Simon Mitchell sailing the Sun Fast 3200 "Roxanne" reports:
A great weekend of fast and bracing SORC racing. Plenty of wind , sea and sunshine - what more could we want - apart from wishing it was Spring rather than Autumn!
Despite forecasts designed to spook the faint-hearted the winds stayed within manageable limits. It was certainly cold enough to bring out the thermal layers and it seemed to add a bit more power to the wind, or perhaps that was just me with too much sail up again…
Gusts and shifts provided plenty of trimming exercise, and reefing practice.
Two great 24 - 28 Nm courses delivered trips out into Christchuch bay , crossing Bridge in each direction and the lumpy seas in between - first upwind on Saturday then only downwind on Sunday.
One brave soul hoisted a kite - Rob on Mustang 30 Dark Horse, which looked good and left the rest of us flapping along on whites, but then it got very rolly and I hear the drop was messy for him.
Coming back into the Solent on Sunday we saw different tactics employed - Shingles edge or Island side tide-dodging which split the fleet and then almost brought us back together at the finish at Sevenstar.
Many thanks to RO Dave Giddings and also to the committee boat start provided by Malcolm McKeag at Lymington.
Thanks to Rick Tomlinson who took some great pictures at the start on Saturday, some of which you can see on the SORC Flikr page. There are plenty more pictures on Rick's website available for you to view and purchase at:
Rick Tomlinson event photos
Inshore Series Race 5 results
Inshore Series Race 6 results
Inshore Series Standings after 6 races
Next and last race of the 2020 SORC Season in less than two weeks - the Nab Race, and the unique Carbon Pole trophy awaits the winner.