Author: jollysailor
Frost Bite 5 20th December
It was a lovely mild morning for late December with a SW 13 mph wind, although this dropped slightly during the race. Jerry C set a long beat down to 3, back to 2 then 4, 9, 5, 8, 7 and back through the start.
There were 17 starters and Ian C (Supernova) led back through the start followed by Paul R (Aero), Jon (Laser) and Newton & Ellen (RS200). Mark B and Steve S both in Lasers came through very close together in 5th and 6th and they were being chased by James and David C also in Lasers. Then there was a slight gap to yet another pair of Lasers helmed by Mike A and Dave L. The next boat through was Curtis who had opted for a Radial rig as he had not sailed for 6 weeks and the forecast had been for much higher winds. Hadey (4.7) was next just ahead of Adrian (Vago) and Rick (Laser) who crossed the line together. After another gap Chris H (Comet) crossed the line on his own with the Toppers of William and Joe battling away at the rear.
By the end of the second lap Paul had edged in front of Ian to take the lead with Jon still 3rd. Newton & Ellen and Mark B could not be separated as they crossed the line and James P had managed to pass Steve S to move up to 6th place. Dave L moved up to 9th by overtaking Mike A and Adrian and Rick had both moved up past Hadey.
At the end of the third and last lap the leading four boats had maintained their positions but Steve S had repassed James and Mark B to move up to 5th. David C had moved up one place to 7th. Dave L, James and Mike had a close tussle for 8th place, at No 9 Mike was in the lead but James and Dave got past him rounding 5 and Dave finally pipped James on the line to take the place. Curtis crossed the line in a somewhat lonely 11th, but Rick just managed to get past Adrian to take 12th. Hadey was some way behind but she managed to stay ahead of Chris and in the battle of the Toppers, William finished ahead of Joe.
The final positions on the water were 1st Paul R; 2nd Ian C; 3rd Jon; 4th Newton & Ellen; 5th Steve S; 6th Mark B.
On Handicap Jon will probably leapfrog Ian to take 2nd.
Thanks to Jerry C and Billy C and Roland (who stepped into the breech yet again).
Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.
29th November Frost Bite 2
29 November Frostbite 2
It was very windy again similar to two weeks ago and this was reflected in only five starters. The race nearly did not take place, first it was thought it might be too windy, then the OOD team could not get the rescue boats unlocked. Two were locked together with one chain and a padlock that would not unlock, meaning there was only one accessible boat. Fortunately Steve S turned up and just happened to have an angle grinder and saved the day.
There was a shortage of OODs for the conditions so Newton & Ellen decided to swap sail for power. Paul and James decided to drop down a sail size and Adrian decided to reef his Vago and once afloat thought it a good idea to furl the jib as well (an even better idea might have been to stay ashore!). David C set a fairly short course 4P, 8P, 6S, 7S, Start line, so that he could all five in view at the same time.
James (Laser) kept up well with Paul (Aero) for the first lap but then seemed to forget about going through the line on the second and then when trying to correct his error could not get the boat to go where he wanted it to and lost a couple of minutes before crossing the line.
Hadey did well, but had trouble most laps as she rounded 7. She got attracted onto the lee shore by the club house and had trouble getting off in the strong wind. Adrian capsized a few times and on the last occasion after rounding 6 ran out of sea room and drifted capsized into the trees and then retired. William capsized multiple times but bravely battled on to finish.
Well done to all of you for braving the conditions.
The final positions were 1st Paul, 2nd James, 3rd Hadey, 4th William.
Thanks to David C and the OOD Team of Jon, Newton, Ellen and Ralph.
Work Party 5th December 2015
Frostbite 1 22 November 2015
With a light West wind about 4-5 mph Dave I set a first beat to No 4, then 8P, 5S, 6S, 7S and back through the start.
There were 9 starters from RSC and 3 more from Paul R’s Aero training group.
First back through the start line were Newton & Ellen (RS200) who had pulled out a useful lead on Dave L and Mike A in Lasers, who were split by the first of the Aeros. Adrian (Vago) came through in 4th place closely accompanied by James in another Laser. Chris H (Comet) was 6th sandwiched by the other two Aeros. Further back, Rick in 7th and Alistair S in 8th (both in Lasers) were having a good battle and young Ben H (in the only Topper out today) followed them in 9th place and he was finished at the end of his first lap.
