http://www.FlairIV.com/ Fri Sep 5th 2008 http://www.flairiv.com/news.php?id=0091 Next week a number of us should be crawling over the new Flair, this time an Elan 410, as we prepare it for Cowes Week. From then it will be straight into the usual round of Little Britain, Hamble, Warsash and Rolex CC qualification under its new branding of Premier Flair, recognising the support received from Elan UK agents, Premier Yacht Sales. There will also be logos from our corporate sponsor Galliford Try who have agreed a new long term deal that will see them enjoying the same level of committed racing that they have received over the last two years. This is great news for the Flair team and all their supporters and we look forward to our new toy.......... http://www.flairiv.com/news.php?id=0090 This years JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race was to be the swansong for Flair IV as the new 410 "Premier Flair" arrives from Slovenia in early July. The 2002 race was Flair IV's second outing and she achieved a class win and 5th overall so with a good forecast and a beat off the startline for the first time since then there was real optimism that we could say farewell to the old girl in style. An awesome start about a third of the way down the line from the Island saw us lifted on the tide so that when we tacked onto port off of Egypt Point we were able to cross the whole fleet on port! Utilising tide and wind shifts we were able to stay ahead of all but the fantastically handicapped Swan 48 (yes, 48!!!) Alvine Jaocbite who used her waterline length and power to devastating effect up the middle of the Solent leaving us with a couple of J109s and and old sparring partner the HoD 35 Zarafa. Arriving at the Needles with only 1hr 40m gone we chose to shoot the gap and immediately gybed inshore to avoid the tide and were followed by Scho in Zarafa. With most of the black fleet choosing to stay offshore we both ploughed a lonely furrow along the island shore with Rob telling us when to avoid ledges and when we could get further in. The speed and distance between us and Zarafa swung backwards and forwards until we eventually round St Katherines (just after a warm pasty break, well done Andy!) side by side after three and half hours sailing! Still hugging the shore and dodging lobster pots and trailing lines, we waved to Shirley Robertson before picking up a fantastic gust to ease a five length lead on Zarafa. As we came around the corner into Sandown Bay we found another couple of gusts that allowed us to open another 20 boat lengths on Zarafa. This, combined with her getting stuck in an argument with a couple of pink fleet boats, meant that was the last we saw of her and left us alone to catch Alvine Jacobite. A good rounding of Bembridge Ledge bouy and a harden up close to the Priory Bay/Seaview shoreline saw us cheat more tide whilst nipping inside both of the red pole markers of Ryde sands helped keep the heart rates up! The last beat was a wet and squally affair with tantalising glimpses of Alvine Jacobite but never close enough to think we would be able to save our time on her. And so it proved, we finished in 2nd place in our class, 2nd in Black Group and 42nd overall. Not quite the highest we heights we reached in 02 but certainly a result to be really pleased with and a fitting finale for Flair IV. Once again she felt slippery and fast with her Sanders Carbon Medium No.1 and main and her Sanders AP kite gave us great speed to get away from the smaller, lighter HoDs and Js down the back of the island. In fact we were only headed by Alvine Jacobite in our Group in the whole 7.5 hours! Perhaps we'll have to lay Flair IV up and watch her become even better when the age benefit gets applied to her IRC rating! And so to the 410 - she will certainly have a lot to live up to. As for Flair IV, you can always charter her for a superb trip around yourself!!! http://www.flairiv.com/news.php?id=0089 Despite promising forecasts all week and a very pleasant breezy day on the Saturday Race 6 got off in less than perfect circumstances with an ebb tide ripping through the start line and a very light breeze. We failed to make our customary good getaway and left ourselves a lot to do. Unfortunately the main threats in the series Quokka (Elan 37) and Astarte (First 34.7) both had stunners and led the fleet to the first windward mark. Having gained a few places upwind we held our own on the run before taking huge chunks out of the leaders by staying left up the second beat. With an excellent downwind leg (VMG running) using the pressure on the mainland shore we took more time out of those around us and crucially spotted the breeze holding on the left hand side for the first leg of the final beat. This paid massive dividends as we sailed around watching boat after boat slogging up the middle. 5th around the last windward mark then and with a real shout of catching the leaders, who were starting to park up down the run. Once again we took advantage of the better zephyrs down the mainland side and VMG running saw us sailing around all but Quokka when our luck ran out with the wind. Moving the 8 ton 40-footer was always going to be fun compared to the relative lightweights that are Quokka and Astarte and sure enough both of them did enough to ease away to take 1st and second in the race, we recovered for 3rd. Some frantic maths followed as we reckoned that after 6 weeks of racing this meant that all three of us were on 9 points. Sailing Instructions were read and re-read and a hastily convened committee meeting on board decided that we had second place overall from Astarte and ahead of Quokka purely based on race wins! How close is that!!! It's a bit of shame that we couldn't get out title back, especially having led the whole series, as this was Flair IV's last Warsash, but perhaps it is fitting as that was her first series result straight from the box at Warsash 2002! We are delighted to announce that we will shortly