Royal Ocean Racing Club - Chartering International IRC Championship Day 3

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Chartering International IRC Championship Day 3

IRC Championship Trophy – Exabyte 2 (IMX 40), Shaun Frohlich
Jackdaw Trophy – Aera (Kerr 55), Nick Lykiardopulo

With a forecast promising winds of Force 4-5, possibly 6 or 7, the fleet set off from the start line near Fastnet Insurance in a South-Westerly breeze, blowing 3-4, with the sun shining on them. Ever eager to get on, the Class Zero & Super Zero boats were early at the start en masse and a General Recall sent them away to await a new start sequence after the Class 3 start.

Class 1 made a clean start and White Knuckles (Mervyn Hughes) stole a march on Exabyte 2 (Shaun Frohlich) to lead by half a minute at the first mark, with Royal Blue Addict (Ian Handley) and Longbow (sailed by Stuart Smith) closely contending third and fourth places. Exabyte 2 held on to her position, to take second place on corrected time, but was overhauled by Bare Knuckles (Robert Gateshill), who took first, with Kylidh (Guy Spurr)taking her second prize of the regatta.

Two of the Class 2 boats again found themselves on the wrong side of the line at the start, with the Z flag flying and paid the penalty. The Office (Nigel Musto) took first place, followed by the consistent Flair IV (Jim MacGregor) and Highland Spirit (Hamish Oliphant), with new boat Voodoo Chile (Eamon Crosbie) one minute behind.

Not to be left out, three of the Class 3 boats decided to be over the line before the start, including one of the contenders, Excalibur (Mike & June Tong); which left Abrasive (Paul Hirst & Ashley Taylor) to take first place. Disko Trooper (Robert Garlick & Will Hamilton) took the second place and Software Mistress (Ian Maclean) took third, but neither took advantage of the results, choosing not to compete in the final race.

Still eager, the Zero & Super Zero Class suffered a general recall, and with the wind building and veering, the Race Committee decided to lay a different start line before sending them away. When the big boats finally got away, the weather turned the form book on its head, with Chernikeeff 2 (Peter Harrison) taking line honours (and first place), nearly two minutes ahead of Bear of Britain (Kit Hobday/Tim Louis) and Volvo For Life Team Tonic (Nick Hewson), with Aera (Nick Lykiardopulo) another two minutes further back. The IC45s, Wolf (Glynn Williams) and Rebel (Peter Morton) took the other podium places on corrected time. The crew work on Aera continued to show its strength when, in the pre-start sequence for the first race, her boom section folded. The crew took down the main and the boat was the first to the windward mark, despite not getting its trysail pulling until just five boat lengths short of the mark. Downwind the boat was restricted to using a tacked down assymetrical.

The increasing wind strength started to take its toll on gear, with twelve boats deciding that they would not complete the first race of the day, even before the Zero and Super Zero boats had started. Close quarters racing in gusting conditions caused Crackerjack and Kirribilli V to collide, with Crackerjack retiring from the race; Kirribilli also retired, but the resulting damage forced her out of the remaining race.

The weather and/or discretion taking their toll on the fleet, the starting line up for the last race of the Chartering International IRC Championship saw only two-thirds of the Zero & Super Zero Boats cross the line, less than half of Class 1, and one-third each of Classes 2 & 3. All the classes started cleanly and cautiously, with carefully selected sails. I-site (Robbie Cameron-Davies) chose a well-cut trysail and number three jib for the windward legs, along with Aera which, despite using a similar sailplan, again managed to reach the first mark ahead of its rivals.

The final race was finished in a consistent Force 6, with top speeds in the region of 33-34 knots, despite which, most of those that started managed to stay the course. In the Zero & Super Zero Class, Bear of Britain took first place, with rival Chernikeeff 2 taking second, and Aera holding on for third. In Class 1, Exabyte continued its run of form to take first place and the overall class prize, with Royal Blue Addict second in the race and Assassin third. Highland Spirit waited until the last race to achieve her first place in Class 2, leading home Capitali$m (Tim Harrington), taking his first podium position, and Flair IV. Despite winning the final race, Excalibur wasn’t able to better Abrasive, who held on to win the class by just three points.

Super Zero and Zero Overall
1 Aera, Nick Lykiardopulo
2 Volvo For Life Team Tonic, Nick Hewson
3 Bear of Britain, Kit Hobday/Tim Louis

IRC1 Overall
1 Exabyte 2, Shaun Frohlich
2 Bare Knuckles, Robert Gateshill
3 Assassin, Peter Jackson

IRC 2 Overall
1 Flair IV, Jim MacGregor
2 Highland Spirit, Hamish Oliphant
3 The Office, Nigel Musto

IRC 3 Overall
1 Abrasive, Paul Hirst & Ashley Taylor
2 Excalibur, Mike & June Tong
3 Electra, Mike Tattersall

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