Saturday 15 August 2009

Ramsgate Week - Day 5

Today was the second day of the IRC Series for Vattenfall Ramsgate Week and was sponsored by Apollo and Uniware. The IRC fleets were racing for the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, with two races to count. Yesterday's postponed race was also sailed. The Cruiser Classes continued their series for the week with one race.

IRC Class 1
Today was a champagne day for Belgium Carl Sabbe's Grand Soleil 40, Alegria, winning all three races in the increasingly boisterous conditions.
The first race was the closest, winning by three seconds from David Pinner's Haven Ports based Kiss, with Peter Jackson's Stimson 42 Icom Assassin third.
The second was a more comfortable win from the Frenchman, George Blondel's, Milo, with Dave Kemp's Burnham based The Geek! making an appearance in third after Icom Assassin trawled their kite and disappeared from the running.
The last win was from Peter Jackson's Stimson 42 Icom Assassin, who took line honours, but was beaten on handicap by less than half a minute by Alegria. David Pinner's X-35 Kiss took third place.

IRC Class 2
Race one in started blue skies with light, shifty wind, which increased to 21 knots by the end of the first beat; the most successful boats picking the wind shifts. One the start line, Marine Diffusion Dunkerque was ahead of Who's to No, followed by Xpedite and then Antix. The rest of the race was perfect sailing, testing the crews sailing ability. The Impala's fought for positions with Volante in the lead and Reaction trying to keep up in the stiff breeze. The course took the fleet into the bay and then back out to the Vattenfall racing mark. A lengthy spinnaker run finished the race with Richard Sparrow's J92, Who's to No, taking line honours to win, with the Impala's Volante taking second place and Scallywag II third.

The second race for the QEII cup in Class 2 started in winds of 22 to 24 knots. Who's to No got off to a good start and held the lead, with Antix and Marine Diffusion Dunkerque following closely behind. Reaction, Scallywag II and Volante were swapping positions throughout the race. The was an exciting spinnaker run to finish with Phillipe Bourgeois' Marine Diffusion Dunkerque taking line honours to win the race, Who's to No crossed second, with Xpedite and Antix crossing the line together. Final placings, after handicap, were Marine Diffusion Dunkerque first, John Allen's X302 Antix second and Paul Glover and Malcolm Flory's Volante third.

The final race of the day saw Marine Diffusion Dunkerque and Xpedite over the line with a black flag flying; therefore forcing them to retire. Antix was first to the windward mark, with Who's to No following closely behind, and then overtaking them on the tight spinnaker reach. Who's to No led the fleet for the rest of the race, taking line honours, but was beaten on handicap by Antix who took first place with Reaction, sailed by John Barrett and Paul Woodward, second.

Cruiser Class 5 & 6
Class 5 & 6 had close fetch from the start line to Stonar in a force 2 to 3. The fleet rounded Stonar and had a close reach past the West Quern buoy, and then up to Mercedes-Benz racing mark, during which time the wind veered and increased to 20 knots. The next leg was a fetch to the West Goodwin in quite choppy seas. From West Goodwin there was a beat to Deal Dolphin and a broad reach and a run to B2, Stonar, with a broad reach to bring the fleet home.

In Class 5, Lance Steven's Grand Soleil 50 Sydney II took line honours to win the race, Frank Martin's Dynamic 37 Surprise was second, beating Arthur Freeman's J92 Jazz on handicap, who came third.

Howard Bates' Westerly Fulmar Mallard won today's race in Class 6, beating S Jones' Mirage, who came second with Paul Parsons Sadler 32, Lady Jane, third.
The Apollo prize giving and a free raffle, sponsored by Harken, took place at the Royal Temple Yacht Club.
Best wishes,

The Vattenfall Ramsgate Week Committee Royal Temple Yacht Club, 6 Westcliff Mansions, Ramsgate, CT11 9HY, United Kingdom.

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