Williams Spring Series Race report
Published 16:44 on 4 Jun 2026
The first full race series, the Williams Spring Series, has now concluded at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club after all six races have been sailed. Racers were blessed with a range of conditions throughout the series.
Both Jack & Megan in the slow handicap fleet, proved their determination and growing abilities by tackling some of the more challenging weather conditions early in the season. In the end Megan (8 pts) got the better of Jack (9 pts) by only a single point overall in the slow handicap fleet.
Moving on to the highly competitive fast handicap fleet, which has grown with some fresh new boat owners this season, as we welcome Guy & Susie in their RS400. The experienced sailors of Neil & Mark in their RS400 along with Lawrence in the Hadron & Jon in his Europe, traded positions throughout the series. Steve & Chris (RS400) impressed mid-series with a few third-placefinishes in a very tight field especially during race 3 which saw the top five boats finish within a minute on corrected time. The finalrace on Sunday 31st May pushed sailors in some rather gusty conditions and with a longer course, forced them to conserve energy. It was once again a tight finish with the top three positions separated by less than a minute and the rest of the field closely behind. Overall, only two points separated the podium places with Lawrence in third (7 pts), Jon in second (6.5 pts) and first place going to Neil & Mark in their RS400 (5pts).
Consistency in the Squib fleet often is rewarded with a good rank overall. It was another competitive first series for the class as therewere four different race winners across the six races. Rhapsody started strong with three excellent results leading the fleet with the others chasing. The second race saw some unique conditions when the lead boat (Kestrel) rounded the last mark and had to kedge after the wind collapsed. Icarus and Rhapsody rounded after but managed to kedge ahead after Kestrel was swept down tide. Once the breeze filled back in Icarus upon her season return took the win with Rhapsody lose behind leaving Kestrel to pick up third after holding a strong lead. The next three races went the way of Kestrel with Party Hat taking two second place finishes and once again Icarus and Panther trading blows. The series finished with Panther in third (11 pts), Icarus second (9.75 pts) and Kestrel first (6 pts).
Once again, we would like to thank all our race volunteers who made it possible for us to get on the water and enjoy the racing. A special thank you to Williams Estate Agents for sponsoring the first series of the year .
Last updated 16:58 on 4 June 2026
