If you have tried to phone us today (Friday 28th Oct) you'll notice that BT have unfortunately diverted our lines to our friends at Ski Weekends.  Obviously we are trying to rectify this, and we apologise for any inconvenience.

We are still here though, so please simply email us at info@sailinglogic.co.uk and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

All 3 teams were out and about again last weekend, training and getting ready for weekend 2 of the Hamble Winter series.

With a light forecast in contract to last weekend, teams woke on Sunday morning to the sounds of the Solent foghorns blaring, indicating fog on the race course. Two individual hour race postponements saw the teams heading up to Banana Wharf in Port Hamble to watch the second semi-final of the Rugby world cup – quite a bonus for everyone it seemed!

By 1000 the fog began to clear which was great news, but also it brought a lack of wind – the Solent was seen to be a relative millpond, absolutely flat calm. However by 1230 a light breeze had built from the West and the race committee hurriedly set a course for all classes, with starts combined to get racing underway as soon as possible. This meant a very congested start line, which made the racing all that more fun!

Only 1 race was run due to the late start. The wind built to 10 knots during the race, which meant that all classes converged on the leeward mark at once, with large gains made for those with an inside overlap place, and large losses for those not quite as well placed.

Visit Malta Puma did very well to manage a third place, in conditions not well suited for the large beamed Reflex 38’s, pipped to the post by our old adversary Circus, and the J111 Jenga 2. Jaguar Logic were not able to keep up their fantastic start from Weekend 1, but still managed to stave off the attack from Interceptor, Liquid Vortex and sister ship Lion Logic to a credible 8^th place. The beginners on Lion logic did extremely well yet again, and managed to come 11^th.

Overall results going into Weekend 3 see Visit Malta Puma leading the fleet (well done Puma!) and Jaguar Logic still on the podium in 3^rd place, just great!. Bring on next weekend!!

The David Fayle memorial trophy is awarded to the schoolboat which finishes the highest placed in the IRC overall ratings. Throughout the 2011 racing season, Philippe Falle and the Quokka team and Tim Thubron on Visit Malta Puma, battled hard against a competitive fleet and both were in contention for this highly-prized award.

Quokka had a fantastic season, finishing 1st in class IRC2 in the DeGuingand Bowl, 1st Overall in the St Malo race and taking line honours in class in the Rolex Fastnet Race. They finished the season in an impressive 3rd place in IRC2, just pipped by Joopster the J122 and Scarlet Oyster, and 13th in the IRC Overall series.

However, Visit Malta Puma's consistently good results throughout the season was the victorious tactic, and saw them finish 10th in the RORC IRC Overall Points Series (from 424 boats). This is a fantastic achievement, and a great testament to skipper Tim Thubron, mate Mike Martin and their crew, who were a vibrant group and partied as hard as they sailed - well done Puma Crew!

Allie Smith Managing Director of Sailing Logic comments "We're really proud of all our teams and with the series becoming increasingly competitive, finishing in the Top 10 and higher placed than many impressive professional crews is an incredible achievement. We have an exciting race calendar lined up for 2012, and look forward to welcoming back familiar faces and as well as bringing new faces on board!"

We'd love you to come and help us celebrate at the RORC Annual Prize-giving Dinner - on Saturday 19th November. Last year, was a fantastic event - the Royal Banquet House (Whitehall London) provides an impressive setting, the food and wine was superb. An all-round great fun evening, so if you would like to join us at our table please let us know!

More info RORC.

The Hamble Winter Series, an 8 Sunday race series, got underway last weekend with 2 races each class on Sunday morning.

All 3 of the Sailing Logic teams were raring to go, after a great Saturday training day and a social out in Hamble Village in the evening.  A somewhat breezy forecast, ideal for Reflex 38’s started as predicated and constant winds of 15-18 knots made racing exciting, but the gusts of up to 25 made it even more exhilarating.  Visit Malta Puma, led by Tim Thubron, wanted to lay down their marker for the rest of the class to see, but unfortunately had a slower start than usual due to another yacht getting in their way! Jaguar Logic however, under the solid guidance of Peter Burwood, had a cracking start and were well clear of Puma for the rest of the race. Lion Logic, skippered by Mike Martin, stayed clear of trouble at the start and made sure he was ahead of the main rivals. With a complete novice race crew onboard, the team did exceptionally well to finish the first race in 7^th position, well ahead of some personal rivals! Visit Malta Puma managed 4^th place in the end which was very respectable, and Jaguar Logic was just pipped to the top position by 3 seconds, registering a great 2^nd place overall.

Visit Malta Puma fared much better in Race 2, getting a great start, and zooming away from the rest of the class almost immediately. A close battle was fought with the new First 40 Winston, but Puma ran away to first place by nearly a minute on the water and nearly 2 minutes on corrected. Jaguar Logic meanwhile were having a private battle with the J122 Jolou, and managed to take 3^rd place which was super. Lion logic, unfortunately had sail damage and were unable to complete race 2, but the team should be justifiably proud of their first ever race result!

At the end of the weekend, 3 yachts are tied at first place: Visit Malta Puma, Jaguar Logic and Jolou – how exciting – all to play for next Sunday – bring it on!!!

photo by Hamo Thorneycroft www.yacht-photos.co.uk