Poole Week 2025, in association with Haven Knox-Johnston - Day 2
by David Harding 26 Aug 17:55 NZST
24-29 August 2025
Monday Sun-Day (Again)
It's rare to have weather that's as similar on two successive days as it was on the Sunday and Monday of Poole Week 2025. Monday was, like Sunday, a beautiful day on the water (for Mamas and Papas as well as any of their children who happened to be out there - and if you don't understand that reference in relation to the title, you're too young and will have to ask your aged relatives).
It was another day of wall-to-wall sunshine and an easterly breeze that was strong enough to make life interesting but not too challenging. That said, as always, some people managed to create challenges for themselves. One RS200 managed to deposit its helmsman in the water as it heeled violently to windward in the lee of the Parkstone Platform just seconds before the start. With the crew taken by surprise, the boat then bore away, gybed and capsized. The swimming helmsman managed to hang on to the stern, the boat was righted and, after giving the rest of the fleet a healthy start, they caught up well to secure a mid-fleet finish.
Further challenges lay ahead for the fleets starting from the Platform that were sent on a harbour tour - the RS400s and 200s, fast handicap, Merlin Rockets, Wayfarers, Dolphins and Shrimpers. The course took them eastwards towards Sandbanks, then past Brownsea Castle, up South Deep and around all three islands (Brownsea, Furzey and Green) before re-joining the main part of the harbour. Here the faster fleets sailed several windward/leeward legs before finishing at the platform.
What caught out a fair few crews was the inclusion in the course of a starboard-hand post making the channel off Green Island, whereas for many years the course had simply been to round the island itself. No doubt the sponsors of the day's racing - Specsavers - would have been happy to provide the appropriate help for anyone who failed to notice the change in the sailing instructions. One competitor wryly suggested that Specsavers might also have come to the rescue on Monday for the handful of Flying Fifteen sailors who seemingly managed not to spot the difference between M and N marks. But even the best sailors sometimes sail the wrong course. It's all part of racing.
While most of the Platform fleets were negotiating their way around the islands, the Darts and the slow handicap sailed one long race, staying to the north of Brownsea.
Further west, in the Top Triangle, it was the turn of the ILCA 6s and 7s, the Flying Fifteens and the Redwings to sail two shorter races on trapezoid courses. Everything ran smoothly and the multiple fleets were successfully kept apart from each other, which is never easy to achieve when you have a lot of boats sailing on a relatively small patch of water.
Given that it was a two-race day following a single race the first day, it was no surprise to see some changes in the overall positions. It's still early days, however, and the wind is due to swing round to the west for the rest of the week, so anything might yet happen.