Reading Sailing Club Members

It was a sunny morning with a light WSW wind of around 5-7 mph. Adrian set the first mark as 4 then 9, 6, 7 and back through the start.

Pursuit Race

Thirteen starters and by the end of the first lap Mike T (Laser) had caught early starter Chris H (Comet), who was still in 2^nd place, but in danger of being passed by Jon (Laser).  Julian W (Solo) came through in 4^th place chased by Peter R (Enterprise) followed by James (Laser), Dean & Nick (Vago) and Sam & Newton (RS 200). Then came the battle of the Leaders with Mike C & Emily ahead of Dave & Ann, then Alistair S (Laser) with Rhys (4.7) and Nick M (Radial) bringing up the rear of the fleet. At the gun the final positions were – 1^st Mike T; 2^nd Jon; 3^rd Chris H; 4^th Peter R; 5^th Julian W; 6^th James

Handicap Race

Julian and Alistair decided to sit this one out and with a slight drop and a change in the wind direction Adrian introduced a box course using A, 9, 5, and B.  

Newton switched roles with Sam for the second race and they led across the line at the end of the first lap clear of Mike T in 2^nd place and Peter R in 3^rd. Chris H and Jon crossed the line together battling for 4^th position with James not far behind them. By this time the fleet had split into three groups and the second group was led by Dean & Nick who were just ahead of Dave & Ann followed by Mike C & Emily. About four minutes later along came Rhys and Nick M who were enjoying their own race.

At the end of the second lap there was no change with the two leaders, but James had gained three places to move up to 3^rd and Jon was up one to 4^th. Dave & Ann had passed Dean & Nick, but they were still very close to one another and there was no change in the order behind them.

The only change in position on the third lap was Dean & Nick repassing Dave & Ann. Rhys and Nick M received the gun at the end of the lap.

The fourth lap was the last and Newton & Sam crossed the line in 1^st place some five minutes ahead of Mike T in 2^nd.  James retained his 3^rd place, but Peter R, Dean & Nick and Dave & Ann all passed Jon and Chris to take 4^th, 5^th and 6^th places respectively.

The final order on the water was – 1^st Newton & Sam; 2^nd Mike t; 3^rd James; 4^th Peter R; 5^th Dean & Nick; 6^th Dave & Ann.

On corrected time the order changes to – 1^st Newton & Sam; 2^nd Chris H; 3^rd Mike T; 4^th Dave & Ann; 5^th James; 6^th Peter R

Thanks to Adrian and the OOD Team of Linda and John S, Gareth D and Ron.

Mark was on duty again this morning and had a difficult task to set a course as there was only a very light wind (2-5 mph) coming from the North veering NE. He prudently set a short box course (using A, B and C), but this backfired somewhat as once the race started the wind increased, which resulted in a five lap pursuit race with the faster boats lapping the slower boats! 

Pursuit Race

There were 12 starters and first boat away was Chris H (Comet) and he led at the end of the first lap with Chris A (Solo) in 2^nd place and the first of the Lasers, Richards S in 3^rd place, Mike T (Laser) was 4^th with Mike A (Lightning 5^th and Emily (Radial) 6^th.

Chris H still led at the end of the second lap, but Mike T had passed Richard and come through to take 2^nd place from Chris A.  Sam & Newton (RS 200) had moved up to 5^th place and Dave & Ann (Leader) were up to 6^th with Ralph (Laser) up to 7^th.

By the end of the third lap Mike and Richard had caught and passed Chris H pushing Chris A down to 4^th with Dave & Ann and Ralph moving up to 5^th and 6^th.  By this time some of the faster boats had started to lap slower boats and it must have been tricky for the OOD Team to keep track of positions!

The race continued for another two laps before the gun went and the final positions were –

1^st Mike T; 2^nd Chris H; 3^rd Richards S; 4^th Ralph; 5^th Dave & Ann; 6^th Sally & Mike C.

Handicap Race

In between races the wind improved to about 10 mph and Mark extended the course by including 2 and 3 which gave a two lap race with an average lap time of about 18 minutes.

