Melges 24 UK - Spring Series Round 3
April 18, 2016 - Haven Ports Yacht Club, Suffolk, UK - Nine teams made it out for the third race weekend of the Haven Ports Yacht Club Melges 24 Spring Series. Sailors were greeted with wall to wall sunshine, a shifty 8-12 knots wind from the NW and a windward leeward course with a beat against the tide towards Pin Mill.
Race 1
In the first race and after a closely fought beat seeing teams split for either side of the river, it was Ben Stone’s crew on Why Knot that came out ahead at the first mark. Closely behind them was Tom Branton’s ‘S&M’, Chris Dawson's ‘New Tricks’ and Patrick Wilton’s ‘Yikes’. By the leeward mark Why Knot had pulled out a sizeable lead which was maintained until the final beat when S&M worked the shifty conditions to their favour to make a late run at Why Knot. This resulted in a great dual between the two teams who battled hard to the finish line. Finishing first was Why Knot, second S&M, third New Tricks and fourth Yikes.
Race 2
The second race saw a clean start for everyone but the team on-board Conspiracy who were called back from the favoured pin end. Heading into the shore it was New Tricks and Why Knot that were the first two boats to call room for the shoreline and take a clear tack across the fleet. All nine of the teams favoured the southern shore this race leading to an extremely close first beat that saw all of the crews swapping places the whole way upwind. First to reach the windward mark was Why Knot then New Tricks, Yikes and S&M. With the breeze becoming ever more inconsistent, big losses and gains could be made on the downwind leg. First to the leeward mark and then finish line was Why Knot who was followed shortly by New Tricks after getting the better of Yikes on the downwind leg. On the final beat to the finish Aaron Woolf’s ‘Big Bad Woolf’ made a late charge at S&M but S&M held their ground to take fourth.
With six more races scheduled for the spring series, it’s still all to play for the rapidly growing HPYC M24 fleet.