Author: jollysailor

It was a fairly light wind from the East this morning, which is not an ideal direction because of all the trees on the East side of the lake. Dave P used an Island start with the first beat to 8, then 5, 9, 4 and back through the start

Pursuit race
There were 13 starters and early starter Chris H (Comet) managed to hold the lead until the gun at 35 minutes. Simon B (Blaze) who was second from last to start nearly managed to catch Chris but had to settle for 2nd place. Jon was the leading Laser in 3rd place with Newton & William (RS200) 4th and then two more Lasers Richard S and James in 5th and 6th places.
It was good to see Richard H in his fast RS400 and Marczin (Laser) joining the fleet for this race.

Handicap Race
Marczin, Mark B and Simon decided to sit this one out, so the fleet was down to 10.
First back through the line was Richard H (RS400) followed about 30 seconds later by Newton & William (RS200), who were only just ahead of John W, Richard S, James, Jon and Ralph all in Lasers and Nev in his Comet. About a minute later Chris H in another Comet and Adrian single handed in his Vago came through the line.

At the end of the second lap Richard H was still leading, but Jon had moved up to 2nd place pushing Newton & William down to 3rd. The only other mover was Chris H who had caught and passed Nev in the battle of the Comets.

The third lap was the last and Jon had got past Richard H to cross the line in 1st place. Everyone else maintained their positions apart from Ralph who had overtaken John W to move up to 6th spot.

The final positions on the water were –
1st Jon; 2nd Richard H; 3rd Newton & William; 4th; Richard S; 5th James; 6th Ralph

On handicap Chris H (Comet) will replace Richard H (RS400) in 2nd position.

Thanks to Dave P and the small OOD Team of Julian B, Paul H and Bob.

Due to the forecast of adverse weather conditions on Sunday it has been decided to cancel the racing. The combination of very high winds of 20 – 38 mph and freezing temperatures would make it foolhardy to sail and would put a lot of responsibility on the OODs.

Spring Series 1 4th March 2018

The format was the same as last year, a 35 minute pursuit followed by a 45 minute handicap race.
With a light wind about 6 – 10 mph from the SE Peter R set the first beat to 1 then 4, 2, 3, 5 and back through the start.

Pursuit race
There were 8 starters and at the end of the first lap early starters Chris H (Comet) and Sally & Nev (Leader) were in the lead, but being rapidly caught by Simon B (Blaze).
At the gun Simon had taken the lead, but Chris and Sally & Nev were still in 2nd and 3rd places. Unusually all the boats behind them retained the same places as at the end of the first lap.
Final positions were –
1st Simon; 2nd Chris; 3rd Sally & Nev; 4th Newton & Ellen; 5th James; 6th William; 7th Rick; 8th Rhys.

Handicap Race
For the second race the course was changed to 1, 5, 9, 4 and back through the start.
Simon was first back through the line with Ellen & Newton (RS200) some 50 seconds back in 2nd place and Chris H coming through in 3rd about a minute ahead of Rick (Laser) in 4th place. James was about another minute back in 5th place. Then another minute elapsed before Sally & Nev crossed the line in 6th followed by brothers William (Radial) and Rhys (Topper) 7th and 8th.
It was a four lap race and the whole fleet remained in the same positions for the duration of the race!

On handicap the final positions should be –
1st Chris; 2nd Ellen & Newton; 3rd Simon; 4th Sally & Nev; 5th Rick; 6th James

Thanks to Peter R and the OOD Team of Simon B, Julian B and Simon R.

Spring is here! The spring series starts tomorrow Sunday 4th March.

The blows are back in town! It was an East wind of 13-15 mph with a bitterly cold edge. Dave P set the first beat to 8 then 6, 5, 2, 3 and back through the start.

There were only six starters this morning, not surprising considering the conditions. Simon B (Blaze) was first back through the line about one minute ahead of Steve S (Aero). Rick (Laser) was next through in 3rd place just ahead of Nev & Sally (Leader). Chris H (Comet) came through thirty seconds later with Marcin (Laser) another thirty seconds back.

On the second lap there were no changes in position, although Simon had stretched his lead over Steve. Rick was having a close battle with Nev & Sally and they crossed the line virtually together.

By the end of the third lap Nev & Sally had moved into 3rd place ahead of Rick, who must have had a moment or two as he had lost a minute and a half. There were no other changes in position and Marcin received the gun at the end of this lap.

No change in the leading three boats on the fourth lap, but Chris had managed to catch Rick to move up to 4th place. At the end of this lap Nev & Sally, Chris and Rick all received the finish gun. This left Simon and Steve to complete one more lap and finish the race.

Final position on the water were –
1st Simon; 2nd Steve; 3rd Nev & Sally; 4th Chris; 5th Rick; 6th Marcin

On handicap the only change in position will be Chris leapfrogging Nev & Sally to take 3rd place from them.

Thanks to Dave P and the OOD Team of Bill C and Chris & Carol M, who unfortunately had a cold morning. Not sure what happened to the rest of the team!

In contrast to the two previous weeks there was quite a light wind this morning. It was coming from the SE about 8-10 mph, although it went up and down during the race. Dave I used an Island Start with the first beat to 1, then 4, 8, 5 and back through the start.