Newton & Sam (RS 200) got a cracking start and missed the melee at the first mark which led to a lead of well over a minute at the end of the first lap. Mike Tr (Laser) was 2^nd just 20 seconds ahead of Ralph (Laser) in 3^rd spot and Richard S (Laser) in 4^th. Mike C & Sally (Leader) were going well in 5^th place with Rick (Laser) chasing them and he was about one minute ahead of Chris H (Comet). The second Leader of Dave & Ann came through in 8^th place, not far ahead of Mike A (Lightning) with Emily (Radial) and Chris A (Solo) only 10 seconds further back and crossing the line together contesting 10^th place with Lottie (Laser) behind them.

On the second lap there was no change with the leading two boats, but Richard S got past Ralph to take 3^rd place. Rick moved up a place to 5^th pushing Mike C & Sally down to 6^th and Emily gained three places to finish 7^th. Despite a contretemps with Mike A at No 2, Dave & Ann gained a place by getting past Chris H just before the line. Chris A and Lottie retied on this lap.

The final order on the water was – 1^st Newton & Sam; 2^nd Mike T; 3^rd Richard S; 4^th Ralph; 5^th Rick; 6^th Mike C & Sally.

On corrected time the first four should keep their positions, but Chris H moves up to 5^th with Mike & Sally retaining 6^th.

Thanks to Mark and the OOD Team of Bill C, Jess B and Robbie H.

It was another windy morning with a South wind about 12 -18 mph with stronger gusts coming through. Mark set the first mark as 9, then A, 4, 8, 6, 7 and back through the start.

Pursuit Race

There were 9 starters this morning and at the end of the first lap Ellen & Newton (RS 200) were just ahead of Mike T (Laser) and Jon (Laser) with early starter Chris H (Comet) crossing the line 30 seconds later in 4^th place. Ralph (Laser) was not far behind Chris, but a minute ahead of the trio of Simon (Blaze), Rick (Laser) and Franz (Laser). Ken (Laser) retired on this first lap.

At the gun the final positions were – 1^st Simon; 2^nd Newton & Ellen; 3^rd Mike T; 4^th Ralph; 5^th Jon; 6^th Franz

Handicap Race

Apart from Ken, everyone started, and Simon was first back through the line almost a minute ahead of Newton & Ellen. Then there was a procession of Lasers all fairly close together led by Mike T followed by Ralph, Rick, Jon and Franz with Chris bringing up the rear in his Comet.

On the second lap the only changes were Jon passing Rick and Ralph to move up to 4^th place and Chris retiring.

On the third lap the first three maintained station, but Rick repassed Jon and Ralph to take 4^th and these three were enjoying a close battle.

At the end of the fourth lap Simon crossed the line well ahead of Newton & Ellen to take victory. Mike T was steady in 3^rd spot, but behind him the battle continued with Ralph reclaiming 4^th place not far ahead of Jon in 5^th with Rick losing three minutes (presumably experiencing that sinking feeling), but still claiming 6^th place. Franz retired on this lap.

The final order on the water was – 1^st Simon; 2^nd Newton & Ellen; 3^rd Mike T; 4^th Ralph; 5^th Jon; 6^th Rick

The only change on corrected time was Mike leapfrogging Newton & Ellen to take 2^nd place.

Thanks to Mark and the OOD Team of Ian S, Jeremy (who stepped in to help), Jewels and John W.   

Youth and Junior:                  National School Sailing Association

Two teams of Youth and Juniors spent the weekend of 5/6th October competing in the National School Sailing Association Single-handed Team Racing event at Fairlop Waters in Essex. Twenty one teams from all over the country racing one team against another in a continuous round of races all day Saturday and Sunday. Varying weather with light winds on Saturday and then windy enough for reefed sails on Sunday, resulted in some challenging race conditions. 

Team A – Rhys, Emily and Joe did well, winning 6 of their 11 races to finish 8th overall. 

Team B – Thomas, Max and Lucy won 4 of their races to finish 18th overall. They had some great individual results but never quite all at the same time in the same race!! Especially well done to Max and Lucy who were both helming in an event for the first time. 

