2011 Parhelion Autumn Series

Skippers, crew and club officers -- your contributions are needed, reports, GPS tracks and photos

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!

Autumn Parhelion 2011 dates are:


2011 Spring Parhelion Series - Club Fleet Standings

Official results table from the PSC

Rank Boat Name Class Sail No Helm TCF R1
1 Oct		 R2
1 Oct		 R3
8 Oct		 R4
8 Oct		 R5
15 Oct		 R6
15 Oct		 R7
22 Oct		 R8
29 Oct		 R9
29 Oct		 R10
5 Nov		 R11
5 Nov		 Total
Club Fleet - Sailed: 9    Discards: 3
1 Muscadet de Havelet Contessa 32 5500 Peter Sanderson 0.885 3 3 1 1 DNC DNC 1 1 1 1 1 7
2 One More Knot Elan 333 7563T Phil Duff 0.970 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 11
3 Crazy Horse Mustang 30 5187 Derek Budden 0.985 5 1 3 3 3 3 DNC 3 3 5 3 19
4 Scallywag GK 24 215 Ellis Ruddick 0.830 2 5 5 4 2 4 4 4 4 3 4 23
5 Easy Tiger II Beneteau First 33.7 6655 Chris Fife-Shaw 0.960 4 4 4 5 RET 2 3 5 5 6 6 27
7 Just In Time Omega 36 4230T Tony Barnett 0.960 DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC DNC 4 5 44

Results courtesy of Portsmouth Sailing Club

Race Results

Race Date Class Pos No in Class TCF OTW Time OTW gap to 1st/2nd Corrected gap to 1st/2nd Crew
Parhelion race 1 1/10/2011 1 5 0.970 0:57:29 -16:27 -5:36 Phil, Drew, Norman, Martin P, Hollie
Parhelion race 2 1/10/2011 2 5 0.970 1:02:20 +2:37 +1:39 Phil, Drew, Norman, Martin P, Hollie
Parhelion race 3 8/10/2011 2 5 0.970 1:34:26 -4:11 +2:12 Phil, Drew, Norman, Martin P, Richard E, Andrew S, Sam
Parhelion race 4 8/10/2011 2 5 0.970 0:57:54 -4:12 +1:12 Phil, Drew, Norman, Martin P, Richard E, Andrew S, Sam
Parhelion race 5 15/10/2011 1 4 0.970 1:12:23 -17:40 -4:31 Phil, Drew, Norman, Glenn, Richard E and Andrew S
Parhelion race 6 15/10/2011 1 4 0.970 1:31:04 -8:03 -6:49 Phil, Drew, Norman, Glenn, Richard E and Andrew S
Parhelion race 7 22/10/2011 2 4 0.970 2:43:42 -14:57 +0:41 Phil, Drew, Norman, Glenn, Richard E, Martin P and Andrew S
Parhelion race 8 29/10/2011 2 5 0.970 1:23:34> -7:54 +0:07 Phil, Glenn, Norman, Andrew S, Phil B
Parhelion race 9 29/10/2011 2 5 0.970 1:15:30 -3:36 +3:14 Phil, Glenn, Norman, Andrew S, Phil B
Parhelion race 10 5/11/2011 2 6 0.970 1:07:27 -5:16 +1:05 Phil, Glenn, Norman, Richard E, Martin P
Parhelion race 11 5/11/2011 2 6 0.970 1:20:16 -3:55 +3:22 Phil, Glenn, Norman, Richard E, Martin P

Race Reports

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

Please help me out with:

Autumn Races 1 and 2

Phil, Drew, Norman, Martin P, Hollie

A new series. How would we fare? The dinghy and spray hood had been taken off at 11pm the night before. The forecast had been for 7 to 10 knots SE and a heat wave!

Out on the water, there was a light breeze from the east. We were sailing in T-shirts .... in October! With no sign of the committee boat, we took the opportunity to practice with the spinnaker, with the lightweight sheets in less than 10 knots of breeze. A hoist, a few gybes and a drop all executed as the committee boat came onto station a few cables west of Gleeds. The rest of the fleet started to arrive and the breeze picked up a bit. We swapped the spinnaker sheets to our heavier standard ones.

Race 1

The course started west of Gleeds on a laid line, with a beat/fetch to Outer Spit, before a spinnaker reach to Vail Williams, a run to KB BoatParks, a beat to Mary Rose and a run back to the line.

The line had a strong port bias, and the first beat was almost a fetch on port. Prestart, we loitered near the port end of the line, together with series newcomer, Crazy Horse (a racy looking Mustang 30). With space on the line, both yachts went for a port tack start. A brave move of the first race of the series. One More Knot executed a near perfect start, sheeting in and hardening up 20 seconds before the gun claiming the windward spot at the pin. Crazy Horse was just to leeward and slightly behind. The rest of the fleet started on starboard, closer to the committee boat.

As the first beat developed, One More Knot held the windward line. Crazy Horse was to leeward, at times sailing faster but lower. OMK lead the fleet at the windward mark. Crazy Horse was only a couple of boat lengths behind,

A great hoist of the kite and One More Knot was off to the next mark with good speed, helped by the tide flowing into Portmouth harbour entrance. Behind, Crazy Horse seemed to be having trouble get the kite up and pulling. One More Knot extended the lead considerably. At Vail Williams, we elected to stay in the main flooding tide before bearing away onto a deeper run to KB boat parks.

The lead looked good, but the wind started to fail. Our boat speed fell to less than 3 knots, and with 0.8 knots of adverse tide progress became painfully slow. The fleet behind appeared to close the gap, however our comfort was still in the light winds and our tidal advantage as the boats attempted to run, wind against tide. Eventually, we made the mark, deliberately dropping the kite late to make sure we didn't get washed back onto the bouy.

With a more favourable wind angle the boat speed improved as we watched the fleet struggling behind. We had a small problem with a guy caught in the jib sheet. Distracted, Phil pointed too high intially, but once recognised we eased the sheets to sail directly to the final mark. The fleet continued to stuggle and our lead once again extended.

At the final mark, after another slick hoist for the run to the finish, we were able to enjoy a view of the fleet beating past us. We finished 57 minutes 29s after we started and a full leg ahead of the rest!

Loitering near the finish, watching the race timer, we had a lead of over 8 minutes on Crazy Horse, and that our lead on Muscadet was enough, Scallywag looked to be close enough to the rest of the fleet to stir up the result, and so it proved when they claimed 2nd place, behind One More Knot. For a change, failing winds helped us!

Race 2

Race 2 used the same course as race 1. At the start we could see both Crazy Horse and Easy Tiger II eying up a port tack start. The port end of the line was still the place to be. This time, we elected to start on starboard but at the port pin. In the final stages of the countdown, we tacked to make our run for the line. The crew controlled the speed to make sure we didn't overrun, but with 20 seconds to go, we went for the line. The port tack boats were approaching but had to give way pass behind, first Easy Tiger and then Crazy Horse.

We continued on our tack for 1 minute before tacking to cover the rest of the fleet. Crazy Horse was going well, sailing lower than One More Knot, but considerably faster. Some of the fleet were going for deeper water hoping for more favourable tide. Easy Tiger II was going well too.

As we approach the windward mark, Crazy Horse was the first to tack, however she had further to go. Our higher course gave us less didstance after the tack and we made the call to tack before we reached her line. However, we were pinching a little and Crazy Horse got there well in front. This time, they made a good job of hoisting the kite and getting the boat going. After rounding, our hoist was ok but we didn't get going. Easy Tiger sneaked ahead of us, making good use of their asymmetric. OMK managed to pick up a bit of speed, but realising we couldn't overtake by going underneath, we came up behind Easy Tiger to put her into our shadow. She slowed and we easily overtook.

However, Easy Tiger II would let go, once behind and in a clear breeze, the came astern and started to attack to windward. One More Knot resisted by luffing, which worked .... initially. However, our symmetric spinnaker was no match for their asymmetric in a luffing battle and we were forced to concede. Easy Tiger II continued to extend the gap on the approach to Vail Williams. Crazy Horse, leading, was about 3 minutes ahead.

At Vail Williams, Easy Tiger bore away to run down to KB Boatparks. OMK tried a different tactic, staying in the main flood to the harbour for a further few minutes. One we changed course we had a better angle than the other yachts. We overtook Easy Tiger II and started to nibble at the gap to Crazy Horse.

The procession continued to the line. One the final run to the line we were able to compare our performance with Tinker T, and IRC Elan 333. Her speed was much higher, but she sailed a higher course, utlimately requiring a gybe to get to the finish line. One More Knot had a more direct approach, there wasn't really much to choose.

One More Knot finished 2nd on the water 2:37 behind Crazy Horse, and 2:48 in front of Easy Tiger II. We had closed the gap on the Mustang a little but not enough. Crazy Horse claimed their first win of the series, their intentions are clear!

Muscadet didnt seem to be at their best, but still managed two 3rd places. Easy Tiger II had raised their game considerably and given us a bit of a ding-dong. We didn't see much of Scallywag, but with a 2nd in the first race and what looked clean boat, her intentions are also clear!

