Month: December 2021

This morning there was a gloomy mist and very little wind and as a result there were only six venturing forth.

It turned out to be a Comet morning with Aileen winning the Pursuit race and Chris H the Handicap race.

The Pursuit very nearly finished in the starting order as at the gun it was –

1^st Aileen/Comet; 2^nd Chris H/Comet; 3^rd Roland/Solo/ 4^th Chris K/Laser; 5^th Emily/4.7 6^th Newton & Sam/RS200

With very little wind the Handicap race was a one lapper and the finishing order was similar to the Pursuit, except that Chris won this one with Aileen in second place. Emily opted out but Paul W/Morbic joined in, but retired along with Newton & Sam leaving just four finishers.

1^st Chris H; 2^nd Aileen; 3^rd Chris K; 4^th Roland.

The order on the water remained unchanged on corrected time.

Thanks to SOOD Paul R, who managed to set a course despite the vagaries of the wind!  Thanks also to the race team of Andrew S, Angus N, Christine H, Paul D and Steve M.

Sunshine and a gentle breeze meant it was much warmer than previous weeks and it definitely brought out a few more sailors, with 15 boats starting the first ever Frostbite Pursuit race. 

SOOD Mark set a course, then Karen who had volunteered to help changed it slightly, resulting in 4P, 9P, 5S, 7S, 6S, S!!

First away Ron in the Mirror, was followed quickly by William in a Topper, Dad Dan in a Pico, and Paul in the Morbic. Then the Comets of Aileen and Chris set off, before Roland in the Solo and Ann/Dave in the Leader. The Lasers of Chris K, Darren, James, Adrian and Rick and the RS200 of Newton/Sam all set off in their normal mass start before finally the 470 with Mike T/Alessandro. 

William in his Topper came round the first lap in the lead closely followed by the Morbic and the Mirror, Aileen was in front of Chris H and Roland in the Solo was between them. Dave/Ann were next followed by Newton/Sam and the Lasers of Chris K, Darren, Adrian and James. The Pico with Dan on board was still ahead of Rick in the final Laser and the 470. 

The second lap saw Newton/Sam leaping to the front of the fleet, followed by Roland, and then the two Chris’s Comet still before Laser. Darren was in front of Aileen, Ann/Dave still holding onto to 7th and William who was starting to slip back, but not as far as Paul and Ron who now only had the Pico behind them with the 470 and the rest of the Lasers getting past them. 

The end of the race saw Newton/Sam in podium position, with Roland still holding onto 2nd from Chris K in 3rd.

Jeremy in his Laser decided to join in for the first Frostbite Handicap race making 16 starters. An interesting start from the 470 caused a bit of chaos, when they attempted a port flier but didn’t succeed! Darren definitely was not happy!! 

Chris K in a Laser came round the first lap just in front of the RS200 of Newton/Sam, then another Laser with Darren onboard. Roland was going really well in the Solo, followed by James in a Laser, then the 470 and the Leader. Adrian, Rick and Jeremy were all close together, followed by the Comets with Aileen just in front of Chris. The Topper, Mirror and Mobic were also all close together a bit further back and Dan in the Pico bought up the rear. 

Lap 2 saw Chris K pulling out a lead of a minute from Darren, who was followed by the 470, then the RS200. Roland was still there in the Solo, but James was very close behind, just in front of Dave/Ann in the Leader. Rick had passed Adrian to be the first of the next Laser trio, and Aileen was beginning to pull away from Chris in the battle of the Comets. A fair gap back to the slower boats but the Mirror was now leading the Topper and the Morbic with Dan falling a bit further behind. 

Lap 3 saw only a few changes in position, Newton/Sam overhauled the 470, and William in the Topper got past Ron as the four slower boats were finished having been lapped by the front runners who were already on Lap 4.

Lap 4 was the final lap and no one changed position, Chris K taking first on the water followed by Darren, Newton/Sam, Mike T/Alex, Roland and James. 

Memorably Aileen lowered Chris Hilson’s colours in the battle of the Comets crossing the line neatly one minute ahead of him!!

Corrected times saw podium place going to Chris K in a Laser, Darren 2nd in a Laser and Roland 3rd in a Solo. 

Thanks to the Race Team of Karen, Ben and Bea, the Rescue Boat teams of Mark and Ken, Adrian and Dick and Trolley Man Chris. 

Yet another cold, windy day (but not as bad as forecast) and the number of OODs exceeded the number of sailors!! 

Four brave souls started the Pursuit race, two Lasers Darren braving the full rig and James opting to reduce sail, Chris in a reduced sail Comet and Ron in his Mirror. 