Thanks to Hugh for Team Managing on Sunday and assisting Karen on Saturday, and thanks to the parents for transporting and supporting the teams. 

RYA Eric Twiname Team Racing 

Four Youth and Juniors took it up a notch on the 12/13th October and competed in the RYA Eric Twiname Junior Team Racing at Oxford SC on Farmoor Reservoir – a national event with 30 teams two boat team racing in Fevas. They were up against teams from national squads, counties, schools as well as other sailing clubs and they sailed brilliantly to be competitive in most of their 14 races. An incredible learning experience and a fun weekend. Well done Rhys, Emily, Thomas and Lucy!!

Many thanks to Karen for her unstinting efforts with the youths and juniors.

It was another windy Sunday morning with a 16 mph West wind and gust of 30 + mph, which resulted in a number of capsizes. Richard S set the first beat to 5 then 2, 3, 8, 6, 7 and back through the start.

Pursuit Race

Only six starters this morning with four Lasers, a Comet and a Leader. At the end of the first lap Jon had come through to take the lead with early starter Chris hanging on to 2^nd place. Dave & Ann in their Leader were lying 3^rd with Frans 4^th. At the gun the final positions were –

1^st Jon; 2^nd Dave & Ann; 3^rd Franz; 4^th Chris; 5^th Alistair S and 6^th Rick.

Handicap Race

No dropouts for the second race and again Jon (Laser) was first back through the line about one minute ahead of Dave & Ann (Leader), who were two minutes ahead of Rick (Laser) in 3^rd place. Chris (Comet), Alistair (Laser) and Franz (Laser) crossed the line fairly close together.

On the second lap there was no change in order at the front of the race, but Franz had moved up three places to 3^rd position. Rick was now 4^th with Alistair 5^th and Chris not far behind him in 6^th place.

On the last lap Jon went for a dip, but quickly recovered and kept his position and Dave & Ann were just rounding 6 when they caught a strong gust but managed to survive. Roland popped in the clubhouse to check the wind strength which was showing 35 mph! There were no actual changes in position, so the finishing order was –

1^st Jon; 2^nd Dave & Ann; 3^rd Franz; 4^th Rick; 5^th Alistair; 6^th Chris.

On corrected time the only change is Chris leapfrogging Rick and Alistair to move up to 4^th place.

Thanks to Richard S and the OOD Team of Aileen, Eva, John R, Julian W, Nick J, Nick M and Roland L.  

There was a general warning of gale force winds and a forecast for RG4 of a SW wind of 22 mph and gusts far higher, which reduced the fleet to just six brave souls. In fact, on the day the wind was about 14 mph with gusts of around 20 mph, so still quite frisky but not as strong as forecast. Julian B set the first beat to 3 then 4, 8, 6, 7 and back through the start.

Pursuit Race

By the end of the first lap Jon (Laser) was leading early starter Chris H (Comet) with Mike Tr (Laser) in 3^rd place and looming up behind them Simon in his Blaze already past James and Rick in Lasers.

At the gun the final order was – 1^st Simon; 2^nd Jon; 3^rd Mike Tr; 4^th James; 5^th Chris; 6^th Rick

Handicap Race

Everyone stayed on the water for this race and first back through the line was Mike Tr about 20 seconds ahead of Jon who crossed the line just in front of Simon. James was 4^th about 30 seconds ahead of Rick with Chris crossing about one minute after Rick.

On the second lap Simon took the lead with Mike in 2^nd place, but only by 5 seconds from Jon. Behind them there was no change in the order, but James and Rick had edged slightly further ahead of Chris, which was not surprising considering Chris was in a Comet and they were in Lasers.

The third lap saw no change in position and there was only one change on the fourth lap as Jon pipped Mike for 2^nd place by just 10 seconds.

The order on the water was – 1^st Simon; 2^nd Jon; 3^rd Mike; 4^th James; 5^th Rick; 6^th Chris.

On corrected time the only change is Chris leapfrogging Rick to move up to 5^th.

Thanks to Julian B and the OOD Team of Chris S, Karen, Nick J and Nigel J.

