Author: jollysailor

Gillette Series 1 and 2

Gillette 1 –  13th April
The Gillette Series got under way on Wednesday 13th April with a fairly light wind evening.
It was good to see Chris & Carol back on the water in their Sport 14 and the re-appearance of Sylvia & Peter in their RS200 and Sally & Stuart in the Leader. It was decided to give the Juniors their own series within the Gillette series.
The final placings were – 1st Newton–Solo; 2nd Dave I–Radial; 3rd Tracey–Comet; 4th Ellen–Radial;
5th Dean & Nick–Vago; 6th Karen-Laser
Juniors:
1st Jemma-Oppie; 2nd Ben-Topper; 3rd Edward-Topper; 4th Joe-Topper; 5th William-Topper
 
Thanks to Mark B and his OOD Team.
 
Gillette 2 –  20th April
Tonight the wind was a blustery NE and Dave L set a course of Xp, 5p, 2s, 3s and back through the start line.
Dave used the Island Race Hut with the line across the lake and X laid up towards the club house. It was a toss up as whether to start at the island end with a better angle or further out with better wind.
There were 20 starters and David C (Laser) got to X first and then enjoyed clear air and got away. Hugh (Laser) also got a good start and maintained a strong position through the race.
At the end of the first lap it was 1st David C, 2nd Ian (Supernova), then the Lasers of Jon, Hugh, Ken, Curtis and Rod. Ellen (Radial) came through in 8th place just in front of the old man in his Solo (they must have decided to leave the RS200 honours to Sylvia & Peter). They were followed by another trio of Lasers helmed by Karen, Rick and John H. Sally & Stuart came through in 13th followed by Paula (Comet) and Amy & Tracey in another Leader. Sylvia & Peter were next along followed by Edward in the first Topper then Steve G (Laser 2000), Joe (Topper) and Dean & Nick (Vago). Jemma had started in her Oppie but retired somewhere on the fist lap.
 
On the second lap Ellen Newton were both approaching X on port trying find room amongst the starboard boats. Ellen pulled it off but Newton didn’t and had to do turns for infringing Curtis. Karen also had trouble rounding and lost time. At the end of the lap the first eight came through in the same order, but Karen had managed to get past Newton to move up one place to 9th. John H and Sally & Stuart had moved up one place to 11th and 12th respectively and Sylvia & Peter had made up three places to 13th. There were no other changes in the right direction!
 
By the third lap Ian had caught David at the front and they came through the line together. Behind them Jon was still 3rd but Ken had passed Hugh to move up to 4th.  Ellen and Karen had moved up two places and were now 6th and 7th. Dean & Nick had moved up three places to relinquish the coveted lantern rouge!
Amy & Tracey, Dean & Nick and Joe received the finish gun at the end of this lap. Not quite sure what happened to Edward as he was well ahead of Joe on the previous lap but was not given a finish time or noted as  “RTD” on the race sheet. Steve G also finished at the end of this lap, but was noted as “DSQ”, but not sure what the infringement was?   
 
At the end of the fourth and last lap Ian crossed the line in 1st place and the other notable movers were Hugh back up to 4th with Ellen 5th and Karen 6th. Sylvia & peter gained one more place to finish 11th.
 
The final placings on the water were –
1st Ian; 2nd David C; 3rd Jon; 4th Hugh; 5th Ellen; 6th Karen.
 
Juniors:
1st Joe; 2nd Jemma; 3rd Edward?
 
On handicap David C will take first from Ian and Ellen will take 4th from Hugh.
Hugh and Ellen both had good races, Ellen was observed talking race tactics to herself for most of the race, clearly still in double hander mode!
 
Thanks to Dave L and the OOD Team, Helen J, Chris A and Mike C 
 

Gillette Juniors Race Results

As we had such a great turn out from the juniors it has been decided to split them out into a separate results for this series.

Their results can be found here :- http://www.readingsc.org.uk/results/gillettej16.htm  

