Rob Greenhalgh and Dan Johnson were the overall winners of the International 14 fleet during last weekend’s Hamble Warming Pan event
The Warming Pan, which took place on 16-17 March, is a traditional start to the season in the UK however, this year it was quite warm, no sleet or snow and temperatures of up to 12 degrees C.
The International 14 racing was on a trapezoid course in Southampton Water/ Solent which is a fairly open stretch of water albeit a bit busy with shipping and keelboat racing. The weekend was of course a big one in the foil-spotters’ calendar with the new RMW and Specialized foils being used by Rob Greenhalgh and James Fawcett respectively.
Saturday’s racing was dominated by Greenhalgh and Dan Johnson with two wins. Behind there was close racing with place changes on each leg between James Fawcett/ Chris Turner , Roddy Bridge/ Douglas Patterson and Adrian Murphy with Damian Ash. While Greenhalgh was in a league of his own in speed terms, no other boats with ‘foils’ appeared to be faster than usual.
Sunday was a bit windier, yet again however, the fleet managed to be late to the start, the ‘soft’ race officer waiting for the majority to get there! Once again Greenhalgh won this race which was in Force 4 with big chop. Bridge and Fawcett finished in second and third respectively.
Bridge and Patterson led at the first mark of the next race followed by Charles Stanley and Adrian Murphy, with Mark Upton-Brown and Ian Mitchell in third. The first run was decisive with Stanley and Adrian Murphy choosing a good lay line for the leeward mark which allowed them to set up a good lead. Upton-Brown and Mitchell finally took second after a tight race when Bridge and Patterson trawled their kite at the last mark.
Overall Results (after four races)
1st 1466, Rob Greenhalgh and Dan Johnson (Hayling Island SC) 1, 1, 1, 16 (3pts)
2nd 1464, Adrian Murphy/Damian Ash and Charles Stanley (Hayling Island SC) 4, 3, 1,6, 1 (8pts)
3rd 1426, Demolition Gran, Roddy Bridge and Douglas Pattison (Itchenor SC) 3, 5, 2, 3 (8pts)
4th 1470, James Fawcett and Chris Turner (Hayling Island SC) 2, 2, 5, 16 (9 pts)
5th 1461, Mark Upton-Brown and Ian Mitchell (Hayling Island SC) 10, 4, 6, 2 (12pts)