors launched. The first race was very slow, with just one lap. The race became a slight procession, with Joe Hunt/Dan Patten (RS200) making the best use of their great start to maintain a lead which they held to the end.

The wind speed began to rise for the second race, which led to a number of boats arriving early on the line. Susie Patten (Europe) managed to cause carnage on the line but was in the right so got away to an early lead, with Ashley Deaton (Laser) close behind. The wind wasn't strong but enabled the fleet to enjoy a beat off the line, letting the RS200s try and catch up.

After 3 laps the race ended, with Ashley Deaton (Laser) finishing 1st and a mix of boats all close behind. The fully battened mainsail of Mary Stamp's Byte CI and her long experience on the Orwell saw her finish 2nd overall on handicap, with Susie Patten (Europe) finishing 3rd. On the water the RS200s of Joe Hunt / Daniel Patten and Mark Hodge/Ed Smallwood managed to catch George Finch (Laser) who had turned his attention to keeping Graham Ireland (Laser) behind. However, when handicaps would be applied it was anyone's guess who would be in 3rd place overall!

Series Results:

RHYC Boxing Day Open

For the Boxing Day open, the weather meant the day would be a repeat of much of the winter series. 9 boats braved the conditions to take a break from the festivities and Graham Ireland writes his side of the story from the Laser fleet.....

"Boxing day was another stormy day. After the first lap, 3 radials were keeping up with Richard Williams in the full rig, who then took a bath upwind and Patrick Cooney had made huge gains on the left of the second beat. The race then became a steady grind into an ever increasing wind with some fairly violent gusts at times. Local knowledge was crucial for the prevailing wind direction on the day.

Coming to the last gybe mark there was a particularly vicious gust tracking down the run which looked like it might hit just as the 3 of us would be gybing. Ashley Deaton (Laser Radial) was first up just as the gust hit and fell straight in with a violent splash. I followed and lost control ending up tacking round once I could regain some control. Patrick Cooney (Laser) roared in hoping to upstage us both only to nearly make the gybe and just tip over to leeward of the mark as I bore off to round having executed my tack. Patrick was very quick to right and set off in pursuit of me."

My rounding of the last mark onto the final beat could have been a lot better and Patrick took full advantage to tack quickly to leeward of me. So now we were both dead level on starboard heading for the line with myself to windward closer to the committee boat. At about twenty yards to the line Patrick was arguably leading but another gust filled in to windward of me lifted me by about 2 or 3 degrees and I was just able to hear that I had won by about a foot".

Boxing Day Results:

1. Graham Ireland, Laser Radial, Royal Harwich Yacht Club
2. Patrick Cooney, Laser Radial, Waldringfield Sailing Club
3. Sam Sutton-Reid, RS300, Royal Harwich Yacht Club

Royal Harwich Boxing Day Open - photo © Joe Hunt