Royal Air Force Yacht Club

Article Kirsty Apthorp and the J109 Class Association

Photos Eddie Mays

The first race of the Warsash Spring Series took place on Sunday 13 March.  Rain and light winds (6-8 knots) greeted the competitors as they set off for the start area.  The rain cleared but the wind was shifty and the committee decided to move onto Ryde Bank.  A short postponement to enable all to arrive and racing began with IRC 1.

The 15 J/109s had the benefit of watching the starts of IRC 1 & 2, when many of the boats had been late due to the strong tide keeping them back from the line.  The J/109 Class hit the line on time and at speed and saw J-Dream (David & Kirsty Apthorp) and Velvet Elvis (Velvet Elvis Racing) continue their battle from 2010.  Whilst that battle ensued Jagerbomb (Paul Griffiths) who were new to the fleet in 2010 rounded the windward mark, hoisted their spinnaker and set off downwind to the first passing mark.  Velvet Elvis and J-Dream were left in their wake.  Jahmali (Mike & Sarah Wallis), Shiva (Matt Boyle) and Designstar (Roger Phillips) were all hot on their heels.  Jahmali was caught out by the passing mark and had to drop her spinnaker to make it round - costing her 4th position.

During the long run to craftinsure.com Jagerbomb had disappeared into the distance and did not appear to suffer from lack of wind which affected most of the fleet. Just So (David & Mary McGough) and Jumping Jellyfish(David Richards) maintained momentum and made big gains.  A further beat saw newcomers to the fleet Jet (Alan Neilson) overtake Designstar and Audajious (David Jobson) before engaging with Me Julie (Dom Monkhouse) and Jahmali.  This battle continued to the finish when Me Julie was the middle of the sandwich and crossed the finish line 24 secs behind Jahmali and 28 seconds ahead of Jet.

The final beat saw Jagerbomb and Velvet Elvis push each other off Ryde Bank into the tide which left J-Dream unsure whether to go with them, or to cover Just So, Shiva and Offbeat (David McLeman) who had all chosen to stay on the bank out of the tide.  Velvet Elvis and Jagerbomb were having a great battle.  Velvet Elvis managed to climb above her, preventing Jagerbomb from tacking to cross the finish line.  A quick tack from Velvet Elvis allowed them to snatch victory.

Results:

1st Velvet Elvis - Velvet Elvis Racing

2nd Jagerbomb - Paul Griffiths

3rd Just So - David & Mary McGough