Author: jollysailor

Gillette 17 – 8th August 2018

There was a blustery SW wind tonight blowing about 14 mph and Roland S set a long first beat down to 3 then 1, 5, 6,7 and back through the start.

There were 20 starters, but not for long as Hugh bent his knee back just after the start and had to retire. First back through the line was Ralph (Laser) followed closely by Mark B, Karen and Ellen, all in Lasers. Newton (Solo) came through in 5th with another two Lasers behind him, namely Alistair S and Will P. The first double hander, Dave & Ann (Leader) was next through in 8th place with the Lasers of Richard H and Rick following in 9th and 10th places. Then along came the second double hander in the persons of Dean & Nick in the Vago, followed by Chris H (Comet) and Mike A (Lightning). Sally & Stuart out in the second Leader were next through about 30 seconds ahead of Ron (single handed Mirror), who was followed by Alistair J in another Vago. Finally the Toppers of Rhys, Ollie and Emily crossed the line ahead of Phoebe in an Oppie. Ollie and Phoebe received the gun at the end of their first lap.

On the second lap there was no change in the order of the first five boats, but Richard H and Rick both gained three places to move up to 6th and 7th places. Sally & Stuart gained four places to 10th just behind Dean & Nick in 11th place. Emily received the gun at the end of this lap and Alistair J retired.

No change in the first six on the third lap, but Dave & Ann and Sally & Stuart got past Rick to move to 7th and 8th places. Will regained a couple of places to recover to 10th and Mike A passed Chris H to move up one place to 11th. Chris, Ron, Alistair S and Rhys all received the gun at the end of the lap.

On the last lap the only surprising change in the order was Dean & Nick rocketing up three places to cross the line in 8th place, perhaps they found where the spinnaker was stashed! There was a really close finish for 3rd place with Karen crossing the line just two seconds ahead of Ellen.

The final order on the water was –
1st Ralph; 2nd Mark; 3rd Karen; 4th Ellen; 5th Newton; 6th Richard H

On handicap the first two retain their positions but Newton moves up to 3rd pushing Karen and Newton down to 4th and 5th and Ron despite finishing a lap earlier moves up to 6th.

Thanks to Roland S and the OOD Team of Andrew B, Julian W, Martin W, Nev and Ryan S.

This morning there was a fine drizzle which became more persistent as the morning went on. The wind was about 13 mph from the SW but this gradually got stronger with gusts and sudden changes in direction. Mark set the first beat down to 4, then 9, 5, 2, 6, 7 and back through the start.

Pursuit Race
With a stronger wind the Lasers of Karen and Mike Tr were through to the lead by the end of the first lap, but Nev and Chris H in their Comets were still hanging on to 3rd and 4th places with Dave & Anne (Leader) in 5th and Mike A (Lightning) in 6th. At the gun Karen still led from Mike Tr , but Newton & Ellen (RS200) were up to 3rd place with Dave & Ann in 4th place and Nev in 5th place. From 6th to 9th was very close and difficult to judge as boats were on different tacks after rounding No 5, but the contenders were Mike A, Ralph, Adrian and Chris H.

Handicap Race
All 12 boats from the first race stayed on the water for the second, but the wind was getting friskier and unreliable which resulted in a number of capsizes. Alistair and Nev were the first to go in, at the same time up near 4, after a sudden wind change. Ellen & Newton led at the end of the first lap but they were not far in front of Karen with Adrian (Rooster) about 30 seconds further back in 3rd place. Mike Tr and Ralph came through fairly close together in 4th and 5th places with William B in another Laser in 6th place. Dave & Ann (Leader) in 7th were about one minute behind them and one minute ahead of Mike A (Lightning) with Chris H (Comet) in 9th and Sam (Topper) in 10th. Alistair and Nev decided to retire.

On the second lap the first two maintained their places, but Ralph had moved up to 3rd after capsizes by Mike Tr and Adrian, but they recovered well to cross the line in 4th and 5th places. William B was still in 6th but he had also suffered a capsize! Dave & Ann crossed in 7th, but Chris had got past Mike A after Mike capsized. Sam was still plugging along at the rear of the fleet and she received the finish gun at the end of this lap.

At the end of the last lap Ellen & Newton crossed the line in 1st place but Ralph had gained another place to finish 2nd ahead of Karen in 3rd. Dave & Ann went for a dip but got going again, but Mike A capsized again gybing round 2 and impaled both mast and boom in the mud!

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

On handicap no change in the first four, but Chris H moves up to 5th with Dave & Ann up to 6th.

Thanks to Mark B and the OOD Team of David M, Dean, Gary W and Mark D.

