2008 Parhelion Spring Series

The Parhelion yacht racing series is run by the Portsmouth Sailing Club, with races in the Eastern Solent, off Portsmouth and in Hayling bay.

One More Knot's skipper reports each race in the series, blow by blow. Some of the other crews and skippers contribute too ... just to give a balanced view!

Portsmouth Sailing Club's Spring Parhelion Race Series

Spring Parhelion 2008 dates are:

Photos from the PSC gallery, including some of One More Knot about to broach!

2008 Spring Parhelion Series - Club Fleet Standings

Official results table from the PSC

Rank Boat Name Class Sail No Helm TCF R1
5 Apr		 R2
5 Apr		 R3
5 Apr		 R4
12 Apr		 R5
12 Apr		 R6
19 Apr		 R7
26 Apr		 R8
26 Apr		 Total
Club Fleet - Sailed: 8    Discards: 2
1 Total Obsession Too Westerly Typhoon TN12 Ricky Hodgeson 0.960 1 1 2 1 1 1 5 4 7
2 Scallywag GK 24 215 Andy Taylor + Jeremy Miles 0.840 2 3 1 2 2 DNC 1 2 10
3 One More Knot Elan 333 7563T Phil Duff 0.970 4 4 5 4 4 2 3 1 18
4 Just In Time Omega 36 4230T Tony Bennett 0.960 5 5 4 3 3 3 2 3 18
5 Rhapsody MG C27 3075T Roy Pearce 0.911 3 2 3 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 32
6 Concerto Contessa 32 CO640 George Isted 0.880 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 4 4 5 37
7 Stargift Westerly Fulmar 9.7 1230T Alistair Cairns 0.919 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 48

Results courtesy of Portsmouth Sailing Club

Race Results

Race Date Class Pos No in Class TCF OTW Time OTW gap to 1st Corrected gap to 1st Crew
Parhelion race 1 5/4/08 4 5 0.970 0:28:33 0:01:17 0:01:31 Phil, Julian, Glenn, Darrell, Barry
Parhelion race 2 5/4/08 4 5 0.970 0:46:26 0:03:17 0:03:37 Phil, Julian, Glenn, Darrell, Barry
Parhelion race 3 5/4/08 5 5 0.970 0:26:19 -0:01:49 0:1:54 Phil, Julian, Glenn, Darrell, Barry
Parhelion race 4 12/4/08 4 4 0.970 0:28:10 0:02:31 0:02:42 Phil, Darrell, Julian, Glenn, Roy, Martin, Norman
Parhelion race 5 12/4/08 4 4 0.970 1:03:43 0:10:05 0:10:19 Phil, Darrell, Julian, Glenn, Roy, Martin, Norman
Parhelion race 6 19/4/08 2 4 0.970 1:26:31 0:00:07 0:00:58 Phil, Roy, Martin, Norman, Mick, Richard
Parhelion race 7 26/4/08 3 5 0.970 1:03:49 -0:08:30 0:01:09 Phil, Roy, Martin, Norman, Mick, Phil B, Joe, Glenn
Parhelion race 8 26/4/08 1 5 0.970 0:046:45 0:00:00 0:00:00 Phil, Roy, Martin, Norman, Mick, Phil B, Joe, Glenn

Race Reports

Appeal to skippers, crews and race officials, spectators, etc.

Please help me out with:

This series, we'll continue the report format with a separate page for each days racing. Look for the links below.

Last week's racing was cancelled due to too much wind. OMK went out for a shake down, across to Cowes for lunch. After a rapid monring sail, F5 gusting F7, we arrived in Cowes, well nearly! 100m off the pontoon the diesel spluttered and we wer left drifting. The jib was deployed and we targetted the nearest part of the pontoon that was free. However, another yacht sneaked in when we weren't looking which meant that we need to tack back out, only to get in the way of the Red Funnel! Ooops. However, no harm done. Lunch was eaten and the diesel situation sorted out before and even faster sail back in a now solid F7 gusting F8. We touched 10.5 knots on flat water at times with the #3 and 2 reefs in the main. Good stuff despite the wind and sideways drizzle.

Spring Races 1, 2 & 3

Crew: Phil, Darrell, Jools, Barry, Glenn

After last week's racing was cancelled due to too much wind, the crew were eager to get on the water. The racing had been rescheduled to hold 3 short races, in lieu of 1 long race, in order to play catchup. The breeze was northely, and gusting quite strongly. There was noticebly less wind under the Haslar wall, typically 10 knots. However, near the Committee boat at Gleeds, the wind was 20 knots +

Race 1

This was a short one lap triangle. With the start near Gleeds, it was a beat to VT, followed by a short reach/spreader leg to Vail Williams and then a run to the leeward mark just South of the line. A short beat back to the line would finish the race. OMK was rigged with the full main and #3.

Being a bit rusty, OMK started the race by sitting just behind the line, stalled. With a few seconds to go, we sheeted in and we were away. However, we didn't have much speed and the others edged ahead. The fleet tacked onto port and everyone seemed to target the favourable tide in the main channel as a quick way upwind. Total Obsession Too got a good start and led the fleet. They were first to the windward mark. OMK managed to get over the top of Just In Time. It was clear the JIT wanted to tack, but OMK had control. We tacked when we felt it was right. We wanted to maximise the favourable tide, even if it meant that we could eventually crack the sheets a little on the run into the mark.

Total Obsession led One More Knot around the first and second marks. Just In Time had got tangled with the IOW ferry and had lost a significant ground.

On the downwind leg, TOT were quick to get the kite up. OMK elected to goosewing under white sails (trying to be sensiblie without our regular bowman). The other yachts also chose to deploy their kites, but we noted the early season rust as the deployments were all a bit delayed.

Total Obsession Too took line honours and the win. OMK was 2nd over the line, 1min 17secs later, but on corrected demoted to 4th, 1min 31 off the leader. Scallywag was 2nd, Rhapsody 3rd and Just In Time 5th (only 3 seconds corrected behind OMK, phew!).

Race 2

The race committee had presumably learned that we knew about the favourable tide in the main Portsmouth channel, so the course was modified to drop the VT mark.  This left a sausage shaped course, 2 laps. The first attempt at a start sequence had to be aborted because the race RIB had gone walkabout without a driver!. Rick "Superman" Hodgeson lept off of Total Obsession Too into the RIB to effect a rapid recovery.

The line had a bias to port, plus we could get into the tide near the main channel for a bit if we could get near it. We tried to start on port.  We even thought we might get away with it as we were following Rhapsody into the line, also on port. However, a few seconds before the start, Rhapsody tacked. Unbeknown to us, Scallywag was coming in on starboard and Rhapsody had planned to tack for the start anyway. OMK was forced to tack to keep clear. As the gun went, we were a few boat lengths back from the line. Total Obsession Too managed to sail over the top of the fleet on port. They were clear of OMK and Rhapsody, however as we found out later on the VHF they forced Scallywag to take avoiding action. After an on the water protest, Total Obsession Too took it on the chin and did the penalty turn.

Despite the penalty,  TOT led the fleet all the way. On the downwind leg, OMK declined the opportunity to use the kite, however we did venture as far as a practice deployment of the pole. The other boats used their spinnakers. We followed procession style and on the second lap we were brave enough to hoist the spinnaker. The breeze was only 10 knots under the Haslar wall, but near the leeward mark it was 22 knots. Needless to say, on the drop we had a bit of a problem and the only way out was to give the spinnaker a wash.

One More Knot was 2nd on the water, but 4th on corrected time.

Race 3

This race was a single sausage, upto Vail Williams and back down. to the leeward mark.  OMK used the kite, we had to ... how else would we get it dry?

One More Knot was 3rd on the water, and sadly 5th on corrected time.

