NORTH SAILS COACHING AT THE RORC EASTER CHALLENGE

The North Sails team of experts offered their knowledge for the opening event of the season in the Solent

The RORC Easter Challenge kicked off the sailing season in the Solent over the weekend in true English fashion with freezing conditions and persistent rain! This however did not deter the forty-odd teams who braved the conditions. The race committee put on a mixture of windward/leeward and round the can races across the regatta. Unfortunately the wind failed to fill in on the Sunday and with the spring tide the race committee made the decision to cancel the final day of racing. After racing each day, the North Sails team lead by Frank Gerber and David Lenz alongside sailing guru Jim Saltonstall gave debriefs from the days racing with a mixture of drone footage and pictures from the water. The debriefs were well attended throughout the regatta and provided warmth and shelter from the weather. The team kicked off the weekend with the basics, starting and mark roundings, and continued on to cover sail trim up and downwind. If you are interested in getting feedback from your sailing over the weekend, get in touch with Frank! The FAST40+, Jubilee put in a notable performance, winning all the races in IRC Zero and coming away with the most Easter eggs at the prize giving. In IRC One, the battle of the King 40’s took place between old rivals, Emily Bowden-Eyre’s Nifty and Michael Blairs Cobra. After a tight regatta, Cobra came out on top, winning the class by one point. In IRC two J/35 Bengal Magic won and in IRC3 Sam Laidlaw’s Quarter Tonner Aguila won, with a performance rivaling Jubilee’s, also scoring all bullets in their class. The event also acted as the debut event for the Performance 40 fleet. This new class will be running across several events over the year including the Vice Admirals Cup and the Royal Southern summer regatta’s. The Performance 40 fleet, introduced by North Sails, Warsash Sailing Club, RORC, and the Royal Southern Yacht Club, has the simplistic aim of getting similar boats out racing on a regular basis. We hope that this new concept will encourage racing on the Solent and increase the participation in the sport through a bit of gentle competition. The weekend racing saw Nifty take the lead of the Performance 40 fleet with Cobra in a close second. With six more regattas to go, we look forward to seeing how this fleet develops as the year goes on. Congratulations to all our clients racing the at regatta! We hope you found the debrief helpful and we look forward to following the racing during 2018. If you are interested in North products, or to look at the sailing footage from the event, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the North Sails team of experts.