Author: jollysailor

Spring Series 2 – March 20th

Spring Pursuit 2 – March 20th
 
With a NE wind about 10 mph, Dave L used a Tektona start with a first beat to 5P, then 4P, 9S, 3P, 2P and back through the start. There were 17 starters and it was good to see Roland S back on the water after his recent illness.
 
Early starter Chris H was first back through the line with Mick G (Otter) 2nd, Peter S (Byte) 3rd and fastest of the late starters Paul R (Aero) in 4th. Mike A (Lightning) was 5th but Ellen & Newton (RS200) were rapidly catching him. Peter R (Enterprise) was going steadily in 7th place with the first of the Lasers, Jon in 8th. Hadey (4.7) was 9th but under pressure from Roland & Ryan (National 12) who were just ahead of Steve S in the second of the Lasers. Dave I (Radial) was next through and he was about to be passed by David C (Laser) and then there were the late starters, Ian C (Supernova), Adrian (Rooster) and  Dean & Nick (Vago)
Sally (Byte) had started, but decided to retire somewhere on the first lap.
 
At the gun Paul R took the victory with Chris H 2nd, Roland & Ryan 3rd, Ellen & Newton 4th, Jon 5th  and Peter R 6th.   
 
Spring Handicap 2 – March 20th
 
Sally, Dave I, Mick G and Dean & Nick decided not to contest the second race, but Mike T (Laser) joined the fray, so there were 14 starters.
Paul R continued his good form of the first race coming through in 1st at the end of the first lap. Newton & Ellen 2nd were some way back with David C 3rd, Jon 4th, Steve S 5th only just ahead of Ian C in 6th place. Adrian in 7th place was closely followed by Roland & Ryan. Then there was a gap back to Peter S, Chris H and Peter R who were having a good scrap and brining up the rear of the fleet were Mike A, Hadey and Mike T.
 
At the end of the second lap Paul still led, but David C had moved up to 2nd and Ian up to 3rd pushing Newon & Ellen down to 4th. Adrian and Roland & Ryan moved up a place at the expense of Jon. Further back Peter R had moved up two places to 9th and Mike T had managed to get past Hadey.
 
Paul crossed the line in 1st place with Ian getting past David to take 2nd. Newton & Ellen were still 4th but Adrian and Roland & Ryan had passed Steve S to take 5th and 6th respectively.
 
The final positions on the water were –
 
1st Paul R; 2nd Ian C; 3rd David C; 4th Newton & Ellen; 5th Adrain; 6th Roland & Ryan.
 
On Handicap  there will be some slight shuffling of the pack with 1st Paul; 2nd David C; I 3rd Ian; 4th Newton & Ellen; 5th Chris H; 6th Steve S.
 
Thanks to Dave L and his OOD Team of Paul W, John H, Paul R and Simon R..
 

Spring Series 1 – March 13th

Spring Pursuit 1 – March 13th
 
It was a light breeze for the first race of the 2016 Spring Series and Mike N set the course. Unfortunately this Jolly Sailor was at home looking after the Commander in Chief and the course was not recorded on the race sheet, but I am sure the 16 starters knew where they were going (well most of them anyway!)
 
Jon (Laser) was first back through the start followed by Peter R in his Enterprise, Chris (Comet), Nev & Sally (Leader) and Newton & Scott(RS200). Steve S (Laser) came through in 6th place followed by a gaggle of closely bunched boats with Adrian (Rooster) 7th, Dave I (Radial) 8th, Mark B (Laser) 9th, Curtis (Laser) 10th and Mick G (Otter) 11th. Dave L (Laser) was slightly further back in 12th and then there was quite a gap back to Peter S (Byte),Alistair, Rick and John W in Lasers.
 
By the second lap Newton & Scott had moved up three places to 2nd,  but the next three boats had kept their relative positions. Steve S had moved past Nev & Sally into 5th place and Mark B had moved up two places to 7th. Dave L had moved up one place to 11th and John W was up to 12th.
 
At the finish gun there were no further changes, so the final positions were –
1st Jon – Laser; 2nd Newton & Scott- RS200; 3rd Peter R- Enterprise; 4th Chris H- Comet; 5th Steve S- Laser; 6th Nev & Sally- Leader.
What a great mix of boats in the top six !
 
Spring Handicap 1 – March 13th
Mick G decided to rest his Otter after the Pursuit, so there were 15 starters, but Curtis and Dave I disappeared on the first lap (reasons unknown).
Newton & Scott led at the line but Adrian, Jon and Steve S were not far behind. Next came a group of Lasers with Rick in 5th just ahead of Dave L, Mark B and John W, although Peter S got the same time as John W. Chris H was next in 10th just ahead of Alistair S and Nev & Sally with Peter R strangely lagging behind after his sterling performance in the Pursuit. 
 