After racing, Roy (Rhapsody) failed to show up at the club house. It turned out he had a good excuse. You'd better read his report.

From Rhapsody

PSC Spring Series – Saturday 5th April 2008 – Races 1, 2 and 3
Report from Rhapsody

It’s the first day of racing in the year. Rhapsody was out of the water for the winter and had all her old anti-fouling removed and has now got a very smooth and clean bottom as a result of lots of hard work by the crew. Perhaps this will stop all the comments from Phil, Ricky and George that I had to endure last year about the bottom resembling the surface of the moon. The other news is that Rhapsody is for sale, in fact there is a potential buyer coming to view when we are back in Haslar from today’s racing. So, extra care not to break anything today! We decide on the #3 self-tacker as a head-sail, we probably could use the #2 but the wind shows signs of increasing and is also very gusty. Condor is anchored near Gleeds.

Race 1

The course is a beat to VT Shipping, a reach to Vail and then downwind to a leeward laid mark and then finish. All marks to be left to port. There is a slight bias in the line and we decide to start near the pin end. Our tactics are to reach along the line and cross just before we reach the pin and then to tack onto port if we can clear the starboard tack boats. It does not quite work out like that as we underestimate the tide along the line and get to the pin too early, we take a chance and cross the line but we hear the double start signal and have to go back and then cross on port. I reckon we were early by about 1 to 2 seconds. Then follows a long tack in towards Southsea, then two short tacks and we are rounding VT. Along with the rest of the fleet we decide against hoisting the spinnaker for this leg. Reaching Vail, we go for a gybe set and suffer the usual problems with this manoeuvre when using the self tacking headsail. The pole cannot be got ready until the gybe is complete, thus slowing things down quite considerably. With the spinnaker up we head for the leeward mark. As we leave the Haslar wall the wind picks up and shifts forward so we are soon making rapid progress on a broad reach. We round the mark and two tacks later we cross the line in 4th place on the water but only 1 minute ahead of Scallywag.

Race 2

This is a longer course, being twice round Vail and leeward mark to port. We go for a committee boat end start and it gets very congested. We are early again and gybe round in a loop just past Condor. We then tack back onto starboard and give OMK a surprise. We manage to avoid each other. We stay on starboard until we can lay the windward mark, our tactics were good because we round the mark at the front of the fleet, TO2 is not far behind and soon overtakes us as we again take time getting the spinnaker up. The second lap we stay on port for longer after round the leeward mark. Approaching the windward mark for the second time we have to duck behind Trumble Too from the IRC fleet and the have to put in an extra tack right at the mark – underestimated the tide yet again! From there it’s a repeat of lap one. We finish 3rd on the water ahead of Just In Time and 5 minutes ahead of Scallywag.

Race 3

The final race of the day is a single lap of the course from race 2. The tactics were very much the same. The only noticeable difference was that the wind stayed aft during the downwind leg. As in race 1 we were 4th on the water and ahead of Scallywag but this time by 1½ minutes. Still not enough we suspect.

Post Race

The results showed that we were placed 3rd, 2nd and 3rd in the three races.

Fifteen minutes after returning to our berth in Haslar Marina my potential buyer turned up as scheduled at 2pm. By 4pm I was watching Rhapsody leave the berth in the charge of her new owner who had persuaded me to let him have her straight away by paying me in cash! Rhapsody’s new home will be somewhere to the east, as the new owner lives in Littlehampton and intends to race with a local club in that area. In fact he wanted to take Rhapsody immediately so that he could race her on the Sunday.

Spring Races 4 & 5

Crew: Phil, Darrell, Jools, Glenn, Roy, Martin, Norman.

This week we were joined by some of the Rhapsody crew, currently boatless!  On OMK we thought we could use a hand, but when a rambling bunch of old codgers arrived at the pontoon we weren't so sure. However, these gents had a reputation. They always put the kite up! So we wondered what would happen today. After a quick boat familiarisation, we hit the water to complete the training! Of course, given the wind and general noise, all that would happen would be for skipper Phil to scream at various individuals in the vain and forlorn hope that they might hear something relevant.