.At the end of the second and last lap Newton & Ellen had increased their lead and crossed the line in a clear 1st place with Dave L in a comfortable 2nd place (if you can be comfortable in a Laser in a light wind !). James had caught and passed both Adrian and Mike and rounded No 7 in 3rd place, but Mike spotted a slight wind shift and just pipped James across the line. Adrian finished in 5th place with Chris some way behind him in 6th and Alistair got the better of Rick to finish 7th.
On handicap the first two positions should be safe, but Chris could well leapfrog the three boats ahead of him.
Thanks to Dave I and the OOD Team Kate H, Richard M, Peter R and Mick G.
Frostbite Series
Cobley Series 15th November
This morning it was blowing a hoolie ! WSW 20 mph with some vicious gusts. Mike A set a relatively short course, 5P, 9S, 4S, 7S and back through the start, but in these conditions that probably seemed a long way to go for those actually sailing.
There were quite a number who decided it was wiser to watch than to swim and some of the eight brave souls who ventured out decided to trade down on sail size. David C and David M went down to a Radial rig, James went down to a 4.7, Roland switched from his National 12 to a Byte, Hadey already had a 4.7 rig so could not go any smaller and William and Chris H were stuck with no option. Adrian who could have gone down to a smaller size decided to stick with his Rooster rig !!
Pursuit Race
Roland was first to venture out onto the water which gave everyone else the opportunity to see what they were in for !
Eight boats went out to start and many of these capsized before they even managed to start and there were many more capsizes after the start !
Hadey managed a spectacular capsize coming into No 7 at high speed, ramming the buoy and almost somersaulting ! At one point it came close to being an abandoned race, but a third rescue boat was launched and just about saved the day. Some of the helms probably spent more time in the water than on the boat. David M, Roland and Chris H had called it a day before the elapsed time, so the final positions were –
1st David C (Laser); 2nd James P (Laser); 3rd Adrian (Rooster); 4th Hadey (4.7); 5th William (Topper).
Handicap Race
Somewhat surprisingly all five still on the water at the end of the Pursuit Race decided that they wanted to sail the second race !
At the end of the first lap David C led from James with Adrian 3rd and some way further back Hadey 4th and William 5th.
At the end of the second lap these positions had not changed but Mike decided to finish Hadey and William as the leading three had already crossed the line to start their third lap before they had finished their second lap.
David C capsized on the third lap and final lap up near 4, allowing James to nip past. David was catching him on the way back to 7, but James just managed to stay ahead and crossed the line with 12 seconds to spare ! Adrian with his huge sail came home in 3rd.
The final positions were exactly the same as for the Pursuit Race above.
Well done to all who braved the conditions, especially to the youngsters William and Hadey who persevered despite numerous capsizes.
Thanks to the OOD Team who had a very busy time – Brian M, Colin H, Dean and Nick J and Paul R.
Team Report: RSC Youth at Weymouth
A quick report from the National Schools Sailing Association’s Match Racing event that was meant to take place this weekend (7/8th Nov). RSC entered a team in the form of Hadey (helm), Hugh (main), and William (bow). The event was held at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy (the venue of the 2012 Olympics), and using the RYA’s fleet of Elliot 6m keelboats, that were also used in the Olympics. Unfortunately the weather didn’t co-operate with Saturday seeing mean wind speeds of 31 kts (force 7) with gusts not quite topping out at 50 kts (49.29 kts). Winds started a little calmer on Sunday, but with the forecast showing a rapid return to speeds above 20 kts there wasn’t going to be enough time to run enough races to make a meaningful event, and the organisers decided to cancel the whole event. This at least meant that the RYA would return the boat hire fees.
So obviously disappointing in some respects, but the team did at least get to try out the Elliots on the moorings (see photo below), and the NSSA and the Umpires laid on briefings on match racing tactics. There was also the opportunity for an impromptu visit to Portland Bill (to check how really windy it was), and a team trip around the yacht chandleries in Weymouth. The team also developed in-depth knowledge of the opening times of Fish & Chip shops in the Weymouth area.
The NSSA hope to replace this event at some point using SB20’s on Farmoor reservoir at Oxford – where hopefully the wind will be more compliant.
The Team
Instruction on the Elliot 6m
Team Practising their upwind technique at Portland Bill
(Or “Karen it really was this windy! “)
James Primrose
Team Manager
Cobley Series 1st November
A misty Autumnal morning with very little wind, but surprisingly there were 16 starters.
