Warsash Spring Series 2002: Race 2 After leading the fleet for most of Race 1 until not being able to find an out of position Navigators & General mark, aboard Fandango we were keen to make no mistake in Race 2. Prior to the start we went upwind with the Heavy No.1 and showed good speed in 15-16 knots of true wind. As we headed back towards the start area however the wind began to drop slightly. Our weather guru Dave Lennard was expecting the breeze to settle at 10-14 knots for the day and we therefore decided to use our new Checkmate Carbon Medium No.1 Genoa for the race. The start line was favoured towards the pin and we started at that end although we were immediately in danger of getting dirty wind off another 40.7, Appledore Shipbuilders, who had a good start ahead and slightly to leeward. Off the line Appledore went for maximum height and we were forced to tack off and dip behind the Elan 40. Appledore then tacked to cover and when we went back left they tacked right on top of us. We then tacked away to clear our air and when we came back together we were four boat lengths in front. By now Fandango was flying and showing her superior speed to the hole fleet. Dave Scanlan called an excellent layline for the windward mark, which then actually turned into more of a passing mark as the second leg was still virtually upwind. We extended away from Appledore who was by now closely followed by another 40.7, Fastwave. We followed IRC 1 across the first spinnaker leg, a tight reach, and then headed off downwind with our new Series 2000 1/2oz Runner set. For the rest of the race we sailed conservatively, loosely covering the following pack and even pulling further ahead on some legs. The only worrying moment came on the penultimate run as we sailed into a whole created by a freighter that was moored on the course area, allowing the chasing boats to catch up slightly. When the corrected times were calculated we had won the race by 1 minute 15 seconds from Appledore with Fastwave in third. The Spring Series continues on April 7th but before then Fandango will be participating in the RORC Easter Challenge at Cowes over the Bank Holiday weekend. Roger Cerrato, Banks Sails Back to Fandango minisite homepage