Race 4

This race was a simple windward leeward sausage off the Haslar wall. It was scheduled for 2 laps, but shortened to one. The wind was F5, gusting F6, SW. The tide was east going and building.

In the prerace antics, OMK managed to get below the other boat but in a good position for the started. Darrell (on main) controlled the speed on our approach.  As we came towards the line, we were overlapping Scallywag and pointing higher. We started to push them up towards the line. Fortunately for them, we overtook and they had room to drop in behind. At 15 seconds, we came hard on the wind with boat speed building. We thought we had a cracking start (slightly deflated later in the club house when Nigel, OOD, told us we were still 3 boat lengths shy of the line. We headed off on starboard, to windward of Total Obsession Too and to leeward of Scallywag and Just In Time. However we were ahead. The back part of the fleet tacked off toward the Haslar wall to hide from the tide. We tacked too. Then, 1st mistake of the day, a rope had been pulled though the cheek block with the jib sheet. When we tacked, the jib sheet couldn't run free and it took 3 blokes and a winch to sort out the mess so that we could sheet in properly on our new tack. We were already playing catchup having lost 20 seconds.

Total Obsession Too had a reef in today, so it must have been windier than last week! She soon disappeared off into the distance, leaving OMK racing with Just In Time. However, everytime we looked over our shoulder, the smaller GK24 Scallywag was there! A few tacks later and we round the windward mark. TOT had the kite on the foredeck but declined to use it. Just In Time didn't go for the kite. But hey, we had the Rhapsody super grandads on board, so up went the kite. It was a gybe set, just to make it easy for Norman (bow) and Julian (Mast). Roy (pit) was trying to come to terms with the billion strings on board, but he managed well (he'll ache on Sunday). Glenn was trimming the sheets and Martin on th Guy. We were the only boat to use the kite, and once we got going it was fun.

As we turbo'd downwind at over 9 knots SOG, thoughts started to migrate to getting the beast back in the bag before we sailed up Southsea Common. Fortunately downind sailing was a bit quieter so the cunning plan was hatched. We would sail high of the mark to give us some ground to bear away onto a dead run for the drop. Hopefully the kite would collapse behind the sails and getting it tamed would be a piece of cake. Amazingly, the plan worked.

From the mark, it was a short beat back to the line. However we already knew that the results would be bad! Second last on the water, but with Scallywag so close behind we were done for. TOT had sailed a blinder, we had a good joust with Just In Time and Scallywag kept her nose clean and did a good job to claim 2ndon corrected.

Race 5

This race was a two lap effort, the first lap was a triangle, upto the windward mark, then out to Gleeds and back to the leeward mark. The second lap was a sausge, the same as the first race.

Once again, we made a decent start. The key seemed to be to control our speed using the minute graduations on the GPS as a guide. Once again, Total Obsession Too claimed an early advantage. One More Knot stood out into the aderse tide for too long before tacking back into the wall. At the windward mark, TOT was well clear, followed by JIT and then OMK who both struggled against the tide before rounding. Amazingly, Scallywag was only a few length behind. This called for drastic action. With the base wind showing 23 knots, One More Knot's team performed a bear away set. Again the only boat to fly a kite. Whoosh. The log showed a maximum of 9.85 knots, and the SOG was over 11 knots. The bow wave was a sight to behold. The crew were concentrating so hard that they didn't even realise we were alone in our use of the spinnaker

We then had a beam reach from Gleeds to the windward mark. A rare treat. Power reaching at over 8 knots. This race was fun!!! We might have messed up with the tide but we were making up for it with an adrenalin rush in our efforts to catchup. After rounding the leeward mark and then tacking though the line, we corrected our earlier error and made straight for shallow water. We set the depth alarm off twice and managed to overtake Just In Time. To maximise our advantage Phil called from the helm for the guys on the foredeck to ready the spinnaker early. Norman and Julian were thoroughly drenched by more than one wave In the choppy shallows off Gilkicker. Sadly, our advantage was immediately lost when we overstood the mark and JIT sneaked though. Well not so much sneak, I think we held the door open for 20 seconds. So once again, we had an opportunity to deploy red and white wonder sail. This time is was show 25 knots when we glanced at the instruments. The set was again the tricky gybe set.

