Thursday (July 26) proved to be another hot day with the lack of wind testing the skills of the Ramsgate Week race officers.
Sponsors of the day were Euromarine Insurance, based in Broadstairs with representative Hayley presenting the prizes.
During the day the Race Hut entertained Ian and Callum from ICOM radio, who had come to see how their radios were being used. Ian was chuffed to be able to fire the cannon to start the races.
Very light conditions and strong tides greeted the competitors as they made their way to the start lines for the fourth and fifth Ramsgate Week series races. A postponement of an hour was needed for the wind to fill in for the Cruising Classes. A 15 NM course was set which took the cruisers to Broadstairs and back. An upwind start was followed by a close reach to Viking Bay at Broadstairs at which point the wind died to less than 3 kts.
Most cruisers were unable to make way against the tide for about an hour until the breeze came up a little – just enough to fill most spinnakers. A long slow run against a weakening tide ensued, and those boats that actively sought patches of breeze came out ahead.
The class 7 winner was Susan Anderson’s Impulse with Karibia Breezes in second and RTYC’s Ken Welch in third. In class 6, Rick Archer’s Jouet 760 Amelie came in first ahead of Andy Ketteringham’s First 30, Miss Amelia in second which was enough to give them the series win with one race in hand. Third went to Howard Bates’ Mallard who are now second in the series, one point ahead of David Preston’s Luna. The class 5 win went to Frank Barretts’ Elan 333 Maverick who are now one point clear of Donald Gray’s Blown Away in the series. Pippy was second putting them equal third in the series with Rush. Third place today went to Dabtoe, Nick Moulton’s Sunfast 3200.
The IRC classes completed two races after a short postponement. They were competing for the IRC Spinlock East Coast Area Championships as well and the Ramsgate Week series. The courses were windward / leeward with 1 mile legs and multiple laps taking around 60 to 90 minutes per race. Kylla had an excellent day, winning both races leaving them four points clear at the top of the IRC1 leaderboard, Oystercatcher XXXI came second and fourth on the day leaving them in second place overall so far, one point ahead of Team Heiner who came third in both races.
In the IRC 2 Class, Mike and Jo Brand’s Foxy came first and third in the two races, cementing their series lead, Niek Spiljard’s Vanilla lies second in the series after a second and fourth on the day. Richard Sparrow’s J/97 Only Magic was also loving the light conditions gaining a third and first.
After a hard day on the water the competitors danced the night away to the memorable Project F.