Adrian had a difficult job setting a course as there was not enough wind to suggest which direction would offer a first beat ! In the end he settled on 6P 9S 5S 7P 8S with the start line from the flag pole to the pin which was roughly in line with No 8 but further out.
Pursuit Race
For the second week in a row the final two marks became irrelevant as the leaders rounded 5 and were finished shortly after.
The positions changed considerably during the course of this short race due to the vagaries of the wind and the lack of visibility in the thick mist.
William in his Topper led by quite a way, but rounding 9 he set off in the direction of 4 rather than 5. It was not possible to actually see either mark in the poor visibility ! A number of following boats set off in the same direction as William before they twigged they were heading west. One of the rescue boats was unfortunately parked in front of No 5, which did not help the fleet to spot exactly where the mark was. Karen came to the rescue by politely asking them to move so that No 5 was revealed faintly in the distance.
As often happens in light winds the back half of the fleet rounded 9 and were rewarded with a nice little breeze which propelled them past most of the front half of the fleet before reaching No 5. Soon after rounding 5 the finish gun sounded and the final positions were –
1st Newton & Ellen (RS 200); 2nd Sylvia (Laser); 3rd Karen (Laser); 4th Curtis (Otter); 5th James (Laser); 6th Rick (Laser).
Handicap
Despite the lack of wind everyone stayed on for the second race of the day.
The course was adjusted slightly by dropping No 9 and Mike A (Lightning) led round the first mark but was passed by a trio of Lasers, Richard, Rod and Dave L, before reaching No 5. In the light wind it was quite tricky to manoeuvre and Hadey got caught out by Karen on starboard and reluctantly had to do penalty turns.
There was only time for one lap and there was some confusion at the finish line as Richard in the lead received the finish gun as he crossed the line heading towards No 8. The following boats were not sure whether the finish line was before the mark or after the mark. Rod veered off to cross the line which allowed Dave L to slip past him. Mike A slightly further back in fourth place thought the boats ahead of him were being finished before the mark and headed directly for the line rather than carrying on towards 8. This cost him dearly as he got into the lee of the trees on the bank and it took him 5 minutes to get back to round the mark allowing Sylvia to come through to take fourth place.
After these four boats had crossed the line the wind died away completely and Sally, Curtis, James and John C gave up all hope of finishing and started paddling to retirement. The prize for tenacity goes to Rick who was determined to finish and finally crossed the line 43 minutes after the first boat.
The final positions were –
1st Richard; 2nd Dave L; 3rd Rod; 4th Sylvia; 5th Mike A; 6th Karen
Thanks to Adrian and the OOD Team Pat, Mick, Richard M, Paul B and Simon R.
Cobley Series 25th October
Another pleasant morning, but no wind ! Probably why there were only 9 starters.
Richard S set a short course of 6P 8S 5S 7P with the start line from the club house.
Pursuit Race
For the pursuit race the marks 5 and 7 became irrelevant as the leaders rounded 6 and then only got half way to 8 when the 35 mins was up !
David M (Laser) was over the line at the start and had got half way to the first mark before he realised and turned back to restart, just what you want when there is no wind.
The final positions were
1st Roland & Ryan (National 12); 2nd Eddie B (Laser); 3rd Newton & Ellen (RS 200); 4th Mark B (Laser); 5th Adrian (Rooster); 6th Karen (Laser).
First time for a while that Eddie has been on the podium, but have to take them when you can !
Handicap
The wind improved very slightly for the second race, but even so Mark could not take any more excitement and decided to sit this one out.. Ellen & Newton got a good start at the far end of the line with slightly more wind and were nearly a leg ahead by the time they got to the second mark. Roland & Ryan were going well in second and reduced the gap by half by the end of the first lap. David M came through in third with Karen fourth, Adrian fifth and RSC 21 (Not signed on) in sixth place.
Rick (Laser) and Eddie became becalmed and decided enough was enough.
A big wind shift at the start of the second lap allowed Roland & Ryan to catch Ellen & Newton before the wind disappeared again and they passed Ellen & Newton on the way to 8. With very little wind Richard sensibly set a finish line at 5 after just 1 and half laps. David made up for his first race and finished a creditable third, which could be his first podium finish.
The final positions were –
1st Roland & Ryan; 2nd Ellen & Newton; 3rd David M; 4th Karen; 5th Adrian; 6th RSC 21
The corrected times on handicap were the same as the finishing order.
Thanks to Richard S and the OOD Team James, Chris B, Phil M and Nigel J.