By the end of the second lap Adrian was King of the Roost, pushing Newton & Scott down to 2nd, but crossing the line with exactly the same time as Jon. Steve S was still 4th but Dave L had gained a place to 5th. John W was up two places to 6th with Mark B 7th and Rick 8th and Nev & Sally up three places to 9th. Peter R had gained three places to 10th.
 
After three laps the first five had maintained their positions but Mark had moved up one place to 6th and Alistair S had moved up three places to 9th.Rick and Peter R had both retired, but again reasons unknown.
 
The only change in position at the gun was that Peter S had moved up one place by passing Alistair.
 
The final positions on the water were –
1st Adrian; 2nd Newton & Scott; 3rd Jon; 4th Steve S; 5th Dave L ; 6th Mark B.
 
On handicap the positions will change considerably with Adrian dropping to 4th and Chris and Peter S taking 5th and 6th from the Lasers of Dave and Mark.
 
Thanks to Mike N and his OOD Team of Mike C, Bill C, Al E and Matt R for running the races.
 
 

Frostbite 16 – March 6th

This week was not quite as windy as the previous few weeks with a light Westerly. John W set a course of 6P, 9S, 5P, 4P, 2P, 8P and back through the start.
There were fourteen starters, with the numbers no doubt reduced by Mothering Sunday celebrations, but it was good to see Dave I back on the water after his shoulder problems (No – we were not giving him the cold shoulder !)
 
David C (Laser) was first back through the start followed by Ian (Supernova) then the Lasers of Mark B and James and these four maintained those positions for all five laps of the race.
Nev & Sally (Leader) were going well in 5th place with Adrian (Vago),Dave L (Laser), Chris H (Comet) and Dave I (Radial) all close together and hot on their heels. Slightly further back came Dean, who had abandoned the Vago for his Laser and he was having a good tussle with Hadey(4.7) and Alistair and Steve P both in Lasers.  Bringing up the rear of the fleet was the ever present William in his Topper.
By the end of the second lap the only movers (in the right direction !)were Dave L up two places to 5th, Dean up two places to 8th, Steve P up four places to 9th and Hadey up one place.
The only mover on the third lap was Chris who gained two place to move up to 9th, but he was in the middle of a great battle between Nev & Sally, Adrian, Dean, Steve P and Hadey.
At the end of the fourth lap the first seven boats crossed the line in the same order as the previous lap, but Steve P had moved up two places to 8th.
William was given the finish gun at the end of this lap and Dean and Dave I decided four laps were enough for them.
At the end of the last lap the first five had retained their positions, but Steve P had done it again moving up another two places to 6th pushing Nev & Sally down to 7th.
 
The final positions on the water were – 1st David C; 2nd Ian C; 3rd Mark B; 4th James; 5th Dave L; 6th Steve P.
 
On handicap the first five positions should remain the same, but Chris H in his Comet should push Steve P out of 6th place.
 
Thanks to John W and the OOD team of Mark & Deniske R, Nick J, Hugh and as ever Roland L.
 
This was the last of the Frostbite Series and means that despite missing the last race Newton & Ellen in their RS200 take the series honours. 
Congratulations to them and also many thanks for their contribution to the racing programme.

Spring Series

The  Spring Series starts on Sunday at 10.30

A quick poll on competitor preference for keeping the series format as it was or exiting the Spring Series Single Race, ‘SSSRexit’ and adopting the same format used last summer and autumn, resulted in 75% supporting SSSRexit.
Correspondingly this Sunday will be a
35 min Pursuit starting at 10.30

followed by 
45 min Handicap
Newton 

Spring Series

The  Spring Series starts on Sunday at 10.30

A quick poll on competitor preference for keeping the series format as it was or exiting the Spring Series Single Race, ‘SSSRexit’ and adopting the same format used last summer and autumn, resulted in 75% supporting SSSRexit.
Correspondingly this Sunday will be a
35 min Pursuit starting at 10.30

followed by 
45 min Handicap
Newton 

Spring Is In The Air

This Sunday sees the start of the Spring Series. The change in format to 2 races for the Summer and Cobley Series proved popular and it is strongly being considered to change the format of the Spring Series to 2 races as well. As before a short pursuit followed by a handicap.

I am also looking into the possibility of generating personal handicaps based on previous results. The results of the handicap races would then be reported with both normal and personal handicaps as two separate series. This in no way affects the original scoring of the series it is an addition.
Changing the Spring series to 2 races will allow us to do this from Sunday as it provides a handicap race.
If you have any views on these please let me know (quickly).
Newton 

Work party 5th March

                                Work party jobs 5th March

·       Clean jetty

·       Slipway nearest clubhouse, single paving slab on path broken. Please replace and level.

·       Loft area, above kitchen. Remove sails and put on floor in training room.

·       Help clean kitchen (see Sally)

·       Clear grassed area behind clubhouse of loose branches/logs and felled tree. Move to bonfire area.

·       Fill pot holes in road adjacent to boat park. Cut hole edges vertical and use scalping from pile in car park.

·       Help Roland with boat park extension clearing.

R


Frostbite 15 February 28th

Yet another frisky morning with a gusty 14 mph NE wind. Simon B used a Tektona start with a first beat to 7P, 4P, 1S, 2S, 3S.
 
There were 21 starters this morning, although Rod B and Mike A disappeared on the first lap after capsizing and losing tiller or rudder and centreboard in Mike’s case!
First back through the start was David C followed by Jon C and Dave L, all in Lasers then came Newton & Ellen (RS200) and Ian C (Supernova). In 6th place was Hugh (Radial) then James and Mark in Lasers followed by Nev & Sally (Leader). Hadey (4.7) was going steadily in 10th place and she was being chased by Curtis (Radial), Alistair (Laser) and Sylvia (Radial). Behind them Peter S (Byte) was enjoying a battle with Dean & Nick (Vago) and William (Topper). At the back of the fleet Chris H (Comet) and Rick (Laser) were in close company and behind them Adrian was finding his Vago a handful sailing single handed in the gusty conditions.
 
David and Jon still led after two laps but Newton & Ellen had managed to get past Dave L.
Rick and Adrian both retired on this lap, James and Mark had made up some ground and crossed the line together in 5th place. Hadey, Curtis and Sylvia all gained one place, but the rest of the fleet maintained position.
William, Chris and Dean & Nick opted to finish after two laps, but not sure if they retired or received the gun!
 
At the end of the final lap, the first four crossed the line in the same order as the previous lap, Ian had moved up to 5th pushing Mark down to 6th with James 7th and Hadey 8th. Curtis managed to save face by passing Hugh on the last lap and to make matters worse for Hugh, Sylvia just pipped him on the line!  Nev & Sally and Alistair (despite a last lap capsize) came home safely with Peter S some way behind taking the lantern rouge.
 
The final positions on the water were –
1st David C; 2nd Jon; 3rd Newton & Ellen; 4th; Dave L; 5th Ian C; 6th Mark.
 
 On handicap the first two should remain the same, but it looks as if Hadey could take 3rd.
 
Thanks to Simon B and the OOD team, Ros, Paul R, Dave I and Roland L (again).
 

RYA Weekend Beginner Courses – adults and juniors

Dates for the first two courses this year have been released:

 

Start Sailing (beginners) – 25 & 26 March (Easter) 

 

Better Sailing – 23 & 30 April

 

Bookings are being taken now and there are deals for booking both courses.  See the RYA page under the Training Drop down at the top of the page.  A full information pack is available to download.

 

For more information email training@readingsc.org.uk

 

Hurry, the Easter course is already over half booked!

 

 

 

Frostbite 14 February 21st

Only the brave (or foolish) ventured out this morning with a 20 mph South Westerly, gusting up to 40 mph. Even the SOOD went missing so Hugh stepped up to take his place and set a course of 4P 9P 8P 6S 7S and back through the Start.
 
Not surprisingly there were only four starters, but as the boats went out it was decided that in the conditions one rescue boat was not enough for even these four boats so Paul R  and Newton  jumped into a second. They all sailed Lasers, but Adrian used a full rig (his idea of scaling down!) and the rest used Radial rigs.
 
Everyone capsized apart from David C who led from start to finish and did one more lap than the rest. James capsized rather spectacularly with a down-wind death roll with James flying through the air with a double pike with one and a half twists, although the entry into water was far from elegant. Jon went over near the club house and got the mast stuck in the weed, and as it took a while to extract, he decided to retire gracefully (or should that be gratefully)
The capsize tally was David 0, Jon 2, Adrian 2, James 3+, but that might be an underestimation!
 
The final positions were 1st David; 2nd Adrian; 3rd James; rtd Jon
 
Thanks to Hugh, Alistair J, Paul R, Gary, and William for looking after the fleet or as Hugh succinctly put on the bottom of the race sheet “Four completely mad people” 
 
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