Page 35 - Yachter Autumn 2021

RACING – MID-YEAR UPDATE
In the last edition of TheYachter I reported that our 2021 Frostbite Series, due to start on 10th January, was delayed until at least the middle of February because of the latest COVID lock-down. In the event this lock-down dragged on until after the planned end of this series, giving us no opportunity to rescue it.
We had discovered in 2020 that flexibility was the key to running a successful racing programme while the pandemic was still rampant. Instead of our Frostbite Series we quickly introduced a special one-off catch- up ‘Spring Sprint Series’ of six races spread over two consecutive weekends - four short ones on Saturday 3rd April followed by two longer ones on Sunday 11th April.
At this stage we were still limiting crew size to a maximum of six for the larger boats and even less for boats of under nine metres length, to help ensure that social distancing guidelines were met. Boats had the option to
sail double-handed for those who were still wanting to limit their contacts to a single household.We had two IRC classes and one RSYC club handicap class. Despite many boats being out of the water in a backlog awaiting maintenance and re-launching, seventeen signed up for the series.We
were left in no doubt about the winners
in all three classes. In IRC class 1 Richard Cooper’s J/88, Jongleur, was the clear leader, as was Eric Williams’s Waarschip 725, Love
in a Mist, in IRC class 2 and John Danby’s Maxi 1000, Fizz, in the RSYC class.This short series gave entrants a chance to tune up both boat and crew for the season ahead.
Fortunately, we had not lost any of our planned full schedule of ten races in our Double Handed Series, now in its 41st year. However, we were already concerned about the viability of running the Cherbourg Double on 17th July because of ongoing travel restrictions.We carried out a quick survey of our regular series entrants from previous years and got immediate clear
feedback that we should plan a different race for that date.After more discussion we opted for a race to Poole Bar and back, finishing
in the evening close to Gins with the opportunity to meet there after racing.
Our Double Handed Series started on schedule with the Spring Solent Double - two races ‘Round the Cans’ in the Solent on 24th April.We were greeted with strong winds, resulting in challenging conditions for both the competitors and the race management team.
Tragically this was to be the last time that Stephen Parry, our Rear Commodore Sailing, was to be the Race Officer for one of our events. On 7th May we learnt of his sudden and unexpected death from a heart attack. Stephen and I were really good friends and we had been working together for some time to make our racing both friendly and professionally run and to develop our race management team. His many contributions to the club and to
the wider sailing community are recorded
RACING REPORTS 35