It was another light wind morning about 3- 5 mph from the SE, but variable.

Pursuit Race
There were 10 starters, but they only managed a lap and a bit before the hooter sounded to finish the race. The final order was –
1st Mike Tr – Laser; 2nd Ron – Mirror; 3rd Dave I – Laser; 4th Rhys – Radial; 5th Chris H – Comet; 6th John W – Laser

Handicap Race
After taking bronze Dave sat this second one out to give the others a chance and he was joined by Rick who wanted to catch his wind or anyone else’s wind for that matter!

First man back through the line was Ralph intent on maintaining his form of last Wednesday night’s victory. Mike Tr was 2nd about 30 seconds ahead of Monica in her Europe and Will sailing single handed in the Enterprise came through in 4th place with Chris H in 5th . After another gap of about 30 seconds Rhys crossed the line in 5th place just ahead of John W, who in turn was about 30 seconds ahead of Ron.

On the second lap there was no change in order although the gap between Chris in 5th and Rhys in 6th place had increased considerably. I suspect the rear of the fleet had found the RSC Sargasso Sea!

By the end of the third lap Mike Tr had caught and passed Ralph to take the lead. The only other change was John W passing Rhys and they and Ron received the gun at the end of the lap.

On the final lap Chris H made up three places to move up to 2nd, although it was very close finish between the first three boats and Monica was not far behind in 4th place.

The final order on the water was –
1st Mike Tr; 2nd Chris H; 3rd Ralph; 4th Monica; 5th Will; 6th John W; 7th Rhys; 8th Ron

(normally go to six places but it seems a shame to leave the last two out)

On Handicap the crafty Comet will take the spoils with Chris H moving to 1st place and Monica to 2nd spot. The leader on the water Mike Tr will drop to 3rd with Ralph 4th and Will 5th (the only one not to change his position). Ron will gain two places to move up to 6th.

This may have been Rhys’ first race in a Radial, so well done to him.

Thanks to James and the OOD Team of Bea, Chris M, Chris S, Monica & Mark R and Nev.

With a SW wind of about 8 mph Paul R set a first beat to O, then X, 9, 5, 6, 7 and back through the start. You needed to be there to know where O and X were. Luckily there was a shortage of Os and Xs otherwise it would have been first to round three in a row wins the race!

There were 22 starters tonight and a good turnout of Juniors. There looked to be the prospect of a good battle between Ben and Joe in Radials, Ollie and Sam in Toppers and Jemima, Ed and Phoebe in Oppies. It was the first race in the series for Sam, Ollie and Phoebe – so welcome to the fun.

At the end of the first lap a quartet of Lasers, Karen, Mike Tr, Ralph and Rick occupied the first four places (as it was a quartet it would have been difficult for them to occupy any more places, perhaps less if two of them were on the same boat), Newton (Solo) was not far behind in 5th place followed by another two Lasers helmed by Mark and John H with Dean & Nick (Vago) not far behind them. Then came the Radials of Ben and Joe split by only a second across the line followed closely by Paul H (Laser). Bob (Solo), Richard H and Jeremy (both in Lasers) were next through with Monica just behind them in her Europe telling them what they were doing wrong! Chris & Carol (Sport 14) sailed through in a little pocket of their own about one minute ahead of Ron (Mirror) who was trying to stay ahead of the junior battle at the back. This was led by Ed just ahead of Jemima, both in Oppies, and they were a little way ahead of Ollie and Sam in Toppers and Phoebe in her Oppie .

On the second lap Ralph managed to get past Mike Tr to move up to 2nd place, Rick was still 4th but Mark passed Newton to move up to 5th place. Joe and Paul H had both passed Ben to move up to 9th and 10th and Richard H and Jeremy had got past Bob (they must have taken note of Monica’s advice!), particularly as she passed Bob as well. Ed and Jemima still led at the back with Ollie and Sam in the same positions. Phoebe had been given the gun at the end of the first lap and Ollie received the gun at the end of this lap.

There was no change in the positions of the first eight boats on the third lap although Paul H crossed the line dead level with Dean & Nick for the 8th place. Richard H and Jeremy both moved up two places to 10th and 11th and Monica retired (job well done). Ben had repassed Joe and further back Chris & Carol had gained a place. They and Ron, Ed, Jemima and Sam all received the gun at the end of the lap.

At the end of the fourth and final lap Ralph just managed to pip Karen across the line, but that was the only change with the leading boats. Joe had a good last lap passing Ben and Jeremy to make up two places and that was the only other change in the order.

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

On handicap Ralph and Karen keep their places but Ed moves up to 3rd with Newton 4th, Jemima 5th and Mike Tr 6th.

