Men overboard

An incident-filled day on the Solent during day two of the Red Funnell Easter Regatta

Strong north easterly winds gusting up to 30knots severely tested both crews and gear on day two of the Red Funnel Easter Regatta. The tough conditions out on the water caused the 5th and final race to be cancelled.

Casualties to boats included two broken masts and a boom, as well as several breakages and lots of damage to sails. The rough conditions took their toll as a total of six people went overboard during the racing in the afternoon. Andrew McIrvine of the J-125 Wings of the Wind commented: "We were just 10 yards from the finish, close racing with another boat. The guys on the rail decided to put an extra lean out when the wire pulled out of the swagged fitting on the middle lifeline. Suddenly there was nothing supporting them and four crew fell into the water. Two managed to clamber back on and two drifted off. Luckily their lifejackets worked but we then had problems in taking the sails down with not many crew. The main halyard was in a knot so the jib wouldn't come down and the Swan 45 WISC picked up the two crew and a RIB transferred them back to the boat. They are all okay and everyone is happy". Wings of the Wind are now busy replacing all the linelines!

Two other incidents occurred today: During the course of a gybe, a crew member aboard Exotic, the X332 also went overboard. She was in the water for several minutes before she was spotted by the French boat Giselle of Course. Philippe Bourgeois and Pierrick Bellet helped to keep her afloat, holding onto her lifejacket and she was eventually pulled on board a rescue boat and has been taken to hospital in Newport suffering from shock and cold. On the Army Sailing Association's Prima 38, Longbow, a man was lost overboard in race four but again was retrieved swiftly, with the boat retired shortly after.

For those who were more fortunate, the conditions of the day provided some good close racing. Fair Do's V, the Ker 11.3 continued to race well, taking second place in race 3 and winning race 4 and the IRM class today. They were followed by two Farr 40s: in 2nd place Mark Heeley's GBR25 and by last year's Red Funnel Easter Challenge IRM1 winners Too Steamy, sailed by Nick and Anne Haigh, who having moved up two places and are trying hard to defend their 2002 title.

Kit Hobday's Farr 52 Bear of Britain also had a good day on the race course. They won both races, taking them to the top of the IRC Super Zero and Zero table. They will be part of The Royal Thames Yacht Club (GBR) team taking part in the Admiral's Cup in July.

Yesterday's winner in this class, Glynn Williams on WISC managed two consecutive 3rd places but came 2nd overall in class ahead of Chernikeef and Alvine XIII.

Among the IRC classes, in IRC1 Exabyte 2, the IMX40 gained a lead over Ian Handley's Royal Blue Addict, the First 40.7, with Fastwave II, another First 40.7 and winners of the Red Funnel Prix d'Elegance Trophy last year, staying in third position ahead of the Prima 38 Kylidh.

The IRC Class 2 lead was held by Jim MacGregor's Kier Building with Flair once again today, with a win in the final race keeping them one series point ahead of Tim Harrington's HOD 35 Capitali$m. Peter Bruce's Humphrey's 35, Owl also gained places, with a third in her class ahead of Duncan Morris's First 40.7 Bump in the Night, winners of IRC2 in 2002.

IRC3 has a new leader after two races today, Stuart Broughton's Sunfast 32, Penultima. Sareema, Robert McLeod's Fulmar came up to second place overall in class after taking second in race 4 behind Penultima. Excalibur, Mike and June Tong's Tamara 30 also raced well in race 3 with a second place position and taking them to third overall in IRC 3, although they retired from the last race of the day.

Once back in the safety of the marina, another packed to capacity post race debrief was held by Jim Saltonstall and Barry Dunning, followed by the day's prizegiving ceremony. After a much needed drink, the exhausted crews exchanged tales of their day's racing and looked ahead to another exciting day out on the water on the final day - Easter Sunday, before enjoying a special BBQ laid on as part of the social programme of the regatta, held at Cowes Yacht Haven.