SOOD Karen had set a course starting at Tectona of Ap (close to 4), Bp ( between 4 and 2), 8p, 5p, 1s. Ron was first away and stayed in front for the first 2 laps, Chris kept his place for the first lap. By the end of the second lap Darren was right on Ron’s transom and Chris was the tail ender. Darren finished in podium position with Ron second, and James third. Not really sure why James decided to celebrate with a capsize, including wrapping his mainsheet around mark 1 just as the gun went, because it was definitely too cold for swimming!! 

With no hanging around Karen and Bea got the Handicap race started (they were cold and wanted to get ashore, the rescue boat crews had both had brief respites ashore to warm up!) 

In the first lap shifting, gusty wind near 5 was the cause of a capsize for Darren who fell out the boat to windward in a lull, and then in a shift and gust the boat went over allowing James to catch up a bit, but not for long. No tactical racing for anyone as each sailor did their best to stay upright and just got round the course as best they could. 

Four laps for Darren and James, who lost a lot of ground in irons after a gusty shift (Push, Push, Wait, Pull, Pull is the quickest method for getting out of irons James!) and, probably relieved that they had been lapped, three for Chris and Ron. 

Order on the water was Darren, James, Chris, Ron, On corrected time Ron leapfrogs to second behind winner Darren. 

A very big thank you to the race team of Karen and Bea, and the Rescue boat team of Alistair S, Ainoha, Bill C and Alessandro. 

These were the last races of the Cobley series. 

Cobly Pursuit winners are Newton and Sam (plus various other crews), with Darren second and Chris H third. 

Cobley Handicap winner is Chris K, with Darren second and Newton and Sam (plus various other crews) third. 

Thanks to Karen for this entertaining report.

Winter had definitely arrived and only the brave ventured out onto the water in temperatures of ‘feels like – 2’, only the sun made it bearable for the race team! Fortunately, Storm Arwen had passed through, leaving a perfect strength but shifty breeze, but not without taking a tree down on the track to the sailing club! SOOD Dave had help from one of our neighbors with a chainsaw to remove it before he could even get to the club to open up! The Pursuit race had 11 starters and the team on Tectona, (Karen, Hadey and Bea) set a course of 4p, 2p, 9p, AP (between 4 and 5),1, S. 

First off was Ron in his Mirror, followed by Chris in his Comet, then the Solos of Roland and Mike C. Newton/Sam in the RS200 and the Lasers of Darren, Chris K, Ralph, James and Mark, with a questionable windward boat incident, were off before finally Mike/Ali in the 470 got going. 

The first lap finished with all the slower boats still out front followed by 

the Lasers of Darren, Chris K and Ralph followed by Newton/Sam in the RS200 before James and Mark. The 470 had not yet passed anyone. 

Lap 2 saw Chris in his Comet passing Ron, who had Roland right on his tail and Mike C not far behind.  Chris K had passed Darren, and Newton/Sam had passed Ralph. 

The final Lap saw Chris K capsize, (that must have been chilly) and lose lots of places, but the slower boats held the top three positions with Chris finishing just in front of Roland, and Ron keeping in front of Darren. 

Mike C decided enough was enough and Emily came out, having arrived late and taken a very long time to rig her boat! The handicap race therefore had 11 starters with a very slight course change, Karen deciding a better reach was to be had by replacing 2 with B which shortened the leg from 4. 

Hot chocolate with marshmallows kept Bea warm on Tectona, whilst doing a sterling job of hauling flags up and down. 

Lap 1 saw the rare sight of Mike/Ali in the 470 out the front, followed by Newton/Sam. The Lasers were split with Roland going really well in his Solo in amongst them, Chris K, Darren and Ralph in front of him and James and Mark behind him. Emily was in front of Chris H, and last but not least was Ron. 

Lap 2 saw the double handers changing positions, and Roland and James getting past Ralph when he was forced to do turns by not keeping clear to windward of Darren. (Karen’s top tip – it is a lot quicker to do your penalty turns with your main in and your daggerboard down!!!). Chris H was in front of Emily, but they were having a really good race. 

Lap 3 saw Newton/Sam still out the front, but Chris K had passed the 470 and Roland was now in front of Darren. This time round Emily was in front of Chris! Ron was finished at the end of this lap as by the time he came round the first five boats had finished their fourth and final lap. 

The final lap saw Chris K take the gun getting past Newton/Sam on the penultimate leg, next in was Mike/Ali followed by Darren then Roland. 

Corrected times saw Roland leaping into first place, 2 secs in front of Chris K, with Newton/Sam taking third. 

Thanks to the race team of Dave &, Ann L, Karen, Hadey, Bea, Richard M, Simon B and Martin L.