There were 14 starters and first back though the line was Simon B (Blaze) with a good lead on Mark (Laser), who was closely followed by Newton (Solo), James (Laser) and Ken (Laser). Steve S (Aero) after a poor start (for him) was rapidly catching Ken. There was about 30 seconds back to Dave L (Laser) in 7th place with another 40 seconds back to Mike A (Lightning) who was about the same interval ahead of Rick(Laser). Then there was another gap back to William (Radial), Nick & Dean (Vago), and Jeremy and Alistair S both in Lasers with Marcin (Laser) bringing up the rear.

By the end of the second lap Simon had increased his lead and Newton had moved up to 2nd place with Steve moving up two places to 4th. The only other movers were Nick & Dean passing William to move up one place.

On the third lap Simon further increased his lead and Steve moved up to 3rd ahead of Mark and James and Dave L passed Ken to move up to 6th place. Nick & Dean gained another two places to move up to 8th and William passed Rick to move up to 10th. Further back Jeremy and Alistair were having a good scrap and Marcin and Alistair received the finish gun at the end of the lap. Not sure why Jeremy was not accorded this honour as well, perhaps the OOD Team missed him or he missed the gun or just decided to carry on anyway!

At the end of the fourth and last lap Simon crossed the line well ahead (we thought) of Newton in 2nd place with Steve still 3rd. James managed to just pip Mark for 4th place and the only other change was Rick repassing William.

Final positions on the water were –
1st, Simon; 2nd Newton; 3rd Steve; 4th James; 5th Mark; 6th Dave L

On handicap Newton will take the 1st spot with Simon in 2nd place and both James and Mark will leapfrog Steve pushing him down to 5th with Mike A beating Dave L by a whisker for 6th.

Thanks to Dave I and the OOD Team of Ellen, Andy B, Mike C and John H.

It was very windy in fact even windier than the last time it was very windy. The wind direction was WSW about 12-14 mph, but with gusts at least twice as strong.

There were 13 starters which was definitely unlucky for some and it was surprising that so many went out. Everyone was down a rig except Newton as he does not have a smaller sail! Adrian was using standard Laser rig, which is one down for him!

Newton (Solo) decided to bail out just after the start and beat the rush. Rick (Laser) capsized at the start and parked in the bushes. Ellen (Laser) was going well in third just behind Jon (Laser) and Steve (Aero) when her mast broke just before the end of the first lap. More than half the fleet retired on the first lap so Ellen, Adrian, Curtis, Hugh, James, and Rick (all Lasers) disappeared, along with Newton in the only Solo.

At the end of the second lap Steve just led Jon across the line, then six minutes elapsed before William (Radial – flying a 4.7) came through in 3rd place. Two minutes later Dean & Nick (Vago) crossed the line a minute ahead of Chris H (Comet), who was about ten minutes ahead of Jemima in her Oppie. Jemima received the gun at the end of the lap (well done to her for going out in these conditions).

On the third lap Steve and Jon were still having a good battle before Jon capsized at No 1 and the cold and conditions got the better of him. This allowed William to move up to 2nd position with Dean & Nick now 3rd and Chris 4th.
Everyone received the gun at the end of this lap apart from Steve who had to do another lap before finishing (he was going so well it was a pity to finish him!).

Final positions on the water were – 1st Steve; 2nd William; 3rd Dean & Nick; 4th Chris H; 5th Jemima.

On handicap the first two retain their positions, but Jemima moves up to 3rd with Chris up to 4th

Thanks to SOOD Dave P and the OOD Team of Steve G, Paul H, Dave L and KMB + ANO?

The conditions were similar to a couple of weeks ago with the wind from NE (from the club going down the lake) about 14 mph with much stronger and sudden gusts and occasional white horses. It did not start out that way and seemed quite reasonable before the start and in the shelter of the boat park; in fact all the Lasers and Steve were tempted out in full rigs.
Peter S used an island start with a first beat to X (up towards the clubhouse), then 5P, 3P, 4S, 2P and back through the start line.

There were just nine starters and Newton (Solo) managed to capsize just after rounding X for the first time and emerged in last place. Then on the run down to 3 the first of many big gusts came though and skittled over James (Laser) and Mark (Laser). At the end of the first lap Steve (Aero 7) came through the line about one minute ahead of Jon (Laser) who was closely followed by Adrian (Laser). Newton had recovered well to cross the line in 4th place and was about 30 seconds ahead of Dave L (Laser) in 5th place. Next were James and Mark in their Lasers recovering well from their early bath!
William (Radial) and Chris H (Comet) brought up the rear.

Remarkably although the leaders completed six laps there were no changes in position until the fourth lap of the race. Not strictly true as Dave stopped after two laps when lying 5th, as he could no longer feel his fingers because of the cold. Everyone behind him gained a place, but there was no actual overtaking until the fourth lap when Mark managed to pass James. Chris H received the gun at the end of this lap.

Jon was keeping in touch with Steve at the front until the 5th lap when he capsized and had difficulty getting it up and lost the best part of a lap which dropped him down to 5th place. Adrian and Newton moved up to 2nd and 3rd respectively and for their pains were sent round for a further lap. Everyone else received the finish gun.

The final positions on the water were –
1st Steve; 2nd Adrian; 3rd Newton; 4th Mark; 5th Jon; 6th James; 7th William: 8th Chris H

On handicap Steve still takes the victory but Newton leapfrogs to 2nd pushing Adrian down to 3rd and the only other change in the order is Chris snatching 7th from William.

Thanks to Peter S and the OOD Team of Simon B, Tony R, James T, Fraser W and Bob W.