be taking delivery of the new Elan 410 (hull no. 6) and that she will be called Premier Flair! If she is half as successful as the "old girl" then she will do well, but it is with a tear in our eye that we watch Flair IV retire to do family duty with the Macgregors! We would like to that all our supporters and sponsors throughout five stunning years with her, Sanders for the speed, Gul for the clothing, English Braid for holding the boat together, Selden for keeping Pete’s cloth upright, Garmin for telling us where we are going and Tacktick for telling us how quickly we are getting there, Galliford Try for a few years of great company and hospitality, Premier for keeping her safe at Swanwick and Elan for telling the world how we make their boats go fast!! Look out for her supporting events at PYC or the 420 circuit and be mindful that you can still charter her if you want to win at events like the Silicon Cup. Flair IV is nearly gone, but will never be forgotten! http://www.flairiv.com/news.php?id=0088 Coming into Race 5 the IRC 3 fleet was starting to sort itself out with the usual frontrunners Quokka, ourselves and Astarte (the former Tarka boys and girls) showing at the top of the board! A strong flooding tide and light wind made the start "interesting" but excellent positioning and boatspeed saw us climb off the line with better boatspeed than anyone else and lead to the first mark. Unfortunately our arrival at the first mark saw a complete disappearance of the wind and our anchoring technique was clearly not as efficient or practised as the other fleet members as we drifted 50 yards past the mark whilst preparing, relegating ourselves from first to last in the process. With just about enough wind to set the floater (the swing on the anchor had "tacked" us!!!) we were able to set off in hot pursuit (the weather, not the speed!) of the rest of the fleet and we made excellent inroads, passing all but the light wind flyers Astarte (First 34.7) who took the win and Quokka (Elan 37) who took second. This makes the situation going into the last week even more critical with us leading Quokka by one point and them ahead of Astarte by one point! A feeling of deja-vu for us all? Feel free to pray for wind for next week!!!! http://www.flairiv.com/news.php?id=0087 With the race officer trying to get the series back on track with two races for us this weekend we were looking forward to the forecast 15 knots from the East and the chance to get a couple of good results in. The day started well with a reduction in crew numbers (yes someone did forget to put their clocks forward!) but with James Armitage and his very enthusiastic guest from sponsors Galliford Try we were always going to make up for the missing body! Race 1 started in 18-20 knots of easterly. With a slightly cautious approach to the line and then a genoa sheet parting on the first tack we left ourselves with a bit to do. Some excellent boatspeed and good reading of a shifty breeze towards the Lee on Solent shore saw us claw back to second on the water behind Quokka (Elan 37). A solid run and beat back up saw Quokka keeping a cover on us and a rounding of the second windward mark still in second. Another good run and some excellent forward planning for the leg from Daks to Norris saw us keeping the AP kite up on a tight(ish) reach when all around went two-sailing. This allowed us to sail around the lee of Quokka in less tide (shallower water) and on the short beat to the finish at Sunsail we were able to extend the lead sufficiently to give a win by one minute on corrected time. Winner of the first race Astarte (First 34.7) was stuck with the rest of the fleet behind a crossing container vessel on the last beat so had to be content with 3rd. Having snatched victory in Race 2 and with it the overall series lead the crew were very focussed on making that new lead stick we approached the start of Race 3 with real determination. A very strong east going tide was causing problems for the other fleets at the start line but IRC 3 was able to get a clean start with us being the only boat to choose the pin end and able to get away with maximum boatspeed and clean air. A big windshift meant that the beat became a one-tack affair which we lead into the first mark. A clean gybe-set and a bit of wiggling coming back down to take advantage of some choice gusts saw us establish a good lead of over a minute into the second beat. Towards the top mark for the second time, reading the shifty winds well as we approached, another clean gybe-set and another good run saw us extend the lead to an unassailable 2 minutes. Back to the club for two bottles of champagne, two bullets and the news that the same 1,2,3 in both races (Flair IV, Quokka, Astarte) meant that our overall lead in IRC 3 had indeed been opened to 3 points. All in all an excellent Sunday with some real positives to take: - Galliford Try guests who really played their part in the win with excellent team work on the spinnaker drops in particular. - The value of crew members who can work in any position showing it's worth again as regular mast and mainsheet men were replaced due to absence! - Good crew work and integration of new members showing with no real foul ups during two races which called for gybe sets at almost every windward corner! - Excellent decision making and crew commitment to the decisions, the best example being the superb spinnaker work in the first race when we overtook Quokka. - The ability of everyone to contribute to get their heads "out of the boat" and see what's happening and offer a view. Our decision making is much more educated as a result and we were not overtaken once either up or downwind during these two races. - Fantastic speed from the Sanders Carbon Heavy No.1 and Main. Interesting to note that now Elaine (Elan 37) is starting to put together a regular crew she is showing signs of superb boatspeed with the same Sanders sails. Looking forward to next weekend even more now!