The Solent Circuit, hosted by Lymington Town Sailing Club (LTSC), is a staple fixture in the Western Solent, providing a challenging final series to keelboat racing each year. Sponsored by Luxury Property Projects, the 2024 Solent Series had an excellent turnout, with 40 boats registered over four classes for six Sunday races in October and November.
As can often be the case in Autumn, weather conditions were challenging, with either no wind or 50 knots, resulting in just two Sundays where the weather gods played ball.
At the helm of this extremely well-run series is Nick Hopwood, who for 15 years has led the LTSC race team to deliver excellent racing in often difficult conditions for a fleet of hardy racers determined not to give up racing for the year just yet!
The final scheduled day of racing, Sunday 24 November, came up trumps with sufficient wind to enable IRC1 and Sports Boats to complete five out of six races in the series, with YTC and Nordic Folkboats completing four races overall.
In IRC1, Team Boomerang dominated, a regular to the series and packed with talent. Duking it out for second and third position were Gin Tonic and Jelly Baby, both finishing on 11 points net, with Gin Tonic taking 2nd overall on countback. Juno took the Endeavour Trophy for the highest-scored boat that took part in all races.
In YTC there was tight racing and stiff rivalry between White Mischief and Colleen, both of whom have been competing in the Solent Circuit for many seasons. The final position was decided over a single race as scores were identical in all but Race 3, with White Mischief winning the class.
In the Sports Boat Class racing was equally as tight, but the RS21 Dark & Stormy dominated the fleet with three bullets and a second to close out the series. The J80 Traffic Jam kept them honest with J70 Escape also pushing hard close behind.
The Nordic Folkboats experienced excellent one-design racing. It was tight at times but overall Team Gybe n’ kept ahead with three bullets and a second. Despite the results there were lots of lead changes, particularly in the last race of the series when Nick Ingram on Otter sailed an outstanding first two legs, only to be overhauled in the second beat by Gybe n’.
The overall winner of the 2024 Solent Circuit, sponsored by Luxury Property Projects, for the second consecutive year, was Gybe n’.
Simon Evans, owner of the series sponsor, Luxury Property Projects and a key member of Team Gybe n’ was delighted to be sponsor, Folkboat class winner and Overall series winner! He said;
“Luxury Property Projects is proud to have sponsored the 2024 Solent Circuit. Many thanks to Lymington Town Sailing Club for hosting, once again, an excellent Autumn keelboat series on and off the water. This year conditions have been particularly challenging, our thanks to the Race Management Team for all their hard work.
“Rumour has it that this is Nick Hopwood’s last year as Principal Race Officer for the Solent Circuit. We hope he will reconsider, and I would like to thank him for his dedication, pragmatic approach, and hard work over the years.
Heather Chipperfield of Lymington Town Sailing Club said: “We love the Solent Circuit, a great end to the Western Solent yacht racing year, with true bonhomie. It makes a massive difference to have the sponsorship of a local company and we thank Luxury Property Projects for their support.”
Final results:
IRC 1
1 Boomerang – Team Boomerang Net 5 points
2 Gin Tonic – Andy Roberts Net 12.0 points
3 Jelly Baby – William Newton Net 12.0 points
YTC
1 White Mischief – Andy Hind Net 6.0 points
2 Colleen – Alan Hill Net 8.0 points
3 Strega – Matt Perkins Net 14.7 points
Sports Boats
1 Dark & Stormy – Liam & Keith Willis Net 5.0 points
2 Traffic Jam – Toby Collyer Net 8.0 points
3 Escape – Giles Chipperfield Net 13.0 points
Nordic Folkboats
1 Gybe n’ – Cy Grisley & Simon Evans Net 5.0 points
2 Mistral – Claire & Julian Sowry Net 8.0 points
3 Jen – John Cooper Net 20.0 points
Full results can be found at: https://www.sailwave.com/results/LTSC/2024_SolentCircuit.htm