September sees the end of the Contessa 32 inshore racing programme, this year warmly hosted by the Royal Lymington Yacht Club. Located in the town that is the birthplace of the class, there was a very special sense of homecoming as the fleet gathered on Thursday 17 September with frontal storm clouds gathering for a windy weekend of racing.
The programme followed the usual format of a seven race series with five windward leeward courses and two round the cans. Day one of racing on the Friday saw a building westerly airstream which provided an exciting first race with three laps to the windward marks near the river entrance and testing spinnaker runs. Race one saw Nick Bradley's Merak II take the lead opting for the right hand leeward mark in more tide but with clear air to the windward mark allowing her to take the race from Drumbeat by 40 seconds with Andaxi about a minute behind in third.
The second race over the same course saw much more wind across the Western Solent race area with some boats opting for less sail although only one went down to the Heavy Weather Jib. Spinnaker work was not for everyone in this race as some boats chose to exercise caution in the conditions. The race was taken by Drumbeat with Merak II less than 50 seconds behind and nationals newcomer Gigi under new ownership this season taking third place foreshadowing more success to come.
Saturday turned into a lay day as all racing was sensibly cancelled with 30 knot winds being forecast to combine with strong tides to make racing too dangerous. Crews were able to explore the Lymington area finding a range of distractions from saunas to shopping, the Lymington Art Gallery, Hurst Castle and of course a number of local pubs. The crews enjoyed a memorable dinner hosted at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club with guests including Fiona, Simon, Kit and Jessie Rogers ever supportive of the class.
By Sunday morning more normal western Solent weather conditions were restored allowing race officer Roger Wilson to set three more races to complete the series. In Race three, the first of two windward leewards, sailed in a shifting north-westerly breeze, Jemima took the win beating Drumbeat by just under a minute very closely followed by Concerto.
Race four on Sunday was Eddie Steel's day as Gigi found good lifting breeze heading out on starboard tack enabling her to take a commanding lead over the fleet in very challenging conditions to win the race beating Concerto by over a minute with Merak II in third.
Going into the last race, the only round the cans of the shortened series, the fleet was again met with shifty wind conditions still from the north-west and very hard to read. This time it was Concerto's turn to head the podium with Andaxi taking second some 40 seconds later and Jemima by some 15 seconds in third.
The series was won by Drumbeat with Merak II in second place and Concerto taking third. With only 6 points separating the top six, this was another classic Contessa 32 nationals showing why the class continues to provide the best cruiser racing one design racing in the country. The 5 race series saw 5 different boats take line honours, surely a clear indicator of a great competition with two new boats joining this season.
The competitors summed up the series in their own words. Eddie Steel, owner of Gigi commented: "My first Nationals on Gigi served to further reinforce why I chose to join the Contessa fleet in the first place: competitive on the water, great fun and super friendly community off the water - we even managed to win a race, which was a real cherry on the cake!"
The winning skipper, Mark Hinsworth of Drumbeat observed that from Drumbeat's perspective, "the Nationals were immaculately-run and warmly-hosted. Against most of the fleet on number 1s, we flew our number 2 in 14 or 15 or so knots off the first start and never felt underpowered. Merak took the right gate mark on round 2 of race 1 and steamed into a commanding lead in clear air in the first race, with Drumbeat second, those positions reversing in the second race with Drumbeat enduring some serious rolling downwind."
Second placed Merak II's Nick Bradley noted "Boat handling management on a windy Friday. Hangovers, OCS and snakes and ladders in very shifty winds on Sunday."
And third placed Mark Dence of Concerto: "Tough day Friday and poor sail plan decision making was important learning! Don't expect crew to tack efficiently in 30 knots for 3 hours! Great day for us on Sunday. Good team communication and reading the shifts paid off. Fabulous racing conditions."
The Contessa 32 fleet would like to thank Sally Kalis, Commodore of the Royal Lymington YC and Roger Wilson the Race Officer and their teams for hosting a memorable, highly competitive series in difficult conditions.
The Contessa 32 class welcomed a good number of younger and mostly female sailors to the championship this year, in particular Andaxi and English Rose both with teenage crew reducing the average age; the latter with two Scaramouche Sailing Trust/Greig City Academy sailors in her crew building on their Cowes Week one design racing experience. Thanks are due to Jessie and Simon Rogers for giving the English Rose team at short notice an early morning tour of the yard with the latest Contessa 32 newbuild in progress and much else besides.
As Sally Kalis reminded the fleet in her welcoming remarks, the Macnamara Bowl was first sailed in 1978 in Contessa 32's and it is striking to note that this important event for women's sailing was only revived this year having been dormant since 1995. The Contessa 32 class is always open to young crew looking for exciting racing: just get in touch via the website.
Lest it be thought that Contessa 32's are only involved in inshore racing, this year has seen Contessa 32 members competing in RORC, JOG races and the biennial Channel Classic Regatta. 2027 promises to be another great year for the fleet.
Overall Results:
Pos Boat Name Sail No Club Entered By R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Pts
1st Drumbeat 651 Bar Yacht Club Mark Himsworth 2 1 2 4 ‑7 9
2nd Merak II 401 RSYC Nick Bradley 1 2 ‑8 3 4 10
3rd Concerto 640 CO32 Association Mark Dence ‑7 6 3 2 1 12
4th Gigi 7718 YYC Eddie Steel ‑5 3 4 1 5 13
5th Jemima 2751 RORC Gareth Penn (RET) 4 1 6 3 14
6th Andaxi 701 RAFYC Donna Rouse‑Collen 3 ‑5 5 5 2 15
7th English Rose 926 RORC Peter Binning 4 7 6 ‑9 6 23
8th Cu na Mara 908 Stokes Bay SC Paul Gardner 6 10 ‑11 10 8 34
9th Coric 222 RNSA John McNaughton ‑10 8 10 8 9 35
10th Carolina 3274 RLYC Nick Cameron (RET) RET 7 7 10 40
11th Starstreak 753 CO32 Class Roger Shinton 8 9 ‑13 12 11 40
12th Carinosa 718 RTYC/RSYC Jo Sammons 9 (DNS) 9 11 DNC 45
13th Connie 6541 RAFYC Mel McQueen 11 (DNS) 12 RET DNC 55
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