Blackjack heads record Impi Shield fleet

It proved a beautiful day for racing, despite the light wind forecast.

All yachts started simultaneously, heading south to north off Castle Cornet, heading upwind towards Grande Amfroque north of Herm and the tide sweeping competitors along in light winds.

There turned out to be more of a breeze than expected and the racing yachts were soon under way, Ozard/Morris’s Blackjack taking the early lead after a good start, followed by Hughes/Lloyd/Holmes’ Sun of a Gun.

The crowded start had seen a number of false or missed starts and Richard Babbe’s Mr Scarecrow, Knowles/Aslett’s Glory Days and Simon Henning’s White Rabbit were all late getting off.

To the beautiful backdrop of Grande Amfroque, not often visited by the racing fleet, yachts set spinnakers with seabirds feeding off the choppy waters.

Sun of a Gun, Mick Holland’s Majic and Blackjack were leading the race, but White Rabbit caught up soon after turning downwind.

Nigel Loller’s Olli, shorthanded with only two crew, was racing closely behind Mr Scarecrow, but was left behind once the sailing angle allowed the Scarecrow to deploy her Code Zero sail.

The tide continued to be north going once the boats turned south toward the next mark, Noire Pute east of Herm, and it looked as though Sun of a Gun, leading the fleet at this stage, was carried too far north.

Blackjack stayed close to the coast of Herm.

There was less luck for the cruising class boats with last year’s triple winner Chris Sharpe’s Boondoggle making only Grande Amfroque before retiring, and Olli similarly struggling at Noire Pute, her three knots of wind being cancelled out by the same amount of adverse tide.

Terry Ashworth’s Jurate, a welcome newcomer to the RCIYC racing fleet this season, also struggled, but persevered until the curfew time of 5.30.

Positions in the racing class were decided at the last leg after Noire Pute, the yachts being free to take any course they wished back to the finishing line at race mark ‘D’ off Castle Cornet.

Majic decided to sneak through the Percee Passage between Herm and Jethou, the wind deserting her as she did so. The leading racing boats went wide off Jethou and only Mr Scarecrow, keen to try something different to distinguish herself in the race, hugged the coast of Jethou, through the Tobars Passage.

She, too, was deserted by the wind, enabling Blackjack and Sun of a Gun to disappear into the distance in the Little Russel and towards the finish.

Glory Days, the only cruising yacht to make it this far, was rewarded by taking the shorter distance through the Tobars Passage a little later, the wind having picked up again and sweeping her through.

In the end, Blackjack took the double win, Sun of a Gun was second in Racing Class and White Rabbit third. Glory Days won this year’s Impi Shield, as the only cruising class finisher.