Fourth RC1000 Regatta in Plymouth
by Paul Gibbins 27 Jul 2022 07:54 NZST
23-24 July 2022
The RC1000 fleet's fourth Regatta, raced in Plymouth the weekend of 23/24 July, enjoyed some breezy post heat wave conditions with a stiff SSW breeze to blast around Plymouth Sound. Grey conditions for both days, but plenty of wind for some close weekend racing.
Event 4 was delivered by the Royal Western Yacht Club, emerging from a very busy offshore and ocean racing season. Race Officer Jerry Lock and his race team delivered some challenging courses, "With plenty of wind, we made good use of the entire Plymouth Sound; we were also blessed with the absence of any shipping movements, which all too often interrupt the racing."
Saturday brought a good breeze from the SW gusting up to 20 knots and a record number of 12 boats arrived on the start line to the east of Drake's Island. The first race began with 'E' buoy as a windward mark on the first windward leeward race, followed by a round the cans race, which created an unexpected challenge when a visiting cruising boat + dinghy [under power] decided to enter the starting box approximately 45 seconds before the gun, resulting in several close passes and a lot of 'interesting' language! The final race of day took the fleet further south of the breakwater. 'Jump'n'Shout' held on to first place all day closely followed by 'Men Behaving Badly'. Sunday brought a freshening breeze with a start line to the east of Plymouth sound as port shipping was expected during the day. The first mark created a relatively short first starboard tack, terminating under Jennycliffe, forcing some very interesting avoidance tactics.
This weekend the usual local boats were joined by Xenia from the Helford [their first RC1000 event] and Bandit, from Dartmouth, a JPK 10.10 well known across the South West. Paddy Royall, Skipper, 'Xenia', an X362, said "this is our first RC1000 event, we've been meaning to drop by for 18 months! There's a wide standard of ability on the water, but the weekend was well organised. Coming from Falmouth, we expected the local boats to have the advantage, but the Race Officer was very clear of the Marks for each race so we always knew where the marks were. The races were of a good length, not too short or too long and the racing itself also very close, you can see the gains and losses, so not much chance to get it back."
Henry Bower, foredeck for Bandit, said "this was our first regatta of the year for us, so great to be back on the line! We've had some new people join the boat, so this weekend has been some great conditions to learn and race in. It's always nice that when we come down, how welcome we're made to feel. As expected with a new team, we've lots still to improve on; we prefer windward / leeward, our performance south of the breakwater is just 'hang in there', with no real tactical advantage to make or give up."
The Plymouth based IRC fleet remains largely unchanged, a mix of 30 - 35 ft cruiser racers, all rating very close together. This is the heart of class: close competitive racing in the south west Devon, where rules of the Class allow boats with with an IRC rating of 0.990 to 1.015, where over 60 minutes the rating from top to bottom gives a difference of 1 minute 30 seconds on corrected time.
Overall Results:
1st - Jump'n'Shout
2nd Bandit
3rd Men Behaving Badly
Full results can be found here...
About - The RC1000 Class is now in its second year, sponsored by Salcombe Gin and supported by local South West business: Freshwave IT & Web, All Spars, Ullman Sails, PR Marine Systems, The Chandlery Plymouth, Stoneways Insurance, the Royal Western YC and Paul Gibbins Photography. With an established committee, a class constitution and funding, the RC1000 continues to develop solid foundations to grow and create close competitive yacht racing in south west Devon.
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W: rc1000.org