J/122s JOULOU & JOOPSTER Sashaying to IRC Leads(Hamble, England)- Someone forgot to tell the weather gods that it was the start of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series this weekend. Light and fluky winds plagued competitors and race officers alike, with PRO Jamie Wilkinson describing it as 'possibly the lightest wind I have ever run a Winter Series race in!'
The first and third weekends of the series also host the MDL Hamble Big Boat Championships, and competitors racing in the J/111 and IRC classes managed to get in two of the scheduled four races on Saturday in a decreasing breeze that set the scene for the remainder of the weekend. French J/111 JITTERBUG, sailed by Cornel Riklin, won both races in the J/111 class and in the IRC fleet there were also some wins for the J/122 JOOPSTER sailed by Neil Kipling.
Sunday saw a battle between the gradient northerly and a light southeasterly, which cancelled each other out for much of the morning as the fleet waited under an AP. The race team managed to get the Big Boat championships fleet, IRC 0, IRC 1, IRC 2 and the J/111's away before the wind stalled again, and by 1300, racing for the rest of the competitors in the main series was postponed, to be sailed another day.
Those that did manage to start had a frustrating race, with the windspeed not exceeding 5 knots. Nonetheless, in the MDL Hamble Big Boat Championship, the J/111 MUNKENBECK sailed by Alfred Munkenbeck ended JITTERBUG's two-race reign, claiming first place on Sunday. She now trails JITTERBUG by two points in the J/111 one-design class with a 2-3-1 record for 6 pts. Just behind them are David & Kirsty Apthorp in J-DREAM with a 3-2-3 score for 8 pts. And in IRC, Neil Kipling's J/122 JOOPSTER won Sunday's race to take the top spot overall! In the main Garmin Hamble Winter Series, IRC 0 was topped by Dr Ivan Trotman’s J/122 JOLOU.
Next weekend the club hosts the first of two Lewmar Hamble One Design Championship weekends, with racing for One Design classes including the J/109 and J/80. Next Sunday will also see the second race day of the Garmin Hamble Winter Series. Everyone are keeping their fingers and toes crossed for some more breeze! Sailing photo credits- Paul Wyeth For more Garmin Hamble Winter Series sailing information
