Home / News / Winter Series Race 3 - Solo

Winter Series Race 3 - Solo

Published 11:54 on 11 Nov 2024

9th November saw the third race of the Salcombe Yacht Club Winter Series. A light and shifty easterly breeze over a building ebb tide proved challenging to the fifteen Solos making up the fleet.

Andy Savell ably assisted by Liz, resplendent in their high viz Race Officers uniforms, set a course to Yalton to Blackstone followed by two loops of the harbour.

The decision for the competitors at the start was whether to start to leeward of the pack to get out of the tide as soon as possible and into the main harbour anchorage or to work the Portlemouth shore before crossing over.

Simon Dobson led on the Salcombe side, but Will Henderson prevailed using the Portlemouth shore and led the fleet into Yalton Creek.

The leading bunch consisted of Henderson, Dobson, Chris Cleaves and young James Greenhill. The route to the windward mark was a game of snakes and ladders, success relying on the ability to sniff out the best shifts and pressure. By the windward mark Dobson had taken the lead from Henderson.

The pursuing pack of Mark Waterhouse, John Evans and Bruce Hatersley were sufficiently gapped to have a race of their own for the minor places.

A long run to Blackstone saw Cleaves briefly into second place. However, a testy light beat back around Biddle Head and along the Portlemouth Shore to a shortened finish saw Dobson take his third win of the series and Henderson take his third second place, from Cleaves and Greenhill.