Author: jollysailor
19.08.12
We were going to have an intersting race today. the wind kept on changing and appearing and disappearing like a rabbit in a top hat!
The start of the race was delayed until everyone had reached the start line. The S.O.O.D. had wish he had the camera , the whole fleet had reaced the start line at the same time, it was a lovely sight!
So the countdown sequence had began, which side of the line is best. Some sailors noted the island was shielding the wind from that part of the line nearest Tectona. So the other end was the best. The start gun went and of course the wind switched and the island end was the best and those down there just sailed away. Jon in his Entertprise caught and lovely puff of wind and overtook half the fleet, was this going to be his race, unfortunately it wasnt! Monica had problems at the 2nd bouy again half the fleet overtook her whilst she was trying to get her boat moving unfortunately for her she just stopped!
Peter in his Enterprise with Mike and Sally in their Leader took an early lead. The rest of us were left in their wake! Were we going to catch them up? well yes because anything can happen in this race. mike , sally and Peter had some close sailing together , who was going to break first????????? Peter drifted onto the bouy and had to do a 360 degree turn! to make thing worse he just stopped and was going backwards at one point.
The dark horses in this race were Dave I and Mike in their Lasers the quietly went through the fleet and crossed the line . the Jolly Sailor has noticed Mike is quite an expert in sailing in light winds! He needs to tell us what his secret is!!!!!!!!!!!!
So the final postions were
1st Mike, 2nd Dave, 3rd Roger
12/08/12
Pink Fleet Summer BBQ
A different format this month with the day starting with the 1100 race and 25 very keen ‘Pinkies’ taking to the water after a magnificent briefing from Ken – despite the fact that he used the wrong flags…..poor Richard ended up in the Topper while the girls had the Comet and the Laser!!! It was a challenging strong shifty wind but that did not deter our leader from setting a course from Tektona with 2 gybe marks. Those who capsized were many and we are nnot sure if it was the wind, bad judgement on just to cool off….what a hot sunny day it was.
While the Pinkies were enjoying the cooling breeze, both Barbaras were hard at it in the kitchen preparing the lunch, setting up tressle tables with Brian’s help.
The BBQ was lit ably and watched over by Hugh and Dion our own professional chef hoping to enjoy a week end off…thanks guys, the food was superbly cooked and quite delicious.The sangria disappeared at great speed and was much enjoyed, thanks Jan. Ken had full complement of power boat drivers who were kept busy most of the race. The standard of sailing seemed to be higher that ever and the much coveted Pink Fleet cup went to young William in his Topper – well done William. A big thank you to everyone who helped in any way, shopping, cooking and the never ending clearing up.
Almost as soon as we had all finished lunch it was PIRATE TIME, with 28 youngsters taking to the water in various crafts, surf boards, kayaks, Oppies, Toppers, Picos and even 3 Lasers! Our young people are getting very adventurous…..Gary had plenty of power boat help to keep a close eye on the ‘little darlings’ while the Mums and Dads continued to enjoy the sun and sangria!!! They all had a lot of fun under Gary and Carole’s supervision and no one seemed in a hurry to go, one of the so few glorious Saturdays this year.
Again thanks to every one who makes these events possible – despite the heat hot chocolate was still required…..
NBThe next Saturday Pirates has been brought forward a week to 1st Sept, to coincide with the Camp Sail week end.
These days are much enjoyed by all, and we all appreciate the hard wok that everyone puts in to get these events organised and particularly cleared up at the end of the day. If you feel you could volunteer to help for future events it would be much appreciated.
Aug Work Party
WORK PARTY
We had a reasonable turn out for the work party yesterday, considering a lot of people are away on their hols. A lot more of the holes in the road were filled, thanks to Curtis bringing us trailer loads of grit – edges were trimmed. areas cleared and thanks to Ken’s 2 trainees doing their powerboat level 2 course, Tektona got towed in and had a really got scrub – well done Alice and Louise.
Despite Monica’s coffee being appreciated, the tea drinkers were of ‘one mind’…….she can’t make builders tea!!!
Thank you to everyone who came and did their bit – there’s still plenty still on the list for 1st Sept.
Ken’s trainees, Ian and Andy got some practice with a couple of rescues in the afternoon, when some brave soles took to the water for a quick blast / swim!! They both passed with ‘flying colours,’ well done boys and thanks to Ken for giving up 2 days to train them.