Once the results were published, it also became apparent that the handicaps of all of the boats had been tweeked for a more exciting contest. Clearly, Rick's beer fund is looking for sponsors!

Autumn Races 3 and 4

Phil, Drew, Norman, Martin P, Richard E, Andrew S, Sam

The F4/F5 forecast NW prooved to be accurate. A bit cooler than last week so layers were the order of the day.

Out on the water, we had beaten the committee boat again. We set off towards Gilckicker before running under our big blue kite. A bit of early morning practice proved to be well worth while as we seemed to be making a few mistakes. Running in 16-20 knots kept us honest, boat speed was good but we needed to smarten up our sail handling. Better before racing than during!

Race 3

From the line at Gleeds, we had a beat to Naomi House in the middle of the Haslar wall, a reach around Gilckinker point to Darling Associates, A run to Outer Spit, before a beat to BAE Systems and finally a run back to the line.

We hit the middle of the line, at the gun, on port in clear air. Most of the fleet were near the port pin end on the biased line. Whilst we had clear air, it soon became clear how biased the line was and we had to work hard to climb back up to the fleet. As we approached the wall, the offshore breeze was becoming increasingly choppy, swithcing between 12 knots, to 18, and back again in an instant. We were struggling to keep the boat on her feet during the gusts, without depowering too much for the lulls. Mid-way to the wall, we could see a cruising boat approaching on starboard. Initially it loked as though we might sneak in front, however the changeable wind conditions and the cruiser's change of course made us go astern. However, as we approached, a big gust came through and but for a last second shriek and some easing of sails we would have clipped her transom. Their crew had gone beyond the shouting phase and stood in the cockpit aghast! Missed! They asked innocently "Are you racing?", before proceeding to sail across the top of all of the other boats in the fleet! The power of starboard ..... We never shouted at them, but they could have made their own life so much more comfortable by being aware of their surroundings.

As for us, back to racing. Having pulled a small margin we tacked onto starboard and crossed a couple of boat lengths in front of Muscadet. We chose to tack before we got to the wall where the wind would ease significantly. The rest of the fleet sailed into the wall before making a single tack and then reaching along the wall. Our tactic allowed us to open up a few boat lengths on Muscadet. We were first around the the first mark and then it was off to Darling Associates. We stood off shore a little more than Muscadet in order to pick up a bit more wind and tide.

At Darling, we rounded and hoisted "Big Blue 2". A good run down to Outer Spit, against the tide, with 20+ knots at times saw us open a lead on Muscadet and the rest of the fleet. We led procession like from Muscadet around the final mark and back to the line. Whilst we had a lead of over 4 minutes on the water, it was still 2 minutes short of what we needed to beat Muscadet. So, 1st place to Muscadet de Havelet, 2nd place to One More Knot, 3rd place to Crazy Horse.

Race 4

From the line at Gleeds, we had a beat to Naomi House in the middle of the Haslar wall, a reach around Gilckinker point to Darling Associates, A shorter run to Mary Rose, before a fetch to BAE Systems and finally a run back to the line.

Recognising that we had lost out a bit on the previous start, we upped the ante on this one. The fleet were all lining up for a port tack start. One More Knot was positioned to leeward of the others, but could still point up to the port pin. Most of the rest of the fleet approached on a reach. One More Knot approached nearly hard on the wind but with sails eased. We had the rights, as the others we 'windward' boats. Most of the fleet passed in front. With less than a minute to go, we were nice to Muscadet, allowing them to go in front, we elected to dip their transom. However, the nerves were struggling to stay patient and fearing that they might push us over the pin we sheeted the sails and the speed came up. Muscadet was forced to continue across our path but then hardened up for the line. One More Knot was sonn travelling at 6 knots, but the line was approaching, so we bore off to steer down it. With Muscadet coming up to the line we were steering into a disappering triangle. Muscadet started hollering "Up Up Up". As we approached we hardened up on the the line.

And then the gun. We looked at each other, the VHF crackled into life, one boat over .. no sail number. But then bits of it fitted our ... Our first time over .. ever. Still, all was not lost being the most windward boat we had clear water to tack into and go back for a restart. We had been too nice to Muscadet and then got burned by them.

Within a minute we had restarted and the red mist was down. We found ourselves chasing Easy Tiger II's transom, in their dirty air. Sailing faster we could point, pointing we sailed slower. The cry went out "Guys, please hike, we got to out point Easy Tiger" With every spare crew member on the rail and hiking we managed to overtake Easy Tiger II to windward.

The guys kept hiking and one by one we overtook the rest of the fleet to round the first mark 2 boat lengths in front of Muscadet.