Up went the kite, whey hey ..... keep the jib up ... it'll take the sting out of the kite. The wind had come around and was more of a dead run than we expected. It was tricky to see past the heads of the crew our past the foot of the spinnaker to work out where we should be going. Where ever it was, we were going to get there quickly! And then .... Phil called "We're broaching". It seemed like and age, but sure enough, once again we sat One More Knot on her gunwhales. Norman was desperately trying to trip the spinnaker. Phil was shouting for him not too. Previous experience show that in this sort of wind, the tack will blow out hard and high, making it harder to recover any of the sail cloth. Instead we choose to dump the sail in the water using the halyard. Once depowered, the kite was recovered and we finished the race under white sails. Last on the water. Wooden spoon for us today.

Spring Race 6

Crew: Phil, Glenn, Roy, Martin, Norman, Mick, Richard

Race 6

This race was the long race, to the Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club, which is, unsurprisingly, in Cowes! The breeze was a firm F5, gusting F6, NE going E.  The tide had just turned for the start of the race and was due to wash us west towards Cowes. This week, OMK had regular skipper Phil on board with none of his regular crew. Instead, the crew were the complete complement from Rhapsody. So they all knew how they normally operated. They just need to get used to a different boat. A lot more string and sail area! A taste of things to come when Roy takes delivery of his brand spanking Elan 340 soon.

Phil was optimistic because whatever course was set there had to be about 10 miles more downwind/reaching than upwind.  If we couldn't do well in this one we were always going to struggle in the stronger winds. We rigged the boat with the #3 jib and a single reef in the main. It turned out that Total Obsession had rigged two reefs in their main.

The course started at KB Boatpark, off the Haslar wall, with a short beat to VT near the harbour entrance.  What followed next was a run and gybe at Gilkicker followed by a broad reach to Browndown.  After another gybe at Browndown the fleet were to cross the channel to Craft Insure, a broad reach.  A short beat back to Motherbank before a run to Gales HSB off Castle Point for the finish at Cowes.

At the start OMK was wary of the tide washing yachts away from the line.  We approached the line on a reach, feathering our speed and were easily the closest at the gun.  We crossed first, but Total Obsession Too arrived carrying  more speed and made a better start.  The other yachts were well off the line, both downwind and down tide.  OMK and TOT raced to the first mark, and once again, TOT won the upwind battle in these stiffer breezes.  Near the mark, the breeze eased to about 14 knots.  OMK followed Total Obsession Too around.  Both yachts (and later the rest of the fleet) declined to use their kites on this mark as we were expecting the breeze to pick up again soon on the way to Gilkicker Point.  We had also seen the IRC boats struggling and broaching with their kites in the earlier start.

As we approached Gilkicker, the breeze picked up to 27 knots, gusting a bit more.  We were glad we didn't have the kite. After rounding the headland, the breeze eased to 18 knots, but the angles were a bit fine for the kites.  Both the leading boats shook out their reefs and went back to a full main.  We power reached to the next mark all the way across Stokes bay. OMK was 100m behind Total Obsession Too all the way. There was nothing to choose between the boats. As we approached the mark, we could see a large fleet of J's with carbon and kevlar sails were coming from the other direction, to round the mark. We approach on starboard and were fortunate with our timing.  Meanwhile, Emma was feeling a bit nervous and gave some room. Apparently, she got some earache from Rick for allowing OMK to close to within about 3 boat lengths and the mark.