Well done to Ralph for his first victory of the series and to Rick for his best position of the series. Well done also to the junior sailors especially Sam, Ollie and Phoebe contesting their first race in the series.

Thanks to Paul R and the OOD team of Mark P, Monica R, Nigel J, Patrick C and Sophie F-P.

Another hot sunny day with very little wind about 3 mph from the NNW and very few sailors!

Pursuit Race
Only five starters this morning and early starter Chris H managed to stay in front for the allotted time.
The final order was –
1st Chris H – Comet; 2nd Newton & Julian – RS200; 3rd Mike Tr – Laser; 4th Dave I – Laser; 5th Franz – Laser.

Handicap Race
With Dave I and Franz not contesting this second race the fleet was down to three!
The race was just three laps and the order for all three laps and hence the final order was – 1st Mike Tr; 2nd Chris H; 3rd Newton & Ellen and this did not change when handicaps were applied.

Thanks to Julian B and the OOD Team of Chris S, Dean, Gary and Pavlo.

Well it could be that the long hot dry spell is over. It was wet and windy this morning. The wind was SE/ESE 13 – 18 mph. Paul R used a start line with a committee boat attached to buoy 5 and the first mark X was in the direction of buoy 1 then 9, 4, 6, 5 and back through the start.

Pursuit Race
There were 9 starters and they managed to get three laps in before the hooter sounded to finish the race. The final order was –
1st John H – Laser; 2nd Mike Tr – Laser; 3rd Jamie H – Laser; 4th Chris H – Comet; 5th Franz- Laser; 6th Ben H – Radial; 7th 130022 – Laser (apologies for not getting your name); 8th Ron – Mirror
DNF Ken P

Handicap Race
Jamie H and Ken P did not take part in the second race and Paul shortened the course slightly by dropping No 5. The remaining seven completed five laps, apart from Ron in his Mirror who received the gun after four laps, having just been lapped by the winner Mike Tr.
The final positions on the water were –
1st Mike Tr; 2nd John H; 3rd Franz; 4th Ben H; 5th Chris H; 6th Laser 130022; 7th Ron.

On handicap the order will remain the same apart from Ron leapfrogging up to 2nd.

Thanks to Paul R and the OOD Team of Damian, Jan & Paul H, Pat G and Richard M.

It was virtually a repeat of last week, with a light SW wind of about 6 mph. Mike A set a first beat to 4 then 9, 5, 6, 7 and back through the start.

This week there were 12 starters including Katie S (a friend of Karen’s) in a Radial. Katie normally sails near Aberdeen so she would be used to a bit more of a blow up the kilt than we could offer her. In fact there may have been 13 starters, but no-one was quite sure whether Dave P & Monica were actually trying to cross the line. The same could be said of Mike T although he did eventually get going whereas Dave & Monica settled for pottering around.

Karen (Laser) was first back through the line with John H in another Laser not far behind her. Then there was a slight gap back to Mike Tr (Laser) who was about 20 seconds ahead of Paul H (Laser) who crossed the line just ahead of Mark B (Laser). Nearly a minute later Katie came through the line in 6th place but not far in front of Sally & Stuart (Leader) and Bob (Solo). Then there was another gap before Mike T (Laser) crossed in front of Ben (Radial) and Richard H (Laser) with Chris & Carol bringing up the rear in their 420.

At the end of the second lap the two leaders were unchanged, but Mark had moved up to 3rd pushing Paul and Mike Tr down a place. Further down the fleet Mike T, Ben, and Richard all gained one place.

On the third lap Mike Tr managed to pass Paul H to move up to 4th and Mike T (no holding him now) and Ben both gained another place to move up to 6th and 7th. Chris & Carol received the gun at the end of this lap.

At the end of the fourth and last lap Karen had increased her lead at the front and there was no change in the order of the next six boats, but Richard H gained a place by passing Sally & Stuart.

The final order on the water was –
1st Karen; 2nd John H; 3rd Mark B; 4th Mike Tr; 5th Paul H; 6th Mike T
(Katie actually crossed the line in 6th, but she is not competing in the series)

On handicap the first four remain the same, but Ben leapfrogs to 5th pushing Paul down to 6th.
(Sally & Stuart would move up to 7th)

Thanks to Mike A and the OOD Team of Andy B, Dean (ably assisted on the flags by his little apprentices), Phil M and Rick (who turned up despite swapping this duty with Mike!)

Yet another hot evening, although there were a few clouds about which did not amount to much, with a light SW wind of about 6 mph. Steve S set a first beat to 4 then X (near to 2), 9, 5, 8, 6, 7 and back through the start.