From there, we led the procession around the track again, once again opening up a good lead on the main run. For a while we ran alongside White Cloud (IRC HOD 35), where apparently we were complimented on our boat speed.

At the line, we finished over 4 minutes in front of Muscadet again, but this time it was only a 1 minute deficit on corrected due to the shorter race. Maybe we stood a chance without the misjudgement at the start. The folks on the committe boat reckon we were 1s early, about 3m at 6 knots! It cost us a minute. One again the order in the result was Muscadet de Havelet, One More Knot and then Crazy Horse.

One More Knot still leads the series, but the lead has been reduced from 3 point to a single point. Muscadet in 2nd place has had a good week.

Autumn Races 5 and 6

Phil, Drew, Norman, Glenn, Richard E and Andrew S

The forecast was for 9 to 11 knots from the south east. The tide would be east going (wind against tide) for the first race and then turning, to give wind with tide for the second race. Over breakfast, the chat was about Dancing Girls, Casinos and Dwarves .. ask Glenn ... recently returned from Vegas.

Back on the boat, in glorious sunshine and not a cloud in the sky we recognised our first mistake. Not enough pre-race communications .... no Hollie. Never mind, we still had 6 on board. Last week, Muscadet had performed a clean sweep, with us in second twice. Our lead in the series was standing at only a single point. We needed some good results to stay in front of the series.

Out on water, we took the opportunity to hoist the kite and practice a few gybes. It didn't go too well! We managed to get the pole between the shoruds, the guy looped under the pole and quite a few other small issues. Hopefully, the practice would have used up the foul-ups so that there were none left during the races.

Race 5

The committee boat, Mary Siobhan, set up base camp at RNYC near Gilkicker, ready for a first beat across the bank. The course was a beat to Mary Rose, a fetch to Vail Williams, a run to Naomi House, a reach along the wall around Gilkicker to Darling Associates. Another beat to Mary Rose before turning back onto a run to the finish.

We were surprised by the absence of Muscadet, maybe they would turn up a bit late. As it turned out, they didn't.

At the start, we led the fleet down the line to the favoured port end, however we wanted to tack back out into deeper water for a bit of tidal assistance. Eventually, we got some space and put our tack in. First around Mary Rose we set off towards Vail Williams by a good margin from Crazy Horse, Easy Tiger and then Scallywag.

Part way down the leg, we realised that the wind had veered significantly to the south. We elected to hoist the kite. We struggled a bit as the angles turned out to be pretty hot but marginal. We need to take care when approaching the mark because a strong tide was still flooding up the Portsmouth channel into thte harbour. A few minor boraches hindered our progress. Talking to Crazy Horse in the bar afterwards they reckoned that they managed to take 150m out of the gap, still you've got to try!

After a gybe at Vail Williams, we aimed for the Naomi House off the Haslar wall. Progress seemed slow at times against the tide. We had seen the leading IRC boats carry their kites along the wall. We had a discussion and decided to try, but prepared with Plan B, a prompt drop and shift back to twhites if it didn't work. At Naomi we hardened up and it worked pretty well. On a few occassions we needed to dump the sheets to recover from a gust, we got better at anticipating the load and lack of rudder grip. We were rewarded with a good 7.5 knot thrash in only 10-12 knots of breeze. Crazy Horse and Easy Tiger tried too. We managed to open up the lead considerably.

Rounding the headland we could see that our next mark was also the 1st mark of the Sunsail F40 racing fleet. Now we had a real race on our hands. They were beating towards the mark, we were running, on port with Big Blue 2. We didn't know exactly what their course was, but it looked pretty ugly for a while! With a big lead, we took the safer option and dropped back to whites a little early. What would have taken only a minute with the kite seemed to take an age as 20 F40's converged on us. Eventually, we were able to come hard onto the wind just as their leaders got there.

We went into pointing mode for a while and lifted ourselves away from the main melee. A few tacks were required on the way to Mary Rose. Sadly, this was their windward mark too! So the tacks need to be planned to stay in clear air and water. We gave a bit of ground to make sure we didn't get caught in any kind of battle. It was interesting to see how our performance compared. We could point higher, their speed was marginally faster. The better sailed F40s were just getting away from us.

Rounding Mary Rose was interesting. Once again, we didn't get too agressive. On of the F40s was trying to pinch over the mark, we jumped in front and took a tight line on the exit. Our slick crew showed them how to get a kite hoisted quickly, just a run to the finish.

One last complication, we were on port, catching an F40 on starboard. After a quick discussion with them, we established that they were trying to go around RNYRAYC at the port end of our finish line. We nipped across their transom and the gybed to go on their merry way.