After the mark, Total Obsession Too led across towards the island.  However, Phil felt her course was high.  There was a minor mutiny on board OMK, as Martin's GPS said we should point higher and follow them.  Phil, using his GPS at the wheel felt we could sail lower.  There was then a navigational debate (mutiny?) and some erratic steering. The speed was good, high 7 knots, occasionally 8.   We changed course to run parallel to Total Obsession Too.  It was very grey and visibility was poor.  We were desperately looking for the next mark, Craft Insure. Total Obsession Too was upwind and up tide off us, but we felt the mark was now below us.  Phil bore away after agreeing that his mark on the GPS was the right one.  We saw 2 IRC class boats emerge from the gloom racing towards Motherbank. This ratified the decision. All hands were instructed to search for the mark. Eventually we made visual contact and went for. This gave us the edge on Total Obsession Too.  For the second time in the race, One More Knot was in front.

One More Knot rounded both Craft Insure, and then after a short beat into both wind and tide, Motherbank in the lead. Total Obsession Too rounded 150m  behind. However, OMK had dithered about putting the kite up. The wind had dropped to 14 knots, but we weren't sure if it was temporary. Meanwhile TOT put up theirs. It's a shame we didn't have time to take a picture, they looked really good. TOT closed rapidly and inevitably overtook, as we were preparing our spinnaker, this time all safely wrapped in it's brand new snuffer (for its first use). The sausage was easily hoisted and then the beast unleashed. Sadly, we were now chasing again.  The two boats were very evenly matched. OMK was just inching into the gap. OMK tried to position herself just upwind of TOT, but we weren't quite close enough to slow her.  We we holding the deep water for the better tide, but eventually we had to cut in shore to avoid be washed the wrong side of the finish mark. One More Knot had managed to close the the gap to just 7 seconds, which at 8 knots is about 3 boat lengths at the finish after nearly 1.5 hours of racing.

It was then off to the Cowes Corinthian for a fine fish and chips meal. OMK was first in, as we found taking the kite down using the snuffer was a breeze. It might seem a bit wimpy, but it was declared a success on it's inaugural outing. As usual, after a good race there was heated debated and a lot of smiles all around. Robin (PSC Commodore) thanked the Cowes Corinthian YC for their hospitality.  Much appreciated.

After food and drink, it was a beat back to Haslar against the tide.  We only ran aground once! Oopps.  And that was back in the harbour. At least we were only doing 3 knots.

As for the results, Total Obsession Too won the race and with it probably the series. (Rick confessed to practicing his acceptance of the trophy in the mirror). One More Knot was 2nd, only 7 seconds behind on the water, but 58 seconds on corrected time.  Just In Time were 3rd, over 3 minutes further back and Concerto, uncharacteristically, another 3 minutes off the pace.  This weeks result has sneaked One More Knot back into 3rd place in the series standings, on equal points with Just In Time, but with today's 2nd place making the difference on the count back.  Only one week of racing to go.  All to play for.

Spring Races 7 & 8

Crew: Phil, Glenn, Roy, Martin, Norman, Mick, Joe, Phil B

The final day of the spring series was upon us.  One More Knot was lying in 3rd place in the series, on equal points with Just In Time.  One More Knot was ahead by virtue of an last weeks 2nd place, but discards were due to feature this week.  If we raced two races, there would be another discard. This favoured Just In Time, so our simple sums said that we needed to beat Just In Time twice to hold onto our third place.  There were other more complicated (and unlikely) options.  At the front of the field, Total Obsession Too had already claimed the series.  One More Knot may have had a chance to pip Scallywag to third, but only if 3 races were held, which OMK must win them all and Scallywag didn't show up!  It was just not going to happen.

Race 7

A F3 southerly and sunshine greeted the fleet for this one. Condor anchored near KB Boatparks, just off the Haslar wall.  The course was two laps of an upwind downwind sausage.  The windward mark was Gleeds, near the fort and the leeward mark was Vail Williams, quite close to the wall.  We had 1.4 knots of east going tide in most places.