This week there were 19 starters and Mark B (Laser) was first back through the line followed by Newton (Solo) and then the Lasers of Ralph, Curtis, Jess and Mike Tr. Bob (Solo) came through in 7th place just ahead of Rick (Laser) and then 30 seconds later the dynamic duo Dave P & Monica (National 12) crossed the line just in front of another dynamic duo, Dean & Nick in the Vago. These were followed by another two Lasers in close company manned by John H and Paul H and then along came the more relaxed duo of Sally & Mike C in the Leader. Mike A (Lightning) and Ben H (Radial) were next across the line and they enjoyed a close battle throughout the race. Some 30 seconds later Ron turned up and he was about one minute ahead of Alistair J (Vago) and Luke D (Ttopper), who were just ahead of Paul in a Laser 2.

On the second lap the first three maintained position, but Jess and Mike Tr passed Curtis to move up to 4th and 5th places. John H and Paul H both gained four places to move up to 7th and 8th respectively. Mike A and Ben H both made up two places and Alistair passed Ron and Paul passed Luke. Alistair decided to retire at the end of this lap and Paul and Luke both received the finish gun.

At the end of the last lap Newton just pipped Mark across the line and Mike Tr had passed Jess and Ralph to take 3rd place. There were no other movers in the right direction apart from Ron who crossed the line just a whisker ahead of Sally & Mike C.

The final places on the water were –
1st Newton; 2nd Mark B; 3rd Mike Tr; 4th Jess; 5th Ralph; 6th Curtis.

On Handicap these positions should not change.

Thanks to Steve S and the OOD Team of Andy B, Graham K, Jill G and William I.

It was very similar to last Wednesday, hot and sunny with alight wind of about 6 – 8 mph.
The SOOD did not turn up so the OOD Team had to manage on theirown set the first beat to X then 5, 8, 4, and back through the start.

There were just nine starters (everyone else was watching England in the World Cup semi!) and the race lasted three laps with the first three, Karen, Hadey and John H retaining their leading positions for the whole of the race. Monica was 4th for the first two laps but then overtaken by Curtis and Ben on the last lap. Behind them the Lasers of Richard H, Paul H and Nigel were 7th, 8th and 9th throughout the race.

The final positions on the water were –
1st Karen – Laser; 2nd Hadey – Radial; 3rd John H – Laser; 4th Curtis – Laser; 5th Ben – Radial; 6th Monica – Europe.

On Handicap there should be no change in these positions.

Thanks to the OOD Team of Andy B, Ken P and Robin L and to anyone else who helped them out.

It was another hot sunny day with a light wind of only 5 mph coming from WSW veering SW and sometimes none at all! Mike A used a flagpole start with a first beat (nearly) to 5 then 9, 4, 8, 6, 7 and back through the start.

Pursuit Race
There were 8 starters and they managed a lap and a half before the allotted time. The early starters Ron (Mirror) and Rhys (Topper) suffered at the start because they had virtually no wind at all, but by the time Chris H (Comet) started the wind had picked up a little and continued to do so for the Lasers and RS200 that went off last.
The final order was –
1st Karen – Laser; 2nd Newton – RS200; 3rd Chris H – (Comet; 4th Mike Tr – Laser; 5th Mark B – Laser: 6th Ron – Mirror; 7th James – Laser; 8th Rhys – Topper.

Handicap Race
As the wind had veered to the SW , Mike changed and shortened the course to X, 9, 8, 6, 7; but not sure if this had much effect as the wind veered back any way and picked up slightly (t times). Julie joined the fleet in her Mirror, so there were 9 starters for the second race.

At the end of the first lap Karen had a lead of about 30 seconds over Newton, who was two minutes ahead of James in 3rd place. James came through in 4th some three minutes ahead of Chris in 5th place, who was just over a minute ahead of the Lasers of Mike Tr and Mark B. Then nearly five minutes passed before Rhys crossed the line ahead of the two Mirrors of Ron and Julie.

There was no change in order with the first six boats on the second lap although they had closed up slightly. At the back the Mirrors had managed to get past Rhys.

On the fourth lap, Newton had passed Karen to take the lead and Mark was just ahead of Mike by a lick of paint as they crossed the line. Ron, Julie and Rhys all received the gun at the end of this lap.

On the fourth and last lap the only change was Mike Tr passing Mark to regain 5th, so the finishing order on the water was –
1st Newton; 2nd Karen; 3rd James; 4th Chris; 5th Mike; 6th Mark

On handicap Chris leapfrogs the 3 boats above him to take victory, otherwise the order remains the same.

Thanks to Mike A and the OOD Team of Alistair J, Bob H, Doug H, Richard H and Tony R.