Month: December 2017

Boxing Day Cup Race 2017

It was quite a pleasant morning with a hint of sun, but a cold edge to the wind, which was similar to the Christmas Eve race. There was no designated SOOD on the rota, but Colin H kindly took this on.
 
There were 11 starters and all of them finished with Steve S (Aero 7) leading from start to finish, but being pushed all the way by Jon (Laser) who was never far behind him. James (Laser) was 3rd across the line at the end of the first lap followed by Newton (Solo) and Hugh (Laser) then came Hadey and William in Radials and Nev & Mike (Leader). Curtis was next through in another Radial followed by Dean & Nick (Vago) with Rhys (Topper) behind them.
 
At the end of the second lap the two leaders were well ahead and Newton had passed James to move up to 3rd place. The other movers on this lap were Curtis up three places and Dean & Nick up two.   
 
On the third lap James repassed Newton to move back into 3rd place, Hugh and Hadey both gained a place to move up to 5th and 6th and Dean & Nick also gained a place and moved up to 7th.
 
The fourth lap saw no changes in position for the first six boats, but Curtis and Nev & Mike managed to pass Dean & Nick to move up to 7th and 8th. Rhys, who had battled away gamely at the back of the fleet, received the finish gun at the end of this lap.
 
The fifth lap was the last lap of the race and Steve crossed the line still in 1st place on the water. Hugh and Curtis both managed to get past Hadey to finish 5th and 6th pushing her down to 7th. William also gained a place by passing Nev & Mike to finish in 8th place.
 
The final order on the water was –
1st Steve S; 2nd Jon; 3rd James; 4th Newton; 5th Hugh; 6th Curtis
 
On handicap Newton will take the victory with Jon in 2nd place, Steve 3rd and James 4th. Curtis and Hadey in Radials will leapfrog Hugh (Laser full rig) to take 5th and 6th.
 
Thanks to Colin H and the OOD Team of Brian M, Mark and Monica R, Roland L and Sally, especially the latter three who were not on the rota but volunteered to help out.
 
 

24th December Frosbite Series 3

As you may know Frostbite Series 2 race did not take place as the lake was frozen over. Nev & Mike did actually take to the water/ice in their Leader to demonstrate that racing would have been possible.
As they scrunched through the ice they were accompanied by winces and shouts of “Would you like some Gel Coat for Christmas!) from the assembled spectators on shore.

A week later and conditions were better and with a SW wind of 10-12mph, David C set the first beat to 4, then X (beyond Tektona as the other alternative No 3 had gone for a trip down the lake and was sheltering in the bushes!), 54, 8, 6, 7 and back through the start.
 
There were 17 starters including a new member Simon B (welcome Simon) who turned out in a Blaze, a fast racy boat and he soon disappeared out front. In fact he led from start to finish gradually increasing his lead on each lap. In 2nd place on the first lap was Steve S (Aero 7) closely followed by Curtis (Radial) who had got a good start in his first race for a while (welcome back to the fray Curtis). Newton (Solo) came through in 4th place just ahead of Ellen, James, Ralph, Ken, Hugh, Alistair and Dave L all in Lasers. Hadey (Radial) was next across the line in 12th place about 10 seconds ahead of Nev & Mike (Leader) and Chris H (Comet) who crossed the line together with William (Radial) about another 10 seconds further back. Mike C (Wanderer) was next through and bringing up the rear was Dave P in his Mirror.
 
At the end of the second lap there was no change at the front, but Ellen, Ralph and Ken had moved up to 3rd, 4th and 5th places respectively. Dave L had moved up three places to 9th and everyone behind gained a place as Alistair retired.
 
On the third lap the first five boats retained their positions, but James had moved up to 6th place by getting past Newton. There were no other positional changes on this lap, but Hugh, Mike C and Dave P all retired.
 
At the end of the fourth lap Simon and Steve were still way ahead, but Ralph had passed Ellen to move up to 3rd. Curtis had gained a place by passing Newton to move up to 7th.
 
The fifth lap was the last lap for most of the fleet, but David decided to send Simon and Steve round another lap as penance for being so far ahead!
Newton repassed Curtis on this lap as did Dave L and they moved to 7th and 8th places. Further back William gained a place by passing Chris H.
 
The final positions on the water were –
1st Simon B; 2nd Steve S; 3rd Ralph; 4th Ellen; 5th Ken; 6th James
 
On handicap the first four will retain their places, but Newton will move up to 5th place.
 
Thanks to SOOD David C and the OOD Team of Jon, Roland L and Rick L. Roland and Rick were not actually due to be on duty, so special thanks to them as they stepped in as the other four members on the rota did not show!
 

10th December Frostbite Series 1

Well the Frostbite Series is upon us with a 11.00 start and a single one hour handicap race.
With the snow coming down and a forecast of gale force winds only four boats ventured out this morning. In fact the gale force winds did not materialise and the wind was light and very changeable in both direction and strength!  It was difficult for Dave I to set a course from the shore but he used the normal flag pole with a short beat to 7 (which was OK with so few boats), then 6, 8, 4, 9 and back through the start.
 
At the end of the first lap Newton (Solo) was first back through the line followed by Adrian (Laser) then Chris H (Comet) and quite a bit further back Dean & Nick (Vago).
There were no actual changes in position during the whole of the three lap race, so the finishing order was –
1st Newton; 2nd; Adrian; 3rd Chris H; 4th Dean & Nick
 
On handicap Chris H will leapfrog Adrian to move up to 2nd place.
 
