Moonraker FGBR 730 and Scaramouche FGBR 738 , both new Hamble Fleet Nordics, met up at the RAFYC pre- race to prepare for their first race of the season. Due to the complete absence of wind , and only an Easterly veering SE 3-4 kts forecast – they made a plan to head out to Fumesy -on the back end of the Flood , a good location in the low tidal area north of Bramble , with an option for a beat into shore if the predicted SE’ly breeze developed. Funnily enough we weren’t the only fleet that had that plan – we were greeted by the massed drifting race boats of the Royal Southern and other clubs , with J70’s , IRC and a cruiser passage race all looking to get racing going. We chose to head over to the vicinity of Sposa and Coronation where a pleasant hour and a half was spent drifting around swapping Folkboat stories and solving world peace waiting for any sign of wind. ……… Crucially by now the tide was slack and as the sun broke through , and a very light South South Westerly thermal breeze started to develop.
A decision was made to attempt a windward Leeward – 2 laps Port Round between Sposa and Fumesy. The start was at Sposa with Moonraker as the gate boat .
As Moonraker sailed past Sposa on port tack, the gate opened and Scaramouche crossed closely under Moonrakers transom on Starboard…….Moonraker tacked also onto Starboard and the race was on. Scaramouche was on the pace right from the off and to the leeward of Moonraker slowly gained an advantage and once ahead chose to tack as the wind backed onto Port to head to the right side of the course.
Rather than tack and follow , Moonraker posed the question by continuing on Starboard to the left of the course – hoping for a revering shift. This was Chris’s first race in Moonraker …………and the first time I had joined the FDU (Fore Deck Union) for a while 😊 so the chance to settle down and get the boat going was welcome ……………
As the boats converged Scaramouche was clear ahead and rounded Fumesy with a 4 or 5 boat length advantage and was now heading down wind towards Sposa. The breeze filled in slightly and Moonraker took advantage to shadow and close the gap downwind getting to within a boat length at Sposa for the second windward beat . Game on ………
Scaramouche rounded close ahead of Moonraker and both boats continued on port tack ……. The breeze had increased slightly and Moonraker was on pace with Scaramouch this time and the two boats were locked in a close battle to break clear. The conditions were tricky, the breeze was fickle and both boats had to contend with the occasional wash from powerboats.
Very slowly Moonraker managed to claw the slightest of advantages ahead and to windward………..and as the layline approached Scaramouche chose to tack under the stern of Moonraker looking for some clear air ……..Moonraker stood on briefly and also then tacked for the mark. Crucially Moonraker just managed to squeeze round the mark – courtesy of a last minute puff of breeze whilst Scaramouche needed another two tacks to round……………. The race however was far from over……. Scaramouche showed better downwind pace and started to overhaul Moonraker on port Gybe to leeward. As both boats approached the finish (a port rounding of Sposa) locked together, Moonraker managed a late recovery to just about hold off Scaramouche to take the win .
A great race and a start to the season by both boats !!. well done Nathan Jo and Chris on your first Hamble race !! . Both Crews and supporters joined up after the race on the patio of the RAFYC and for a very enjoyable and convivial post race lunch and Beer in the sunshine. Come and join us on the 10th May – where we will have more Folkboats racing in the Saturday series .
Anybody looking to join the Hamble Folkboat Saturday racing as crew contact Kim.morley@cr8.co.uk