One More Knot's win was a good start for our day. Another race to go.

Race 6

The course was similar to the previous race, but without Naomi House near the wall. So it was a beat to Mary Rose, a fetch to Vail Williams, a run to Naomi House, a reach along the wall around Gilkicker to Darling Associates. Another beat to Mary Rose before turning back onto a run to the finish. The tide had turned, initially slackish, but then pushing NW towards Cowes. The wind had come around from about 80 degrees to 130 degrees.

At the start, we tried to guard our ground at the committee boat end, but in the confusion with a number of cruising boats sailing through the line, Phil lost track of where the pin end was. Drew was shouting for us to go up, but with a loss of perspective Phil stayed conservsative and we were 5 seconds late on the line. The fleet all started on Starboard. Initially, we were to windward of Scallywag and Crazy Horse. Easy Tiger 2 was to windward of us. A few tacks saw us close on the mark in the uncertain changing tide at the head of the fleet.

Once around, we assessed the wind and then choose to hoist the kite again. It was on the edge, but the speeds seemed good with just a couple of small broaches.

At Vail Williams our gybe didn't go too well. The pole uphaul got caught on the block at the top of the spinnaker track. Once recognised it was easily fisxed and we were on our way again to Darling Associates, the leeward mark. As we sailed through the line en route, we commented on how long the line looked. It turned out that the committee boat's anchor had dragged on the tide!

Around the winward mark, we were in for a long beat against both wind and tide. It was tough for Scallywag, who as a smaller boat didn't have the raw speed. We mixed back in with some of the IRC boats, who had been sailing a longer course after starting earlier. Our speeds seemed comparable. We kept an eye on Crazy Horse and put in a covering tack.

At the final mark, we deliberately overstood to give us a margin in the 2 knots of tide. After an immediate gybe, we hoisted on port. On the way back to the line we went via the deeper water for the better tide. Looking back, we saw a number of the other boats get caught out, needing to put several last minute tacks in to get around. During the last third of the leg, we recognised the potential for to be washed passed the wrong side of the committee boat. Being a bit lazy, we elected to sail by the lee rather than gybe to get back into the line. It took quite a bit of concentration but we managed to sneak back inside to claim our second win of the day.

Our second win of the day by a decent margin, ahead of Easy Tiger 2, possibly their best result, well done. Long beats against the tide seem to help us! As far as the series is concerned, Muscadet's no-show has gifted us a big lead (for now). The discards are starting to kick in. For now, One More Knot leads with 7 points, ahead of Crazy Horse on 13 points and Muscadet de Havelet on 14 points.

Autumn Race 7

Phil, Drew, Norman, Glenn, Richard E, Martin P and Andrew S

The forecast had been force a SE F5, right in our crossover conditions. The discussion over breakfast was whether to go for the #2 or #3. We elected to try with the #2 before racing to see how we faired. Drew had said that it was quite windy on the ferry.

Down on the pontoon, we were expecting to be 8, but Sam was a no-show. Still, at least we still had plenty.

Leaving in good time we had the chance for a bit of pre-race practice. We tried with a reef in the main, and then without. Possibly we were marginally faster upwind without, but surely off the wind we would be quicker. With this race being the long race there was a good chance of some fast reaches. We elected to stick with all of the main and the #2.

Moving on, well we were out early, we thought we'd give the asymmetric a try too. It was still in the snuffer following the round the island. Up on the bow, Drew wasn't getting on too well with it. Eventually it was hoisted, but the yellow sheets weren't having much effect. Drew had put it on the green guys ... duh. Not his best morning. After a short fight, it was snuffed and put away again, but then we were straight into a joint start sequence with the IRC class.

Autumn Race 7 : Long race

The course was an essay as expected on the long race. Starting at KB Boatparks, a beat to North Sturbridge, a run to Darling Associates, another beat to Bob Kemp before a long run across to Browndown before coming back Crew Insure on the island side again. Then a long reach to Outer Spit, another run to Vail William on the Portsmouth Harbour main channel, before a broad reach back to the line at KB Boatparks. Not finished yet, it was back up to North Sturbridge, and then follow the loop back around via Outer Spit, Vail Williams and finally back to the line.

A wind shift prior to the start gave a very strong bias and everyone went for a port tack start. It also had implications, because all the beats now became tight fetches (although we didn't know it at the time). It was very congested at the pin end. We were in a good position, but convinced that half the fleet would be over we luffed just before the line. We inadvertently backed the jib which stalled us. Muscadet was over and had to go back. Easy Tiger 2 got a flyer and made a great start, leading both classes away for a short while.

