Snow Globe 2023 at Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Burnham - Races 5 and 6

Charlie Matthews, and the Halls, lead the fleet - third week of the RCYC Snow Globe © Petru Balau Sports Photography / sports.hub47.com

The third day of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club' SnowGlobe series, on 25th of November, saw Charlie Matthews move to the top of the table, after a second and a first place.

A clear and cold November morning, with a westerly wind averaging 10 knots, saw the Race Officer set a sausage course, with a start line between a triangle on the RCYC pontoon and a pin end buoy placed close to the navigation channel, upwind to West Quay, down to another buoy set at the end of the RCYC moorings and back through the line.

16 boats lined up at the start, including 4 Otters and 2 visiting boats, with Laser Radial/ILCA 4 making up the bulk of the fleet.

James Hutton-Penman, mid-gybe - third week of the RCYC Snow Globe - photo © Petru Balau Sports Photography / sports.hub47.com

Nick Milton, sailing on a Blaze, was the first to start in the first race, followed by Kathryn Hutton-Penman and Matthew Pike on RS200 and Steve and Alison Hall, on Merlin Rocket.

Steve and Alison easily took the lead and headed towards the north shore to short tack towards the West Quay mark, while the Blazes took a more direct approach.

Lulls in the wind caught some of the competitors unprepared and a few boats capsized, forcing the RCYC safety boat to jump into action, fortunately with no other work to do apart from keeping station.

Boats sailing in front of the club - third week of the RCYC Snow Globe - photo © Petru Balau Sports Photography / sports.hub47.com

Steve and Alison were the first at the windward mark, followed by the Blaze fleet, Malcolm Hutchings, Nick Milton, Charlie Matthews and Jason Phelps, being joined by James Hutton-Penman on his Laser Radial/ILCA 6.

Disaster struck for Malcolm when he capsized and got stuck in one of the mooring buoys, forcing him to ask for assistance from the safety boat and therefore retire from the race.

With an impressive recovery after an earlier capsize, Charlie took advantage of Malcolm's miss fortune and led the fleet in pursuit of the Merlin Rocket, making the order at the leeward mark: Steve and Alison, Charlie on second, James and Nick fighting for 3rd, with the Corinthian Otter Nathan Flynn and Keith Gilmore, both on Laser Radial/ILCA 6, competing for 5th and 6th.

Jason Phelps starts on the pin end - third week of the RCYC Snow Globe - photo © Petru Balau Sports Photography / sports.hub47.com

The ebbing tide soon split the fleet and while Steve and Alison kept their lead to take the line honors, it was not enough to win on corrected time, with the win going to James, Charlie in second and Keith in third.

Corinthian Otter Amelia Kilgour took the 4th in what is her first club event in Laser 4.7/ILCA 4, after she moved class from the RS Tera, where she had impressive results, including a 2nd overall in the Pro Fleet at the RS Tera Eastern Championships and a comprehensive win at the Otter Week earlier this year.

Amelia Kilgour finished 4th in the first race - third week of the RCYC Snow Globe - photo © Petru Balau Sports Photography / sports.hub47.com

The second race saw Jason Phelps on his Blaze pick the pin end and the south shore for more wind, in a move greatly appreciated by the onlookers from the club.

Unfortunately, a capsize pushed him back to 4th at the first mark, with the Merlin Rocket being first, followed by Charlie and Malcolm in Blazes.

The wind strength dropped and the stronger tide started to pose problems to the competitors, with many boats losing ground on port tack and struggling to make headway on starboard.

Eventually, Steve and Alison, followed by Charlie, increased their lead and kept it all the way to the end, with Charlie taking the win on corrected time and Steve and Alison coming second, while Malcolm took a comfortable 3rd.

Keith Gilmore - third week of the RCYC Snow Globe - photo © Petru Balau Sports Photography / sports.hub47.com

James took the 4th, after an extra tack close to the finish line, in a move that might have cost him a top 3 finish.

Overall, Charlie Matthews moves top of the overall results table, on draw points with James Hutton-Penman, 7 each, with Steve and Alison Hall drop to 3rd with 8 points.

Keith Gilmore sits on 4th with 14 points, while Otter Nathan Flynn is on 5th with 21 points.

The next day of the series will take place on 2nd of December at Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, with 2 races planned.

RCYC commodore Phill Aspinall and Nick Milton, rear commodore - third week of the RCYC Snow Globe - photo © Petru Balau Sports Photography / sports.hub47.com

Overall Results: