The 2023 RLymYC Champions of Champions event saw 3 tightly contested windward leeward races, taking place in the natural stadium of the Lymington River.
Nine of the clubs champion crews, ranging from Aeros, LAH 3, Folkboats, low handicap dinghies and more gathered at the club on the morning of the 14th of October to race in the Club and WJS scows for the coveted trophy.
The field contained impressive pedigree – Fast handicap representatives Luke & Emma McEwen had recently competed in another, arguably more prestigious champions event, the Endeavour Trophy, the previous weekend, whilst representing the RS 800 class as national champions.
The first race saw a left shift just before the start hinder Luke & Emma, whilst allowing Nik & Hannah Froud (LR Scows) an opportunity to tack early and gain an early advantage, which they never yielded throughout the remainder of the race. Behind, Rory Paton and Carol Dunning (XODs), looked to have a shot at attacking the leaders on the final downwind, before Christian Sutherland & Jack Hatfield (IRC 2) showed lightning pace to slingshot around the outside of them to secure 2nd, ahead of the XOD pair.
Race two had a tighter start – Luke and Emma Successfully held out Nik & Hannah at the start and played the shifty northerly breeze well up the first upwind. Coming into the windward mark, they were neck and neck with the LR Scow pair. A windward/Leeward situation between the two crews saw some initial disagreement, however did result in Nik and Hannah taking a penalty turn (albeit somewhat belatedly!), so as to err on the side of caution. This allowed Rory & Carol past, before Nik & Hannah slipped through again on the second upwind. Coming into the finish, a large shift nearly scuppered the LR Scow crew, but they just held on to win by a whisker ahead of Rory & Carol, followed by Luke & Emma.
Race three was another close start, with a couple of boats pushing too hard and being forced to return behind the line after being called OCS. On the first upwind Max & Jeremy Vines (IRC 1) showed great pace up the middle, as did Roop Stock & Sarah Stock-Carniel (Aeros), who would have led at the windward mark were it not for an unfortunate last shift. Instead, Nik & Hannah had enough in the bank with their lay-line call to lead, with Roger & Amy Morris (PY Slow Handicap) following just behind the leading two crews. During the remainder of the race, Roger proved his helming adaptability to the fleet in his first ever event as a scow helm to overhaul Roop & Sarah, finishing not long behind Nik & Hannah.
The overall results were remarkably close – Roger & Amy’s consistency won out to finish third, whilst Rory and Carol did enough in the first two races to secure 2nd, behind Nik & Hannah who secured the event win with three wins.
Thanks must go to RO Gary and his race team, who did a fantastic job in maximising the challenging conditions, ensuring three thoroughly fun races. A huge thanks also to Luke McEwen, captain of dinghies and event organiser, without whom this event couldn’t happen.
Roll on 2024!
Nik Froud