Thanks to Dave I and the OOD Team of Brian and Richard M. None of the other members on the OOD rota turned out!   
 

3rd December Cobley Series 12

It was the last of the Cobley Series for this year and Dave L had the pleasure of overseeing the finale.
With a NW wind of about 5-8 mph he set the first beat to X (roughly near 6) then 8, 4, 2, 5, 7 and back through the start.
 
Pursuit Race
10 starters this morning and first back through the line was early starter Chris H (Comet) followed by Newton (Solo), Karen (Laser), Julian (Solo) and Jon (Laser). Then there was quite a gap back to Mark (Laser) who was just ahead of Dean & Nick (Vago).  Two minutes later Alistair (Laser) came through the line just in front of the last starter Adrian (single handed Vago) who had caught and passed Jeremy (Laser).
At the gun Karen had come through to take the victory and the final positions were –
1st Karen; 2nd Newton; 3rd Jon; 4th Chris H; 5th Julian; 6th Mark
 
Handicap Race
Marcin (Laser) joined the fleet for the second race. In the light wind there was only time for two laps and at the end of the first lap Jon had a good lead over Karen in 2nd place with Dean & Nick 3rd just ahead of Newton. About 30 seconds later Mark came through the line with a gap back to Chris H and then Julian and Alistair crossed the line together. Jeremy was next with Adrian and Marcin about 30 seconds further back.
By the end of the last lap Karen had taken the lead from Jon to give her a nice double on the day. Newton and Mark had both passed Dean & Nick to move up to 3rd and 4th places. The other movers on this lap were Julian up one place to 6th and Adrian up two places.
 
The final positions on the water were –
1st Karen; 2nd Jon; 3rd Newton; 4th Mark; 5th Dean & Nick; 6th Julian
 
On handicap the first three should retain their positions, but Chris H should move up to 4th with Mark 5th and Julian 6th.
 
Thanks to Dave l and the OOD Team of Sally & Mike N, Richard & Brian M and Ken.
 
Congratulations to Jon who won both the Pursuit and Handicap Series for this year.
The final positions were –
 
Pursuit Series
1st Jon; 2nd Karen; 3rd Newton; 4th Chris H; 5th James; 6th Mark
 
Handicap Series
1st Jon; 2nd Newton; 3rd Karen; 4th Chris H; 5th Mark; 6th James 
 

26th November Cobley Series 11

With a West wind of about 11 mph Mike A set a short beat to 5 then 9, 4, 8, 6, 7, and back through the start.
 
Pursuit Race
There were 15 starters today and at the end of the first lap early starter Dave P (Mirror) was still leading followed by the other early starters of Nev (Comet), Rhys (Topper) and Newton (Solo), but they were being caught by the chasing Lasers of Jon, Karen and James who had already passed William (Radial) and Julian (Solo). The final order was pretty well established by the end of the second lap and at the gun the finishing order was –
1st Jon; 2nd Karen; 3rd James; 4th Dave L; 5th Nev; 6th William
 
Rick capsized at some stage, but managed to get going again without losing too many places. Newton and Ellen retired for rounding No 4 in the wrong direction. This was the fault of Mike A as he originally posted 4 to Port and subsequently changed this to Starboard. He thought that everyone knew about this course change when obviously they did not! He should have hoisted the C Flag to indicate the change of course before the race started.
He apologised to Newton and Ellen, but this was scant consolation.  
 
In between the two races Ellen managed to get herself tangled in the bushes (not her day!). Thanks to Nick J who jumped into the second safety boat to affect a rescue as the other safety boat was busy acting as the committee boat logging the finishing positions.  
 
Handicap Race
At the end of the first lap Ellen was in the lead (at last something going right for her) closely followed by Jon, Karen, Dave L, James and Franz, all in Lasers. Newton (Solo) came through in 7th place with Rick (Laser) next, just ahead of Julian in his Solo. The two Vagos of Adrian (single handed) and Dean & Nick were next through, followed by Jeremy (Laser), Chris H (Comet) then William (Radial) and brother Rhys (Topper).     
 
No change in the two leaders on the second lap, but Dave L had got past Karen to move up to 3rd.
Rick had passed Newton to move up one place and Dean & Nick had got past Julian. William also gained a place by passing Chris H.
 
On the third lap there was no change in position for the first three boats, but Karen had lost another place to James who moved up to 4th. Newton had gained two places passing Rick and Franz, who must have had a moment as he had dropped down to 11th. Dean & Nick and Julian were up two places to 7th and 8th respectively. Adrian and William both gained a place and Rhys received the finish gun at the end of the lap.
 
By the end of the final lap Jon had managed to get past Ellen to cross the line in 1st place. Behind them there was a fierce battle for 3rd spot. James actually rounded the final mark in 3rd place, but then opted to tack immediately. Dave L and Karen were very close behind and this unexpected tack threw all three into some confusion.  In the melee Karen came out best and crossed the line in 3rd place and Dave L just managed to get his bow in front of James to take 4th. Further back Franz had regained two places to finish 9th and both.
 
The final positions on the water were –
1st Jon; 2nd Ellen; 3rd Karen; 4th Dave L; 5th James; 6th Newton
 
On handicap the first three should retain their positions, but Newton should move up to 4th leapfrogging Dave and James.
 
Thanks to Mike A (apart from Newton and Ellen!) and to Cecilia who had a lonely vigil in the Safety Boat and was the only person on the OOD rota to show up! Thanks also to Bob W who stepped up at the last minute to help with the race.