With bowman Phil Bailey and son Joe back on board after a skiing trip to Calgory plus a serious contingent of crew from Rhapsody, an Glenn, Phil took the opportunity to run the boat in a slightly different manner.  Roy was offered the wheel (on the basis that he had to get used to driving his new Elan 340, which also had a big round thing and not a stick).  Meanwhile Phil would skipper the boat from within the cockpit.  Pre start, we timed a run into KB Boatparks, thinking that this was one end of the line, however we twigged that the RIB was setting a buoy for the pin end so we recalibrated!

With Phil (using his GPS) and Roy working together at the wheel, we started our run to the startline about 1 min 30 secs befoe the gun. As we approached the line, we were behind Just In Time.  Roy was concenered that we would get squeezed out, but Phil said go for it an come up on the wind hard.  10 seconds to go, sheeting everything in .  What a cracker. We managed squeeze between Just In Time and Condor right on the gun.  One More Knot was first to the line and right next to Condor.  From this position we were able to ease out in front of the fleet.  Meanwhile, Total Obsession Too had been absent from the usual prestart melee had reappeared.  They too had made the mistake of thinking that KB Boatparks had something to do with the line.  Apparently the cockpit was blue ...  those at the pointy end kept their mouth's shut and stayed out of the 'discussion'.

With OMK leading the fleet to windwars, we waited until the other boats tacked onto port, and then tacked to cover them.  We then held port for longer than the rest and eventually made the call to tack back in towards Gleeds.  We had the upper hand as we would be on starboard, so should anyone get close they would have to avoid us. Just In Time were forced to tack. At the windward mark, OMK double tacked to make the last bit of ground to round. OMK was first around, gybed and then hoisted the big blue kite.  Just In Time weren't far behind.  On the run, we expected to pull away, but the gap stayed the same.  JIT was going really well and we didn't seem to be able to do anything about it.   We started tweaking the spinnaker and things improved, however we converged with a couple of IRC boats.  OMK was running just downwind.  As OMK and Cruella De Ville ran parallel, Kurketrekker insisted on pointlessly putting he nose in the gap.  There was nowhere for her to go, and how on earth would she overtake CDV to leeward?  OMK, the leeward boat actually gave her some room ... with absolutely no thanks from Kurketrekker.  Somewhat annoyed, OMK employed our round the island tactics, drop astern and reached up over both boats. At the mark, we dropped the kite early to avoid sailing past the mark.  Any further and we would be up the wall! We rounded in front of Kurketrekker but initially we couldn't point so high, so Kurketrekker managed to squeeze in above us.  This then prevented OMK from tacking towards the gate.  Despite several calls to Kurketrekker, the clowns seemed to be both deaf and stupid.  Eventually, we got the message across that they needed to sail through the gate, so they tacked immediately.  We followed suit but our lead over Just In Time had been well damaged. 

The second lap was a similar story to the first.  OMK gybe set hoist was a bit cleaner and we didn't have a battle with the IRC boats.  At the leeward mark, Vail Williams, we rounded and were a bit confused by the finish line arrangements.  Condor had dropped a black buoy and nipped off to rescue the RIB which had had a problem.  Se was now back on station but the black mark was still in the water.  It all seems obvious after the event but Phil had it in his head that he needed to cross between the Orange ODM and the black IDM.  However, in practice the line was between Condor and the ODM, which was before we would have reached the IDM.  Confused?  Me too ...

Anyway, Just In Time tacked and crossed the line near Condor, whilst continued on the opposite tack towards the orange ODM.  Just In Time took line honours, some 11 seconds in front of One More Knot. However, Scallywag won the race by a corrected time margin of on 20 seconds over Just In Time.

In between races, we tried to figure out what we had done wrong, obviously the finish line issue and Kurketrekker.  But actually Just In Time appeared to sail a blinder.  Our only excuse was that JIT was able to use their sexy #1, while we only had our #2. As for overall standings, we were quite worried that our chances of retaining 3rd place in the series had just vanished.

