The Spring Series started in cold and blustery conditions on Easter Monday. A gusty wind from the north-east and some technical issues after a long Winter lockdown caught out most of the sailors during the day, but despite this the racing was exciting and competitive.
The first race of the day also counted for the Champagne Race (see race report) saw Gary Adshead (OK 1998) crossed the line first in the Handicap class and Martin Evans first in the Lightning class.
Mark Hanrahan and Daniel Hanrahan (GP 12005) and James Hanrahan (LN 304) sat out the second race after both capsized in the first race and were feeling the effects of the cold water. The course was slightly changed for the second race with the bottom buoy moved upstream to try and counter the wind shadow. On the first lap, three of four starts had issues caused by the gusting and shifting winds with Duncan Watts (LN 431) getting stuck on the bank near the middle buoy, Jerome Dreux (LN 155) getting stuck on the bank, Gary Adshead capsizing on the return leg to the bottom buoy and Andrew Boxer (OK 2196) retiring. Martin Evans therefore took a healthy lead into the second lap of almost three minutes ahead of Gary, Jerome and Duncan. Martin sailed extremely well for the rest of the race with some consistent laps meaning he took the win a lap ahead of the next Lightning 368 of Duncan with Jerome third. Gary was the only finisher in the Handicap class, but finished second on the water.
During lunch the course was changed again, with the bottom buoy moved further still upstream and the two buoys on the Berkshire bank moved into the middle of the river to try and move the sailors away from the Berkshire bank which had caused issues in the second race. James Hanrahan and Gary Adshead decided to sit out the afternoon races and David Phillips took over LN 304 with Martin Church joining in LN 122. The sailors jostled for positions on the start and tacked back and forth up to the first buoy with not much separating the fleet. Jerome and Mark Hanrahan got into difficulty on the run up to the top buoy and at the end of the first lap David Phillips led Martin Evans by two seconds with Martin Church a further eight seconds behind and Duncan Watts in fourth. Jerome got stuck between two barges at the beginning of the second lap which dropped him to last place. At the end of the second lap, David and Martin were still battling hard and only separated by three seconds with Martin dropping back and Duncan in fourth. On the fourth lap, a strong gust caused issues throughout the fleet and Martin Evans capsized along with Mark and Daniel in the GP14. Martin Evans retired on the next lap leaving Martin Church to chase after David who held a healthy lead to the flag with Jerome in third. Mark and Daniel won the Handicap class.
The final race of the day only saw three brave Lightning 368 sailors take the start. Dave Phillips won the race ahead of Martin Church and Jerome third.
After the day’s racing, in the Lightning 368 series Martin and David are tied in first place ahead of Duncan Watts and Martin Church tied in third. In the Handicap class, Gary Adshead leads ahead of Mark Hanrahan with Andrew Boxer third.