The Hamble Warming Pan, organised by Hamble River Sailing Club and sponsored by Holt, was held over the weekend of the 16 / 17 March and attracted a total of 83 dinghies.

The weather for the weekend was nearly perfect. On Saturday a gentle SE'ly breeze of 10 kts allowed the crews to get back into the swing. By Sunday morning the wind had swung to the South and increased to about 15-20 kts with occasional sunshine.

When the event was first run in 1962 there were two classes, Merlin Rockets and National 12 dinghies. Over the years this has gradually expanded until now a total of eight classes were invited to attend. Unfortunately the National 12 class felt unable to join come but the Merlins entered 19 boats.

The larger boats sailed outside the river and in the International 14 class Robert Greenhalgh & Dan Johnson won both Saturday's races and the Sunday morning race to take the overall prize. The Laser 4000's also entered 19 boats and here the spoils were divided equally. Andrew Palmer-Felgate & John Modral (4422) and Luke McEwan & Emma Evans (4138) both scored two 1sts, one 2nd and discarded a 4th place. The tie was broken by Andrew's victory in the final race.

In the river the racing was timed so that the boats had a floodtide to sail on. On Sunday, with the wind blowing up the river, the Race Officers set a classic Warming Pan course. This led to many place changes as the boats hugged the shores to avoid the tide.

The Merlin class was won by Tom Stewart & Liam Dempsey (3591) by two points from Pat & Anna Blake (3559) and Will Rainey & Jennie King (3601). The other main class racing from the club start line was the Fireflies and here the overall prize went to the 2001 National Champions Jono Pank & Sally Wilson.

The club held an informal reception on Saturday evening with an open invitation to past & present 'Warming Panners'. Yacht designer David Thomas, who competed in the 1962 Warming Pan in his Merlin, proposed the toast to the next 40 years. On Sunday he won the Foxer Class.

Report from Eddie Mays (Marine Photographer) www.maysdesign.co.uk