Race 8

The course for the second race was a repeat of the first. The wind had freshened a few knots to a F4.  Still warm and from the south.  The tide was easing. After a brief discussion, Phil took the helm for the final race in the series.  We new that we had to go for it. Being conservative wasn't an option.

So to start, we allowed Total Obsession Too room at the committee boat end.  They started just above Just In Time.  One More Knot started astern and to leeward on TOT but right at the Condor end of the line. As soon as we were clear of Condor, OMK tacked to get out of the dirty air.  We were quite happy to let Total Obsession Too and Just In Time slug it out.  Unbeknown to us, Scallywag had used the lines port bias to go for the port tack flyer routine.  And boy did they do well. Halfway up the beat we managed to overhaul them for the lead.  We were pointing higher and going faster.  Our instruments showed 4.8 to 5.0 knots VMG sustained, which for us is really good.  We called the tack to make for Gleeds, the windward mark. On doing so, we were able to crack the sheets an inch on the final approach.  Everybody was concentrating on rounding quickly, gybing and hoisting the kite.  It went like a dream.  The spinnaker was up and flying quickly. A glance over the should revealed that Just In Time and Total Obsession Too we having a right ding dong ... shame!  We just concentrated on sailing fast.  This time, we were well clear of the IRC fleet and were able to sail our own race.

At the leeward mark, we readied the genoa at about 5 boat lengths and left the drop until we were only 2 boat lengths from the mark. Everything stayed sweet and we were able to beat back up through the line with a good lead.  The second lap followed equally slickly. On the final approach to the line we remembered to leave the black mark to starboard prior to crossing the line for clear line honours. A check of the clock gave us a reference.  We watched with more than a little interest as Just In Time and Total Obsession Too battled towards the line.  These boats share a common handicap, so first over the line gets it.  We desperately needed Total Obsession Too to steal a point from Just In Time.  As it turned out, we couldn't tell from our perspective which boat got there first.  The clock had ticked on enough for us to be sure of a result better than both of them.

The threat to our result now came from the slower handicap boats, Concerto and Scallywag.  We knew we had gone well, the boat had seemed quiet.  Everything went to plan.  We have to wait and see what happened in the results.  

And the results, One More Knot not only took line honours, but also won by 49 seconds from Scallywag on corrected time.  The race for the line between Just In Time and Total Obsession Too was won by Just In Time, for 3rd place.  Total Obsession Too was in 4th with Concerto following in 5th.

Back in the club house

Back in the clubhouse, the crews arrived without knowing the results. There was the usual consumption of beer and loads of banter. Everyone had agreed what a fun series this spring was.  Rick's Total Obsession Too had cleared off with the series (much like Concerto did last year)  TOT's achievements included 5 firsts and 1 second and rescuing one RIB., TOT finished on a series total of 7 points.  The finals days racing were their discards.  The other crews speculated that this was down to the opening of Champagne bottles during the day.  TOT had sailed fantastically well in this series, possibly helped a little by the heavier weather. Scallywag had put in fine performance in an attempt to keep TOT honest.  She scored 10 points.  Annoyingly for One More Knot, Scallywag had been seen far to frequently in close proximity at the windward mark.  One More Knot managed to hang onto 3rd place in the series by the skin of her teeth.  She had tied on 18 points with Just In Time.  On the count back, the win in the final race tipped the balance.  Just In Time, who had pipped OMK on the count back in more than one previous series, came in 4th.  Roy and his former yacht, Rhapsody, managed 5th in the series despite only one days worth of racing before Rhapsody was sold.  Concerto followed in 6th.  Not quite the form we had expected from last year.

The crews and skippers are ever grateful to those that run these events.  We know that there is a small army of volunteers that make it all happen.  You even keep us amused by periodically setting those RIBs adrift.  Thank you all.

Gallery

Its taken a while, but at last they are here.  Many thanks to our photographers Darryl Bowles and Lynn Duff.  Lynn is looking for constructive feedback!