Pos	Boat	Type of Boat	Owner	Handicap	Total	R1	R2	R3	R4
	IRM
1	Fair Do's V	Ker 11.3	John Shepherd	1.048	7	3	1	2	1
2	GBR25	Farr 40	Mark Heeley	1.05	16	2	2	1	DNF11
3	Too Steamy	Farr 40	Nick & Anne Haigh	1.045	18	5	7	3	3
4	El Gringo	Ker 11.3	Nick Hartshorn	1.048	20	7	6	5	2
5	Roaring Meg	IRM 10.7	Tim Dixon & Jon Manly	1.025	22	4	3	4	DNC11
6	2XL	Farr 40	David Murrin	1.045	27	1	4	DNF11	DNC11
7	Blue Belle	Ker 11.3	Michael Cover	1.048	30	9	DNC11	6	4
8	Arbitrator	Sydney 40	Steven Bailey	1.046	35	8	5	DNF11	DNC11
9	No Respect	One Design 35	Christopher & Hannah Neve	1.003	39	6	DNF11	DNC11	DNC11
10	Panther	Mumm 36	James Stableford	0.982	40	10	8	DNF11	DNC11
	IRC1
1	Exabyte 2	IMX 40	Shaun Frohlich	1.096	8	3	2	2	1
2	RoyalBlue Addict	First 40.7	Ian Handley	1.073	9	1	1	3	4
3	Fastwave II	First 40.7	J C P Sailing	1.071	11	2	3	4	2
4	Kylidh	Prima 38	Guy Spurr	1.089	28	6	7	8	ZFG7
5	Magnum II	IMX 40	Andrew Pearce	1.095	30	5	10	6	ZFG9
6	Fiona VIII	Prima 38	David Geaves	1.08	33	4	8	1	DNF20
7	Longbow	Prima 38	Army Sailing Association	1.087	37	8	4	5	DNF20
8	Salvo	Sydney 36	Peter Morton	1.075	42	10	5	7	DNC20
9	Closing Time	Prima 38	David Riley & Andrew Yates	1.089	46	11	6	9	DNF20
10	Ingotism	X 412	Bank of England Sailing Club	1.068	55	16	DNC20	13	6
11	Mostly Harmless	Prima 38	Tom Hayhoe & Natalie Jobling	1.089	58.5	7	DSQ21	10.5	DNC20
12	Ortac	First 40.7	407 Racing	1.076	60	15	13	12	DNC20
13	Oz Privateer	Prima 38	Donald Kennedy	1.089	61	12	9	DNC20	DNC20
14	Jalfrezi	J120	Andrew Greenwood	1.08	61	9	12	DNF20	DNC20
15	Marionette	J 120	Chris Dunning	1.096	64.5	14	DNF20	10.5	DNC20
16	In X Celsis	X 119	Peter Jones	1.06	67	13	14	DNC20	DNC20
17	Shockwave	First 40.7	Nick Lutte	1.073	71	DNC20	11	DNC20	DNC20
18	Cutting Edge	Mills 36	R Lutener / P James / M Elwood	1.076	80	DNF20	DNC20	DNF20	DNC20
18	White Knuckles	Prima 38	Mike Ridley	1.086	80	DNF20	DNC20	DNC20	DNC20
	IRC2
1	Kier Building with Flair	Elan 40	Jim MacGregor	1.045	11	2	3	5	1
2	Capitali$m	HOD 35	Tim Harrington	1.038	17	1	5	2	ZFG9
3	Owl	Humphreys 35	Peter Bruce	1.04	33	3	6	18	6
4	Bump in the Night	First 40.7	Duncan Morris	1.03	39	9	9	13	8
5	Beth of Fivestar	J 109	Five Star Sailing	1.014	41	12	16	9	4
6	Malice	HOD 35	Michael Moxley	1.039	43	16	12	10	5
7	Sanguma	Ker 31	Chris Walmsley	1.048	44	7	OCS32	3	2
8	White Knight of Wessex	HOD 35	James Neville	1.036	47	14	13	11	9
9	Alchemist	X 362	Colin Baldwin & James Upton	1.03	48	8	1	7	DNC32
10	Exotic	X 332	Mike Brand & David Elderfield	1	51	13	2	4	DNF32
11	Peanut	X 332	Jonathan Butler	0.996	51	4	DNF32	8	7
12	Gisele of Course	First 36.7	Philippe Bourgeois	1.023	54	6	4	12	DNF32
13	Dragonfly Too	X 332	Armando D'Amico	1	56	11	7	6	DNF32
14	Billy Whiz	Sigma 38	Ivan Fawcett	0.995	57	21	10	16	10
15	X-ToSea	X 332	Maine & Windmiller	0.992	67	10	11	14	DNC32
16	Zarafa	HOD 35	Peter Scholfield	1.04	70	5	OCS32	1	DNF32
17	Bellerophon of Wight	Sigma 38	Amanda Bradbeer	0.995	81	26	22	21	12
18	Flame	Sweden 38	Martin Fordham	1.004	81	27	21	20	13
19	Gauntlet of Tamar	Sigma 38	Royal Naval Sailing Association	0.995	83	19	17	15	DNC32
20	Dragonfly of Bosham	Sigma 38	Paul Griffiths	0.995	91	22	18	19	DNC32
21	Panache	Elan 333	Jim MacGregor	0.992	92	DNC32	DNF32	17	11
22	Aztec	Mills 30	Malcolm Goodall	1.023	95	23	8	DNF32	DNC32
23	Comedy of Errors	HOD 35	Alan Wardrop	1.042	96	18	14	DNC32	DNC32
24	Jos of Hamble	J 105	Roger Williams	1.016	96	17	15	DNF32	DNC32
25	Scarlett O'Hara	Sunfast 37	David Rider	0.994	98	15	19	DNF32	DNC32
26	Supernatural	Sigma 38	D Brocklebank / G Coull / D Cahill	0.995	109	25	20	DNF32	DNC32
27	Sister Bendy	First 36.7	Richard Willetts	1.032	116	20	DNF32	DNF32	DNC32
28	Vitesse	Sigma 38	Simcox / Taunt / England	0.995	120	24	DNF32	DNC32	DNC32
29	Hot Doris	Mount Gay 30	Dominic Hurndall	1.041	128	DNF32	DNC32	DNF32	DNC32
29	Halcyon Sea	Sun Odyssey 40	Diego Frangi	1.008	128	DNF32	DNC32	DNF32	DNC32
29	Mogibear	X 402	Gary Richardson	1.043	128	DNC32	DNF32	DNC32	DNC32
	I RC SZ and Z
1	Bear of Britain	Farr 52	K Hobday / T Louis	1.318	7	1	4	1	1
2	Wisc	Swan 45	Glynn Williams	1.188	9	2	1	3	3
3	Chernikeeff	IMS 50	Marc Fitzgerald	1.254	11	5	2	2	2
4	Alvine XIII	Swan 45	Harry Evans	1.192	23	4	5	5	DNC9
5	Kirribilli	First 47.7	Doug & Lynne Flynn	1.139	24	3	3	DNF9	DNC9
6	Wings of the Wind	J - 125	Andrew McIrvine	1.188	30	6	6	DNF9	DNC9
7	Minx	Corby 41.5	Andrew Ritchie	1.172	31	DNF9	DNF9	4	DNF9
8	McFly	Swan 45	Tony Mack	1.192	36	DNF9	DNC9	DNF9	DNC9