First race of Frostbite Series held at Neyland Yacht Club
The first race of a popular Pembrokeshire sailing series was held despite initial weather predictions.
14 crews at Neyland Yacht Club (NYC) took to mild waters after the first race of the 2025 Frostbite Series was initially doubted due to forecasts of dead calm.
Post-lunch, sailors enjoyed a fresh breeze ranging between 10 to 23 knots from the south.
A triangular course was set up east of the club, starting with a downwind start to a mark set off the marina car park, followed by a beat to Neyland Spit and a broad reach to hook around the club line.
All crews started well, with Simon G in his International Moth leading the pack to the first mark, closely followed by Alan G and Annie R in their Dart 18.
Geoff T, who started nearer to the shore at the pin end and thus sailed a tighter angle to the first mark, rounded in third.
The first capsize of the day was experienced by the 29er of Kiera E and Simon T, who were knocked flat by a gust while hoisting.
Positions remained unchanged by the completion of the lap, with the Solution of Ross P extremely close to the Supernova, followed by Alec D in her ILCA 6.
The leading Moth completed laps at an average time of 2 minutes 37 seconds, efficiently tackling the four-lap course.
However, the question remained whether it would be fast enough to win on corrected time.
The Dart 18, finishing second on the water, was also completing laps quickly and appeared fast on the lower reaches.
The Supernova maintained its lead over the Solution, pulling away on each beat, only to lose a bit on each reach.
A delay by Ross P to gybe on lap three might have given Geoff T the few seconds he needed on corrected time.
Alec D completed the finishers for Division 1, having sailed her ILCA 6 efficiently and without drama.
Isabelle N led the fleet of tightly packed Teras in Division 2 to the first mark and up the first beat before her lower mast snapped.
Liam F then took the lead ahead of Cerise L, Anwen S, and Ted S, and built on his lead over the following two laps, clearly enjoying his maiden sail of the larger-sized Pro rig.
All the Tera fleet exhibited confident boat handling, particularly in the area of confused sea at the beginning of the beat, where the main outgoing tide clashed with the back eddy running up the Neyland shore.
The second race of the day was not held due to the delayed start of the first.
The results showed the Dart 18 took the win, with Alan G disregarding local advice that catamarans aren’t favoured in Neyland waters.
The Solution came second, Supernova third, ILCA 6 fourth, and Int. Moth fifth in Division 1.
Division 2 results were in the order the boats crossed the finish line – Liam F first, Cerise L second, Anwen S third, and Ted S fourth.
