Solent, England
Entry was down to only 26 this year because of a clash with an event in Ireland. But the 26 are good quality entries with some new boats and new owners of previously entered boats.
It was a light wind regatta and we made full use of local knowledge predicting when the sea breeze would kick in and so when the fleet could leave the harbour. With an 11am start scheduled each day an AP/3 was used on the first two days to really good effect as the breeze came in only 20 minutes or so before 2pm. On the last day the forecast was again predictably accurate so an AP/2 was signalled the night before. This meant that the sailors could enjoy the regatta dinner to the full. They brought their hangovers to the race area but only after the AP/2 had been converted to an AP/3, leaving a window of just 30 minutes within which racing had to be started. It worked like a dream in that a fair race was had only to be followed by a complete absence of wind as the boats attempted to return to the dock for prize-giving.
With the forecast of little or no wind for the event we decided to run 4 races on the first day. With 3 on the second day and only one possible on the last day, a total of 8 races were completed out of a maximum of 9. So the regatta ended after 8 very fair races.
The target time of 45 minutes was hit for almost all races. We got caught out on the last race of the first day when a leg length of 0.8nm was set as in previous races. However, with the tide now turned and so underneath the boats on the beat, boats arrived at mark 1 more compact than is acceptable. So the lesson was learned and in races with similar conditions later in the regatta, leg length was increased to 1nm and mark 2, the gate, was brought to windward by 0.2nm. So race length was maintained but with a longer first beat.
The leg between the windward mark to the spreader mark was used as a tidal correction when necessary so the runs were mostly good. The new app being built for SolentXtra by Rene Kalff (NED) was put to test assessing the time spent on each gybe. With a few tweaks the app will be ready to place on iTunes.
The Quarter Ton Cup yet again was fantastic to be involved in from our perspective. The racing is of very high quality and it was our privilege to be there. SolentXtra on this occasion provided all manpower apart from the crew on one of the mark laying boats. The team was: Robert Lamb, Mike Garvey, Jane Windsor, John Whyte, Clare Pittman, Paul Jackson, Simon Pickess and Bob Young. Rene Kalff an IRO from Holland joined us.
Event micorsite is here.
