Month: September 2019

This should have been the evening when everyone decorated their boats with lights and sailed serenely around the lake providing a spectacular finale to the evening races. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas and with a 16 mph SW it was deemed unsafe to be sailing around in the dark, so the obligation for lights was waived and the race shortened to allow everyone to get home in the light. Curtis set the first beat to 4 then A, 9, 5, 8, 6, 7 and back through the start.

There were 13 starters, although Paul W was still on the bank when the gun went. He then decided to launch quickly and gave a demonstration of how to rig a Laser on the water with a little bit of help from James and Doug in the Safety boat!

Meanwhile Simon B was steaming away in his Blaze and crossed the line about a minute ahead of Newton & Ellen (RS 200) with Steve S (Solo) another 30 seconds back. Karen (Radial) came through in 4^th place not far ahead of Dean & Nick, who were having fun flying their spinnaker in the Vago. Hadey (4.7) crossed in 6^th place just in front of Rick and Milo in Radials with Will (4.7) just 10 seconds behind them. He was followed by Ron (Mirror) and Alicia (Radial). Missing from this list was John H (Laser) who rounded No 7 in about 5^th place but proceeded to tack and sail right up to the buoy line without going through the start line! Paul W had got going and was happily pottering around the course marks, but not necessarily in the right order!  

On the second lap Simon and Newton & Ellen were well away at the front and Karen had passed Steve to move up to 3^rd place. Dean & Nick were still flying around in 5^th, but Milo had passed both Hadey and Rick to move up to 6^th.Will had gained a place by also passing Hadey and Alicia had got past Ron. John H was still going well and was actually 4^th across the line.

On the last lap the only change in position was Rick repassing Will to move back to seventh heaven!

Simon crossed the finish line about 3 minutes ahead of Newton & Ellen and they were about the same distance ahead of Karen. The final positions on the water were-

1^st Simon; 2^nd Newton & Ellen; 3^rd Karen ;4^th Steve; 5^th Dean & Nick; 6^th Milo

As a point of interest John H was 4^th across the line and received a consolatory toot from Mike A on the hooter as did Paul W who actually had bothered to deck his Radial with lights earning the accolade of best lit boat on the night!

On corrected time the first four boats keep their positions, but Ron takes 5^th place with Milo retaining 6^th spot. Simon can thank his lucky stars that the original Twilight Race Trophy (which was a horrendous plastic candelabra) has disappeared.  

Thanks to Curtis and the OOD Team of Doug H, Emily S, James C, Phoebe S, Richard H, Sam S, Sophie F-P.

Thanks also to Sally for preparing salad and all the other bits and to Hugh with the help of Stuart for manning the Barbecue.

Well although we did not get the light fantastic, it was a good race to end the evening season and we did have a lovely sunset.

There was a good SW wind 10-15mph, which enabled Rick to start the race from the usual flagpole (as opposed to the unusual flagpole) with a long beat down to 3 (about as long as you can get without portage). He then went to A (which I reckon was somewhere near 2), then 4, B (your guess is as good as mine), 5, 6, 7 and back through the start.

Pursuit

14 takers today and no really early starters with the Solos of Steve S and Chris A, the Leaders of Mike N & William and Sally & Mike C and the Radials of Hadey and Joe going off in a starting group.

At the gun, last man away Simon B in his Blaze had come through the fleet to claim first place with Steve S of the starting group hanging on for 2^nd place. The final order was – 1^st Simon (Blaze); 2^nd Steve S (Solo); 3^rd Mike Tr (Laser); 4^th Dean & Nick (Vago); 5^th Ralph (Laser); 6^th Hadey (Radial)  

Handicap

Bill (K1) joined in for the second race so the fleet was up to 15, but not for long as Steve S disappeared on the first lap. Dean & Nick were first back through the start line a minute ahead of Mike Tr and Ralph in 2^nd and 3^rd places and they were only 4 seconds ahead of Mike C & Sally. Hadey getting back to form was next, but only just ahead of Jamie (Laser). Then there was a gap before Simon crossed the line in 7^th place (presumably he had experienced a problem as he is usually way ahead) and he was followed by Mike & William, just 10 seconds ahead of Joe. Next to come through was Jon in his Laser, who is usually a strong wind maestro, so he must have had a problem as well!

Chris A in the surviving Solo crossed in 11^th spot about 30 seconds ahead of Adrian (s/h Vago in this wind – obviously likes to set himself a challenge). Then bringing up the rear of the fleet were Bill and Alistair S (Laser), who follows Reading FC and usually opts for the same sort of position.

Rick was kind to everyone and blew the hooter at the end of the second lap and especially kind to Dean & Nick (but he was on for a pint if he finished the race when they were still ahead!). Ralph and Mike Tr were having their usual ding-dong and Ralph passed Mike to take 2^nd place. Unfortunately for Mike, Jon had sorted himself out gaining seven places and pipping Mike across the line by 3 seconds to snatch 3^rd place. Simon was up two places to finish 5^th pushing Hadey down to 6^th. The only other movers in the right direction were Chris A and Bill who both gained a place.

