Registration is now open for the 2023 Solent Forts Race, taking place at Hayling Ferry Sailing Club over the weekend of the 3rd and 4th June. The weekend will follow a similar format to previous years with a practice race on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Band on the Beach party in the evening, with the main race taking place on Sunday.
Congratulations to Steve and Jennie who won the first race of the season. A pursuit race around marks in Langstone Harbour proved tricky for all with the tide and a shifting breeze helping and hindering in equal measure. Richard and Dave enjoyed an impressive start on the club SL16 only to find themselves becalmed at the start of their second lap. The marks were hard to spot from opposite sides of the harbour which was a particular challenge for Fen and Adrian on a club Dart 16. The sun shone for a bit and the breeze was at times half-decent. Not a bad start to the year.
RYA training for HFSC members has been scheduled for the following dates:
Saturday 3rd June sees the return of our epic "Band on the Beach" event. Good food, fine beer and wine, and great music make for a truly memorable summer night. It's the biggest and best club social of the year so get your tickets now to avoid missing out!
The 25th June sees the return of our epic "Band on the Beach" event. Good food, fine beer and wine, and great music make for a truly memorable summer night. It's the biggest and best club social of the year so get your tickets now to avoid missing out!
Anti-clockwise Island Cup in a shifting F2-3 NNE.
Well done to everyone taking part today and many thanks to OOD Matt, Barrie and Niels on the safety boat and Paul and Clive for doing the hard job of ferrying the trolleys to and from Langstone. Also thanks to Langstone SC for kindly allowing us to use their slipways and bar.
1st Leg start time 11:20.
2nd Leg start time 14:40.
1st race of the season was a short course around the race marks with a start and finish out of the channel. The wind never really got up above a F2, so the 6 lap triangle/sausage course was shortened by a sausage. F Williams/T Cochrane in a club SL16 just beat the Nacra Infusion of R Golden/C Howting to 1st place on corrected time.
Race started at 12:34.
Seven boats turned out for a pursuit race on this fine warm, sunny, and at times breezy summers day. The staggered start began with a south to north transit of the club start line, followed by marks at NW Sinah (most southerly green channel marker in Langstone Harbour), Roway Wreck, and Fairway, making for a very elongated triangle course with 1 upwind and 2 downwind legs. The F3-4 was patchy and quite light in the channel where the turning high tide was a significant factor.
As promised, here are a few more details about the camping week coming up. As usual it will be very relaxed and informal with the only scheduled activities taking place on Sunday 8th August when we have the team relay race in the afternoon followed by a BBQ. Come for the whole week, a couple of nights, or just a day!
Team Relay Race, Sunday 8th 2pm
So quite a memorable Island Cup!
As the day approached the forecast gradually deteriorated from a perfect F3-4 WSW to a challenging F1-2 NNE. Not that that deterred anyone and it was impressive to see 11 boats lined up for the beach start which was necessitated by not having enough wind to keep up-tide (south) of the usual club start line.
