FOUR boats crossed the line within three seconds of each other on a thrilling finale to Royal Lymington Yacht Club’s Spring Series last weekend.

Peter Scholfield took the honours in race seven and eight to scoop the overall honours on a day which saw competitors greeted by a mixture of showers, winds of between nine and 18 knots and 30-degree shifts.

The tide ebbed to set a good beat for the first IRC1 race with Zarafa leading at the mark from Robin Taunt’s Jibe before the chasing pack gained considerably on the run to Bridgeford’s.

After the times had been corrected, Ray Crouch took second in Boomerang, while William Newton in Jelly Baby took third.

Zarafa once again took the handicap honours which ensured the series victory ahead.

Overall results: 1 Zarafa (Peter Scholfield), 2 No Chance (Chris & Hannah Neve), 3 Boomerang (Ray Crouch).

The last day saw some changes to the usual line-up in IRC2 with Chris Sutherland’s Reach Around back out and in the prizes. Colleen was absent and Andrew Pearson made a surprise appearance in his beautiful classic 10-metre, Bojar.

In race one, Hephzibah made the most of the moderate condi-tions to take the gun after Kit Off was called OCS, scuppering their chances of catching race-winner David Lees for the series win. Brightwork took second and Reach Around third.

Race two saw some close manoeuvring at the start between Reach Around and Rick Otten’s Kit Off, the latter taking a long leg out into the unfavourable tide and away from the rest of the fleet who were plugging away up the mainland shore.

At the finish, Reach Around crossed first with Kit Off second and Ray Mitchell’s Accomplice third.

Overall results: 1 Hephzibah, 2 Kit Off, 3 Accomplice. n Royal Lymington Yacht Club’s Thursday Night Series will be sponsored by law firm Moore Blatch for the 2014 season.

Club representative Chris Neve said: “We are very pleased that Moore Blatch has extended their relationship with the club and we are looking forward to some intense racing in this series.”

Clare Fanner, director of Moore Blatch, added: “It is a great mix of competitive sailing and a vibrant social scene.

“We are firmly committed to supporting the local area and community, so we are delighted to be able to support this year’s summer series with the club.”

RESULTS

Lymington Handicap Class One, overall: 1 Easy Does It (William Vinke), 2 Wombat (Jonathan Proctor), 3 E’Tu (Mike Rapson).

Lymington Handicap Class Two, overall: 1 Egor (Robert Weguelin), 2 Emilia (Philip Hancock), 3 Unity (Richard Truscott).