Once we got going, we were following in Easy Tiger's wake, looking down at Muscadet, but the gap was staying the same. Wild Blue, another Elan 333 sailed over the top of us. With some effort, we managed to improve out pointing which gave us some clearer air. At least we were able to pull away from Muscadset and overtake Easy Tiger to windward.

We soon dropped into position in the fleet, with White Cloud (HOD 35) leading, from a triplet of Elan 333's, Tinker T, Wild Blue and then One More Knot. The top half of the fleet we able to fetch the first mark. At North Sturbridge, the leading boat went for a bear away set. On One More Knot, we elected to gybe set and it proved to be the right move, given the tide and the wind shift.

The run was procession like, with upto 20 knots of breeze. Our kite drop was tidy, but on rounding up past the mark, Phil was a bit confused by the course to the next mark. We set off on a course that was too low for the best part of a minute while things we sorted out. The breeze had picked up and we were able to get some good spped to windward, but being well powered with the #2 we struggled in the gusts. Having lost a bit of ground broaching, we started to get it together, trimming and tweaking. It was difficult, we discovered that we had to wait for the speed to come back in before sheeting in hard. Some patience was required. A number of times the jib was switched back on too quickly so we stalled again.

At Bob Kemp, eager to get the kite up quickly we went for a bear away set. On the approach Phil asked Andy to set the pole. So about 5 boat length short of the mark the pole was set. Then the trouble started! The kite, now peaking around the corner of the headsail inflated a bit and popped the head out of the bag. With Drew waiting at the mast for the hoist, nobody was holding the kite in the bag. It didn't want to be there, so it streamed out. There was some frantic shouting but nobody could do anything in time. Fortunately, we made the mark, bore away and boink .... the kite was full and we were off charging towards Browndown. It probably worked out quite well but was very nerve racking. I don't think we'll put this into standard practice.

On the next leg we found ourselves getting a bit closer to Wild Blue. We needed to gybe the kite to avoid part of our diminishing and anchored navy before a tidy drop at Browndown. We chased Wild Blue upto Crew Insure and the along the fast white sail beam reach to Outer Spit, passing very close to North Sturbridge. Looking back we could see a couple of IRC boats, Marta (Sigma 38) and Electron V (X332), and then in the distance Easy Tiger 2 and Muscadet battling it out. Ahead, the procession was lead by White Cloud, Tinker T and then Wild Blue.

Rounding Outer Spit, the run to Vail Williams took us halfway to the harbour entrance. We had a good hoist in flat water. With the collision of tides, the harbour was still emptying, it set up some overfall like conditions and a bit of swell. We were very well powered and had some big surfs. The sea was lumpy and we had to concentrate to keep everything in order. Coming towards Vail Williams we saw one or two boats in front having a bit of trouble gybing and then dropping. We concentrated on sailing deep to avoid the need to gybe. We briefly discussed whether to gybe and try to fly the kite down the next leg. We were influenced by the IRC fleet leader who all took their kites down, excpet Wild Blue. She managed to get a severe wrap around the forestay and it took them sometime to sort things out. Closing on the mark we efficiently dropped our kite and aimed at the pin end of the line under white sails, overtaking the troubled Wild Blue.

Rounding, we started out next beat (fetch) to North Sturbridge. Once again we struggled to avoid getting over powered. We finished the leg much better than we started it.

Again, a white sail fast beam reach to Outerspit, and then another exciting run under Big Blue 2 down to Vail Williams. This time, some of the leaders elected to carry their kites on the final leg to the line. We gybed and followed suit. It wasn't easy, we were sailing a bit high for a F5 and we broached a couple of time. We had sport with a ferry, but managed to stay in clear air to windward, missing cruising boats and a tug all while lurching about all over the place. When we were going the speed was good, but then we broached. After about the 3rd broach, we switched back to white sails to finish the race. Did we loose out on the last leg? The GPS showed the 1st time took 7m20s, the second time, with the kite and broaches took 7ms 50s, so maybe it cost us 20s.

We finished the race, 3rd on the water of the combined IRC and club class fleet. We were at the head of the club class in 2hrs 43m 42s, which meant that we needed to give Muscadet de Havelet about 17 minutes. As we sailed back towards the harbour, we watched Muscadet approach the line. It was Phil's view that it was close, but probably we had got 2nd place.

Back in the club, where the crew enjoyed bangers and mash, we got to see the results. We were indeed 2nd, we had lost out by 41s to Muscadet, who moves up to 2nd overall in the series. So One More Knot still leads the table by 2 points, but Muscadet's form is good, so we will need to sail well to beat her to stand a chance of regaining the title. In th ebanter, we also dicovered that one of Muscadet's crew had a small 'overboard' adventure. Fortunately able to hang on, but a wet experience!

Many thanks to Jim and Angela for putting me up after I'd had a few too many lemonades!

Autumn Races 8 and 9

Phil, Glenn, Norman, Andrew S, Phil B

Getting towards the tail end of the series, and still in front. A nervy place to be. But better than anywhere else! A pair of wins could seal the series, but we still had to get out there and deliver.

The breeze was light at breakfast, but was due to pick up to probably 10knots gusting 14knots in the first race, with another 4 knots in the 2nd, SW all day. The tide was big, 5.0m at HW. The first race would be on an east going tide and the second race on a west going tide.

Out on the water, the breeze was firmer than in the marina. We hoisted the sails and went hard on to wind to Gilkicker before hoisting the kite to sail back to the committee boat at Gleeds.

Race 8

The course was effectively a triangle, a beat to North Sturbridge against the tide, a broad reach back across the eastern Solent to Darling Associates, gybe and then onto Vail Williams near the main Portsmouth Harbour channel before a final beat to the line. Once again, there was a strong port bias on the line.

Concious of the tide we stayed uptide pre-start and sailed on course side down onto and across the line. We got slightly cornered in last minute and gybed under the pin to start on port. We were a little late and our speed wasn't too great.

Tactics were about to play a part. We had a choice, go hard on the wind out into the tide, using the lee bow effect but with the possibility of slow progress, or duck out of the tide allowing us to free off and sail faster uptide. The whole fleet elected to duck out of the tide, possibly a mistake in hindsight. Initially we found ourselves following Muscadet, and Easy Tiger but were able to crawl past in the light airs. Crazy Horse was to windward pointing higher but was further out in the tide. We focussed on boat speed and slowly pulled level and to windward of Muscadet, Crazy Horse was still going well. Our speeds were varying between 2.5-3.5 knots. Norman was calling the speeds as he tweaked the main and Glenn tweaked the genoa. In front, we could see that White Cloud had split from the IRC fleet and gone straight for the mark. The rest of their fleet were also ducking the tide.

Eventually, we decided to harden up and go for the mark. Our course over the ground changed by some 50 degrees showing how much off the wind we were. A large cruising yacht threatened to motor over the top of us with her mainsail up. As they readied hoisting their jib, we called and asked if she would pass astern. She complied and we thanked her, before she convieniently passed over the top of Muscadet. We didn't ask her too, but had joked about it on board.

As we approached North Sturbridge, we could see that the IRC fleet had tacked and due to the tide were coming back at the mark at a horendous angle. Obviously a windward bow effect. Wild Blue (Elan 333, IRC) passed about 1 minute in front of us. The IRC fleet gave us a good sighter for when to tack. We could see that they were still well short of the mark so we hung on.

We rounded North Sturbridge at the head of our class, about 45 minutes into the race and 5m30s or so in front of Muscadet. We were dead chuffed, we had also taken about 9 minutes out the majority of the IRC fleet. The kite was hoisted quickly and we sailed a broad reach, playing the angles to keep the speed up. As we approached Darling Associates, we hung on before gybing to ensure tha we wouldn't get caught out by the tide. We passed Darling Assoicates 60-minutes into the race with a 7 minute lead on Muscadet, enough to win? Leaving it a little later also kept the angles slightly hotter. After the gybe, the COG increased from 5.5 knots to tidally assisted 7 knots.

Then the wind dropped to 6 knots. Our speed fell and we tried to coax One More Knot along, playing the angles and puffs the best we could. We could see a black line cloud across the leeward end of the course. As we approached the final mark, the sea darkend and the breeze filled in. We had a tidy drop and a quick sprint back to the line.

Behind us, the rest of the fleet were also able to benefit from the increased breeze and were able to take advantage for longer. We monitored the situation, particulary Muscadet as she approached the line. Our assessment at the time was that she had beaten us. Phil was really annoyed .... grrr.

As it turned out, the gap was less than we expected. We were 2nd to Muscadet by a mere 7 seconds after about an hour and a halfs of racing. Just what we didn't want. Muscadet was presenting a strong challenge to retain the series.

Race 9

From Gleeds, a beat to North Sturbridge, a broad reach to Outer Spit, a beam reach back to Gleeds, before a loop back up to North Sturbridge and a run to the line. The tide had just turned and was starting to flow westwards.

Despite the heavily biased line, we elected to start on starboard. Everyone else started on port. On the final approach, we forced Scallywag to tack off just short of the line. The gun went and it still took an age for us to sneak past the pin end. Muscadet had a good port tack start.