S.O.O.D. had 2 members of the team down. If someone doesnt turn up it makes it harder for the rest of the duty team to organise the race , so please let your S.O.O.D. if you cant attend.
Anyway 17 boats took the water , the wind was a constant force 2-3 , it was good to see Ross sailing with his standard sail. At the starting gun , the usual 2 led the fleet, Chris and Karen. They were going to take some catching but who was going to catch them???? Ross I think has been going on a few sailing courses because he was flying round the course, passing alot of people. Well done Ross!
If you remember “Its a Knockout” will remember Eddie Waring laughing and shouting his famous catchphrase ” she is having an early bath!!!!” which is precisely what Monica did! A sudden gust of wind caught a few sailors off their guard and unfortunately Monica was hardest hit. It took the rescue boat a while to see if she wanted assistance because they had the whole fleet to look after. By the time they arrived Monica had got her boat up and was sailing again.
Final positions are
1st Karen 2nd Chris 3rd Ian 4th Ross
Summer 5 – Racing Report
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The Jolly Sailor looked on the club’s website for the weather forecast for the race. It said 6 miles an hour gusting 25!!!!!!!!! The lake looked like a mill pond, surely they got it wrong again. Over 20 sailors rigged their boats expecting to be just drifting around the lake.
Roger and his team set a challenging course which would test the sailors ability, with plenty of downwind legs but managed to leave out buoys 1 and 9. Mark in his laser started on the port end of the line, hoping to get a good start but he really messed it up, the gap closed up and he was over the line, with a collision too. He lost before it had even started. Karen, Chris and David had good starts and took an early lead. There was the usual gaggle of Lasers at most of the marks with some shouting for water, but Karen made a flying start led most of the way, only to be overtaken on the last leg by young Dave. The wind was playing games it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Steve and Lynne in their 505 , were kept on their toes nearly capsizing to windward due to the wind suddenly switching on. The Jolly Sailor will have a word with Simon, he must stop laughing at other sailors whilst on the water! He was laughing so much at Mike and Sally floundering in the bottom of their boat that he couldn’t decide whether to gybe or not, he didn’t see Tektona and collided with the biggest boat on the water. It took him about 5 mins to release himself from it. Everyone agreed it was a glorious sail with sun, wind and a good course David caught up with Karen and passed her on the last lap , its something to do with being in his zone. So the final postions were: 1st David 2nd Karen 3rd Chris. Apologies for the late posting of this race report – the Olympics are very distracting! |
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RYA sail for gold
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Yet another busy weekend at the club, but with some sunshine …what a bonus! But no wind……Mark, Paula, Sally and their team of helpers organised an afternoon of fun – Sailing for Gold – with some 60+ people having fun, doing relay races, a lot of paddling and inevitably a lot of ‘swimming!!’ The lack of wind, didn’t seem to deter everyone’s enthusiasm, with the winning blue team each receiving their medals. The deck was suitably decorated with balloons and bunting and there was a great Olympic style atmosphere, culminating in a delicious BBQ – Barbara was again busy in the galley during all the outside activities. The ‘ ide hards’ were seen on the deck finishing their wine and beer and reflecting on another great day with the sun setting in the back ground. Well done and many thanks to everyone who made the day such a sucess.
Meanwhile the ladies had a day of coaching with Simon from the RYA – a challenge in the almost windless conditions. But we did manage to learn how to sail a boat without a rudder, and do some starting practice in the afternoon. Everyone learned something from the sessions on shore and the fluky winds on the lake – thank you Simon.
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Summer series. 15th. July 2012
When is this summer going to start. Again wet and dry suits were the order of the day!
Sally and Mike our dynamic duo were setting another challenging course, they seemed determined to follow the advice from the Jolly Sailor. The race started on time and we still had about 4 or 5 boats still being launched, I feel Jon had better buy David a new alarm clock, he gave us all a huge head start.
Karen could see the opportunity to get a good start and was followed by Jon and Mark. It was good to Monica in a Pico with her Grandson in the bow of the boat giving her vital sailing instructions! Karen seems very pleased with her new boat, she is pushing the bar up even higher now.
The final positions are as follows. 1st Karen. 2nd Jon. 3rd. Mark
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