The final order on the water was 1^st Dean & Nick; 2^nd Ralph; 3^rd Jon; 4^th Mike Tr; 5^th Simon; 6^th Hadey

On corrected time this becomes

1^st Dean & Nick (we’ll never hear the end of this!) 2^nd Hadey; 3^rd Ralph; 4^th Jon; 5^th Mike C & Sally; 6^th Mike Tr

Thanks to Rick and the OOD Team of Gordon P, Issy, Pat G, Roland L and Sarah C.

Nice and sunny this morning, but a cool edge to the wind coming from NNW but veering considerably and between 8-10 mph. James used a Tektona start with the first mark as A (between 5 and 6 close to the buoy line. It was good to see Paul W back on the water and to see Lottie turning out again. Adrian opted for the intricacies of sailing his Vago single handed

Pursuit

There were 13 starters and at the end of the first lap early starter Ron was leading in his Mirror with second away Mike A (Lightning) holding on to 2^nd but being rapidly caught by Jessica (Laser) and Ellen & Newton (RS200). At the gun the final positions were 1^st Jessica (Laser); 2^nd Julian B (D-Zero); 3^rd Ron (Mirror); 4^th Newton & Ellen (RS200); 5^th Mark (Laser); 6^th Richard S (Laser).

Handicap

Julian W decided to rest his new Solo not to mention his old bones and Lottie kindly relinquished her Laser to Oom PaPa, better known to us as Rick (who had been busy trying to sell one of the club’s boats during the Pursuit Race).

First man back across the line was Julian B (D-Zero) with Ellen & Newton (RS 200) about 30 seconds behind him and Jessica about the same distance coming through in 3^rd place.  Next along were the Lasers of Mark, Richard S and William B (Rick was probably in this group too), not far ahead of Chris A (Solo) and Ralph (Laser). Ron (Mirror) crossed in 9^th with Mike C & Sally (Leader) catching him with quite a gap behind them back to Mike A (Lightning) and Rhys (4.7). Behind them were Adrian doing spinnaker exercises and Rich F in his Wanderer.

On the second lap there was no change in the first three, but Ralph had moved up four places to 4^th and Rick was back up to his favourite position of 7^th! Paul W and Rich received the finish gun at the end of this lap.

At the end of the third lap Julian B crossed the line to take victory on the water about one minute ahead of Ellen & Newton. Ralph had passed Jess to take 3^rd place from her and Richard S had got past Mark to take 5^th place. Chris A gained a place up to 7^th by passing Rick, Mike C & Sally passed William B to take 9^th place and Adrian got past Ron.

The order on the water was –

1^st Julian B; 2^nd Ellen & Newton; 3^rd Ralph; 4^th Jessica; 5^th Richard S; 6^th Mark

On corrected time this changes to –

1^st Ellen & Newton; 2^nd Ralph; 3^rd Jessica; 4^th Julian B; 5^th Ron; 6^th Richard S

Thanks to James and the OOD Team of Bea, Eva C, John R and Paul K.

It was a bit cooler tonight with a brisk West wind 13- 15 mph with stronger gusts coming through.

Karen, Rick and Mike To opted for Radial rigs and Nigel decided to take out a Topper instead of his Laser.

There were 14 starters and Simon B (Blaze) was first back across the line then Ellen and Karen came through close together with Jamie about 20 seconds later and all of these were sailing Lasers. Newton (Solo) crossed in 5^th place just ahead of Dean & Nick (Vago) followed by Ralph, Richard H and Rick in Lasers and grouped closely together. 30 seconds later Paul H (Supernova) and Mike Tr (Laser) crossed the line together battling for 10^th place not far ahead of Mike To in Radial rig Laser and Thomas in a full rig Laser with Nigel bringing up the rear of the fleet in his Topper.

On the second lap Simon had increased his lead to three minutes over Ellen and Karen, but there was no change in the order of the first seven boats. Rick and Mike Tr crossed the line together in joint   8^th, but there were no other movers behind them.

On the third lap there was an unexpected change at the front when Simon retired as he had sailed the wrong course (he’s not the only one who did not know the course!) This obviously moved everyone up a place, but Ralph improved on that by moving up three places to 4^th spot with Newton still 5^th and Rick up two places to 6^th. Mike To also retired and Nigel received the finish gun at the end of the lap.

No change in the order of the first three as they finished the fourth and last lap. Mike Tr made up three places and just pipped Ralph for 4^th place (sweet revenge for last week when Ralph did the same to him!) In moving up to 4^th Mike also passed Rick and Newton and to make matters worse for Rick he was also caught by Dean & Nick and Richard H.

The final order on the water was – 1^st Ellen; 2^nd Karen; 3^rd Jamie; 4^th Mike Tr; 5^th Ralph; 6^th Newton

On corrected time the only change is Newton moving up to 3^rd place pushing the rest down a place.

Thanks to Steve S and the OOD Team of Andrew S, Ben E, Cliff P, Ken P and Leon S.

This was the last race of the series and Jemima in her Opppie was the overall winner with Karen in 2^nd and Newton 3^rd place. Congratulations to them all.