Spring Series 5 17th April

This is more like Spring, a pleasant sunny morning with a 5 mph NW wind, although it did get up a little more during the race.
Bob L used the new race hut on the island as his HQ and set a first beat to X, which was near the buoy line approximately in line with 8 from the shore, then it was 8S, 4P, 3P, 1P and back through the start line. There were 22 starters and it was good to see Charlotte back on the water and welcome to Gareth in what may have been his first race.
Pursuit Race
First back through the Start Line was Ben in his Topper, followed by Chris H (Comet), Charlotte (Radial), Karen (the first of the Lasers), Hadey (4.7) and Mike A (Lightning). Then along came Jon (Laser), Adrian (Rooster), Hugh (Radial) and then James sporting a piratical looking black sail on his Laser (that should be good for masking the mud after capsizes!). Ellen & Newton (RS200 were further back than usual in 11th place followed by quartet of Lasers, John W, Steve P, Richard S and Ken P. Sally (Comet) was through in 16th with Alistair S (Laser) and Dave I (Radial) closing in on her. Dean & Nick (Vago) had caught and passed Gareth in a Pico and Rick (Laser) and the lantern rouge was carried by Curtis (Laser), who may have missed the start!
At the finish gun, Karen had HQHQHHhhhtaken the lead, but Chris and Charlotte had hung on to 2nd and 3rd places. Jon had moved up to 4th with Ben 5th and Adrian 6th. Hugh had moved up two places to 7th and Ellen & Newton up three places to 8th. Rick had gained two place and Curtis one place, but the rest of the fleet had kept station.
Handicap Race
Sally decided to sit this one out, but David C turned out. Not sure if he had been doing some early morning triathlon training or just rolled over.
Richard S got a flyer and was first back though the line followed by David C, Karen, Jon and Newton & Ellen. Hugh was going well in 6th place with Adrian and Curtis chasing him. The next bunch through were John W, Ken, James and Dean & Nick.  In the Radial battle Charlotte was just ahead Dave I with Chris H on his tail. Towards the back of the fleet Steve P, Hadey, Rick and Alistair were having a good scrap and bringing up the rear were Ben and Gareth.
At the end of the second lap there was no change in the front two, but Newton & Ellen had moved up to 3rd. Adrian and Curtis had moved up one place by passing Hugh. Charlotte, Dave I, Chris and Steve P had all managed to get past Dean & Nick. Ben and Gareth received the finish gun at the end of this lap.
The third lap was the last and Richard crossed the line with a clear lead from David C. Jon and Karen had got past Newton & Ellen. The other movers were John W, Charlotte and Mike A who all gained one place and Steve P and Alistair who gained three places.
Final positions on the water were –
1st Richard; 2nd David C; 3rd Jon; 4t Karen; 5th Newton & Ellen; 6th Adrian.
On handicap the first four will retain their places, but Chris H should move up to 5th.
Thanks to Bob and the OOD Team of Sylvia, Paul W, Helen J, Tim B and Gavin T.
 

Sailing courses

Our next dinghy sailing course is on the Saturdays of 23rd and 30th of April

l

RYA Level 2 for Adults

RYA Stage 2/3 for Youth trainees


To book on this course you must already have completed Adults Level 1 or Youth Stage 1

For further details see the website training pages.

To book contact training@rsc.org.uk

Open to all members. New members welcome.

Work Party 2nd April

This Saturday is a work party so please come down and and help get the club ready for the new season. 

Please sign in so that your hard work can be recorded.

Tasks are :

Clean/hose down jetty

Rake weed from slipways

Tidy red shed

Clean rescue boats and stow equipment

Check club boat trolley wheels are inflated/serviceable

Tidy race start equipment

Check pontoons moored at island are secure and not colliding with anything

Clear launch area to the left of plastic pontoon

Fill/smooth out wheel ruts on grassed area near red shed and adjacent boat park area

Use remaining scalpings to fill potholes in carpark and boat park access road. Make holes squarish before filling and tamping down

Hopefully Saturday will see the floating of the new race hut before it is transferred to the Island. This maybe anything from a great spectacle to a total embarrassment for the designer!    

March Level 1 Adult Course – crazy weather!

Faced with challenges of heavy weather weekend, five intrepid beginners nonetheless arrived on Friday to perfect learning conditions – 8mph with clear blue skies.  Saturday was forecast to be less attractive so we set about a day of intensive sailing to cover the practical syllabus in one day.  After a solid 6 hours sailing in an 8 hour day all students were tacking, gybing and sailing a rectangular course – unheard of so quickly!

 

Saturday saw everyone out in 20mph winds, with some unpredictable guts.  What stars!  Capsize drills were perfected during the first few minutes, as were crash gybes and untangling buoy anchor chains from rudders.

 

Theory in the afternoon left us with five excellent sailors, all keen to progress and join in club sailing. 

 

Star of the w/e had to be Gareth who insisted on going out on Saturday afternoon in white horses and heavy gusts.  That certainly won the hero of the day award.

 

All will be coming back for more at one of the spring level 2 courses.  Why not join them?

 

Philip Markham

 

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