This past weekend saw Round 3 of the 2012 Gill sponsored Sunsail Racing
Series with 16 boats entered the racing saw new and old faces making up the
entrants. The wind was a pleasant, offshore NE F3-4 providing some tricky and
shifty upwind legs for the Saturday

Race 1 course started in the vicinity of Craft Insure off of Ryde, with an
upwind leg straight across the Solent to Browndown. It was all about playing
the shifts and with a big port tack lift helping those on the left of the beat.
It was Richard Hole who took advantage early on to take the lead, which he
built throughout the race to win convincingly, followed home by Charles Line in
2nd and Neil Pritchard Meaker in 3rd.

Race 2 again started at Craft Insure, but with the wind having swung slightly
back to the north and dropped to around 8-10kts. Richard Hole again showed the
fleet the way round, again with Charles Line pushing him to finish 2nd and Ben
Grosman rounding out the top 3.

Sunday morning dawned with not a cloud in the sky and a stiff NNE at around
15kts, which continued to build and gust upwards to 25kts by mid-afternoon.

Race 3 and in a decent breeze, the fleet got away at the first attempt from
a line off of Craft Insure, with a similar course, but shorter around the
central eastern Solent.

Yet again Richard Hole took an early lead which he held through to the
finish, ensuring the overall win in the process. A great battle ensued behind
with 3rd, 4th and 5th places only being decided a few hundred meters from the
finish line.

At the end of race 3 it was Richard Hole taking 1st place, followed by Neil
Pritchard-Meaker and 3rd Terry Hunt.

Race 4 and the PRO brought in the no spinnaker rule, wisely made after a few
big broaches towards the end of race 3 and with the wind still increasing. A
zig zag course took the fleet around the Solent to a finish off of Haslar. Neil
Pritchard-Meaker took the gun, stopping Richard Hole from taking a clean sweep
who finished 3rd. 2nd place going to Simon Froom.

The top 3 progress through to the final in November and Round 4 will
hopefully take place in the warmer climates of July over the weekend of the
14th &15th..

If you would like further details on Sunsail Racing, please contact Terry
Hunt at terryhunt@sunsail.com.

Results from Round 3

 

Boat No

 

Skipper

 

Race 1

 

Race 2

 

Race 3

 

Race 4

 

Total

 

Position

 

4018

 

Richard Hole

 

1

 

1

 

1

 

3

 

3

 

1st

 

4019

 

Neil Pritchard-Meaker

 

3

 

6

 

2

 

1

 

6

 

2nd

 

4037

 

Charle Line

 

2

 

2

 

5

 

6

 

9

 

3rd

 

4021

 

Ben Grosman

 

10

 

3

 

4

 

5

 

12

 

4th

 

4020

 

Andy Oliver

 

4

 

7

 

6

 

4

 

14

 

5th

 

4006

 

Andrew Jefferey

 

8

 

4

 

7

 

17

 

19

 

6th

 

4001

 

Simon Froom

 

7

 

12

 

14

 

2

 

21

 

7th

 

4023

 

Terry Hunt

 

13

 

11

 

3

 

8

 

22

 

8th

 

4007

 

Graham Sheard

 

5

 

9

 

11

 

10

 

24

 

9th

 

4013

 

Al Crisp

 

6

 

10

 

8

 

17

 

24

 

10th

 

4028

 

Jim Dunn

 

12

 

5

 

9

 

12

 

26

 

11th

 

4036

 

Nick Dawson

 

11

 

8

 

12

 

9

 

28

 

12th

 

4033

 

Jen Steventon

 

9

 

14

 

15

 

11

 

34

 

13th

 

4038

 

Andrew Butler

 

14

 

15

 

16

 

7

 

36

 

14th

 

4031

 

Iskander Rakhimov

 

16

 

16

 

10

 

13

 

39

 

15th

 

4010

 

Sergey Uzdin

 

15

 

13

 

13

 

14

 

40

 

16th