Weymouth Sailing Club’s Kathy Claydon has won the double-handed division in the recent Junior Offsore Group (JOG) cross-channel race from Cowes to Guernsey. The race started at 19:00 on Friday and she was paired with co-skipper Phil Kirk on her boat ‘Arcsine’.
With dropping winds after the start they had a tactical race down the Solent to the Needles. The wind then died altogether and the tide turned, causing the fleet to concentrate in a drifting group just past the Needles. As the wind filled in, Claydon and Kirk hoisted their large, lightweight Code Zero sail to get moving across the Channel towards the Casquet Rocks off Alderney.
On the crossing they had numerous sail changes between jib, code zero and asymmetric spinnaker, not easy with just two on-board. In addition, rest was in short supply as they were on hour-on/hour-off watches, giving little time to sleep. The wind held as they passed down the Little Russel channel towards the finish line off Guernsey’s Castle Cornet. However, just at the end of the race the wind died and the tide turned, meaning they had to tack several times to get over the finish line. After 15 hours’ racing, Arcsine was first in the double-handed division, with only 1 minute 9 seconds separating the top three boats.
After the race, Guernsey Sailing Club put on an excellent drinks reception for the visiting sailors.
With one race to go, Arcsine has already secured the 2019 JOG Offshore Series Double-Handed championship. In the IRC Class 4 category she is guaranteed either first or second place, depending on the outcome of the season’s last race to Cherbourg on 20 September.
Submitted on 3rd September 2019