
The Royal Ocean Racing Club was determined to open the IRC National Championship in style and three excellent races on challenging windward-leeward courses was the result offshore of Portsmouth. With virtually no wind forecast for the central Solent, as well as tidal and depth issues, the Race Committee decided to take the fleet east in search of a decent breeze and the result was a magnificent day on the water.
For the second day of sailing the RORC P.R.O chose Hayling Shoal as the combat zone. With five races now completed, battle lines were emerging for the three classes J's were racing. Day Two was another light winds affair with the 54 strong RORC fleet heading once again to the best sailing grounds available. With the wind speed barely reaching 10 knots, starts were important and getting into clear air gave a distinct advantage. However, some yachts were over-eager with several general recalls and a number of boats were called over the line on individual recalls. Only two of the scheduled three races were sailed, however the race management team were roundly applauded for getting in two good races with difficult weather conditions.
In IRC Two, Cornel Riklin's J/111 JITTERBUG had posted three finishes in the top five (3-4-4) but had an 8th in race 5 to hurt their chances for the podium. Her sistership, Andrew Christie's J/111 ICARUS, sailed like her namesake, not melting her wings as she streaked to the front of the fleet, posting a bullet to her scoreline.
For the final day of racing on Sunday, the crews faced a fairly grim forecast-- next to no or little wind was on the cards and it would be difficult for the RORC committee to get the ball rolling and have a "fair" race for all. As it happened, all classes got away off Gillkicker Point, but a substantial shift in the light breeze was too much to provide fair racing and the race was abandoned shortly after the start.