The fleet sailed on port over the Hamilton bank. We persisted on starboard, splitting away looking for some tidal assiatance in the main channel. After a while, Muscadet tacked in a half way attempt to cover us, but they tacked back. Eventually, as we approached the mark, it unwound with Muscadet leading the fleet around. One More Knot was 10 boat lengths behind.

Kites were hoisted. Slowly, we were able to ease One More Knot over the top of Muscadet. A bit of breeze filled in and this helped us accelerate downwind. By Outer Spit we had a lead on the water, but not enough for race position.

The procession followed it's way around the course and whilst we were able to open the gap it wasn't by enough. Once again, One More Knot was 2nd, to Muscadet by 3 minutes this time. For the second time in the day we claimed line honours but 2nd place on corrected.

So time for a series assesment. For the first time in the Autumn series, One More Knot was not in the top spot. A couple of bullets would have sealed the series for OMK, instead Muscadet had had the week she was looking for. With only 1 week to go, One More Knot can finish the series on between 9 and 11 points; Muscadet on between 7 and 11 points. Two wins in the final week will seal a series win for One More Knot (probably on count back).... right down to the wire!

Autumn Races 10 and 11

Phil, Glenn, Norman, Martin P, Richard E

A very late, so brief report from the final two races of 2011. Pressure was on both One More Knot and new series leaders Muscadet. The series could go either way, the maths was complex, but it looked like OMK had to beat Muscadet twice, a tough call given the way Muscadet had been performing.

With a northerly breeze, the committee boat set up station near Gleeds. One More Knot was first out on the water again, tuning the rig and practicing with the spinnaker pre-start.

Autumn Race 10

Starting at Gleeds, a beat to BAE systems off the Portsmouth harbour entrance, a run down the channel to Outer Spit, a fetch to RNCRAYC, another fetch along the Haslar wall against the tide, before a run to Mary Rose and then a beat back to the line.

Failing memory, but the simple answer is that Muscadet had a great start at the pin end taking advantage of the biasd on the line. One More Knot's was on the line but in the middle of the line. OMK soon led the fleet around the track, constantly looking back to see how Muscadet was doing. We had a big lead, but it wasn't enough.

Autumn Race 11

From Gleeds, another beat to BAE systems followed by the run down the channel to Outer Spit with the tide ebbing from the harbour. A beat back against the tide to Vail Williams, a fetch to Naomi House, a broad reach to RNCRAYC, another fetch back along the Haslar wall to KB Boatparks before a run to Mary Rose and then a beat back to the line. A fun course, which had plenty of options. The start had both IRC and club class starting together.

Once again, our start was ok and Muscadet had a much better start. At the end of the first beat, we One More Knot was first in club class just behind Wild Blue (IRC Elan 333). Spinnakers were hoisted. It was nearing low tide and still ebbing strongly out of the harbour. Phil elected to take the bull by the horns and risked going across the drying patch, setting the depth alarm off to get into the main Portsmouth channel to take advantage of an extra knot or so of tide. It was a little further than the direct route. All in all, it turned out about even with the boats that went via the direct route. The leeward mark was a bit complicated because we needed to drop and gybe near the mark to leave it on the correct side.

The next leg was a tight fetch to Vail Williams followed by a tight reach to Naomi House. We debated whether we would be able to carry a kite along the wall. Given that we also had another spinnaker leg coming up, we eleceted to use the asymetric, which was hoisted as we round Naomi. It was a bit lively along the wall. A RNYRAYC, elected to drop before the tide carried us past the mark, and then conducted a U-turn to come back along the wall under white sails for a short leg to KB Boatparks.

At KB Boatparks,, "Big Blue 2" was hoisted for the final time in the series. It didn't go too well, with a bit of a mix up with the pole and the kite not inflating for about 20 seconds. However, once settled we made our way to the final turning mark. We had a good lead on the water, but it wasn't enough to prevent Muscadet from taking a second win of the day.

Back in the club house

The fleet quickly returned and the crews made their way across to the club house. The RIBs provided an excellent service (for us anyway .... there was a queue waiting to take us!).

After the usual post race "if only's" and "we should have's" we got down to presentations. In club class, Muscadet de Havelet claimed a well earned and well sailed 1st place, with 7 points. One More Knot claimed 2nd place, with 3 wins and never being worse than 2nd place throughout. So for the 2nd series running we have been out sailed by Muscadet ..... bring on the spring!

Everyone appreciated the new modernised facilities in the club, the good food and hospitality. A big thank you to all those behind the scenes and out on the water that made the series possible.