Neyland Yacht Club

Spring Series 2025 Race 1

Tuesday 15^th April 2025

Spring has sprung, although the weather that prevailed for the opening evening of the Spring Series racing was direct from Winter- air temperature in the single digits, lots of rain, and a gusty shifting wind from the northwest blowing between 10 knots in the quiet patches and the high twenties in the gusts. This weather may have deterred some sailors from venturing out for the evening, but seven committed crews assembled on the water for the first race, 3 in Division 1 and 4 juniors in Division 2.
The shifting wind from the northwest, coupled with an extremely strong flooding spring tide led to an offset figure of eight course to ensure a true beat –
Start – Club Line
Buoy in club moorings (P)
Neyland Spit (S)
Llanion (S)
Dropped buoy (near DB4) (S)
TTL (P)
All were clear at the start, Will C in his RS100 with a narrow lead over Keira (ILCA 6) and James (RS300) for the first 3 legs of the first lap. On the beat from Llanion, the three boats were exposed to the full force of the gusts, being away from the lee shore, working hard using all their downhaul and kicker and still fully ragging their sails at points. Will was closely followed by Keira at the end of this lap whilst James headed back to the beach, deciding the conditions were on the fresh side for his maiden race in his new boat. Lap 2 passed in quick succession for the remaining 2, Will leading on the water but not on corrected time after the second lap. At the finish, Will crossed with a sufficient gap for the win after a swim on the final beat for Keira, blown flat over in a large gust.

Division 2 shared the same course as the faster boats in Division 1, with all but one making the start. Liam in the faster Tera Pro was barely ahead of Harley (Tera Spor and Iolo (Tera S) until he capsized whilst rounding Neyland Spit. The fast-flowing tide took him well towards the Hobbs Point when he capsized, leaving him with a large distance to catch up to the two Tera Sports. Harley was leading Iolo on the leg back across to the Neyland side before heading back to the safety of the shore, as it was the windiest he had ever sailed in. Liam had caught up with Iolo’s transom by the finish, an excellent effort given the distance lost earlier, but not enough on corrected time to take the win from Iolo.
Racing was called for the evening as all had had their fill in the conditions.

Division 1

1st        RS100              Will Colles                   119                  1001    28:36   28:34
2nd       ILCA6               Keira Edwards             212109            1154    34:11   29:37
3rd        RS300              James Norris               513                  965      DNF

Division 2

1st        RS Tera Sport  Iolo Sims                     3933                1445    21:27   14:51
2nd       RS Tera Pro     Liam Franz                  NYC                 1370    22:30   16:25
3rd        RS Tera Sport  Harley Franz                NYC T2            1445    DNF
3rd        RS Tera Pro     Anwen Sims                2442                1370    DNS                

Thank you to the sailors for venturing out in unappealing conditions, and a greater thank you to the volunteers for making the racing happen:
RO – Sledge assisted by Colin Johns

Safety - David Horne, Will Horne, Simon Merhasin, Gavin Sims