What a bizarre couple of races. Before at the start of the first race there was a gentle 6-8mph wind which was from the south and was a challenge for Richard S to set a good beat but he managed it by setting A up towards 2, (there was no wind at 2) then 9, 5, 7 and using 6 as the last mark.

Pursuit Race

There were 12 starters and at the end of the first lap the early starters were still well up the leaderboard with Chris H (Comet) in front followed by Dave & Ann (Leader), Rhys (4.7) and Steve S (Solo) and Mike C & crew (Leader). Everyone sailed serenely around until about 5 min before the end of the race when the wind suddenly went from 8mph to about 20 -25 mph. It caught a lot out as they were heading down wind at the time and did not see it coming. There were multiple capsizes and Lottie (Laser) and Mike C retired as a result. The final order at the gun was –

1^st Chris H (Comet); 2^nd Dave & Ann (Leader); 3^rd Mike Tr (Laser); 4^th Steve S (Solo); 5^th Ellen & Newton (RS 200); 6^th Karen (Laser)

Handicap Race

Richard S tweaked the course slightly by using 4 instead of A and the wind eased a touch for this second race. Karen, Lottie and Mike C decided they had had enough and opted to get dry as the forecast rain came tumbling down. Apart from the rain all was well until the start of the third lap when the wind just steadily dropped to pretty much nothing.

Newton & Ellen were first back through the line at the end of the first lap not far ahead of Mike Tr and James (Laser). Steve S came along 30 seconds later and then after another 30 seconds a group consisting of Dave & Ann (Leader), Adrian (Vago s/h), Rhys (4.7) and Rick (Laser) crossed fairly close together. Chris H retired on this lap.

On the second lap there was no change in the order of the first four, but Rick moved up three places to 5^th and then the wind disappeared!   

It took almost as long to complete the third lap as the first two laps! Other than the retirements of Steve and Rhys (this time because of a lack of wind), the only positional change was Adrian passing Dave & Ann. The final order on the water was –

1^st Ellen & Newton; 2^nd Mike Tr; 3^rd James; 4^th Rick; 5^th Adrian; 6^th Dave & Ann

On corrected time Adrian and Dave & Ann swap places and everyone else keeps their position.

Thanks to Richard S and the OOD Team of Ben E, Jess B, Leon S, Sarah C and Will S.

We are aware that some members with Yahoo, AOL, and Sky email addresses may not be receiving club emails.

We are working with our software provider to rectify this, but in the meantime please check your junk folders.

Specifically there have been two recent club emails, one relating to a safety notice and the other to the result of clubhouse extension vote that may be lurking in your junk folder.

Apologies to Hugh, who I missed out in the Barts Bash report.

He organised the young sailors, manned a safety boat and generally helped out and in fact always helps out and makes a great contribution tot he club.

Thanks Hugh

We joined clubs from all over the UK and other parts of the world to compete in the annual Bart’s Bash race, an event set up in memory of Andrew Simpson to raise money to enable disabled and disadvantaged children to go sailing.

It was a beautiful morning with light WSW wind about 2-5 mph for the Juniors race and picking up slightly to 3-8 mph for the adults. The sun shone and the temperature was in the mid- twenties.

Junior’s Race

James used the normal flagpole start with a first beat to A (past 5 on the buoy line) then 9, 5, 6, 7 and back through the start. There were 11 starters and Thomas M (Radial) was first back through the start line followed by Rhys (4.7) and Emily (Topper). Then there was quite a gap back to the rest of the fleet which was led by Phoebe (Oppie) in 4^th place and Lucy (Topper) in 5^th. The two Oppies of Rohan and Ben came through the line close together and they were followed by Evie in a Pico, Pippa in a Topper and then Izzy and another Oppie (who unfortunately had not signed in.

The first three were sent round for a second lap, which was bad luck for them as the wind died away and it took them considerably longer to complete the second lap than it had taken for the first lap.

The first six on the water were –

1^st Thomas; 2^nd Rhys; 3^rd Emily; 4^th Phoebe; 5^th Lucy; 6^th Rohan.

On corrected time this changes to 1^st Phoebe; 2^nd Rhys; 3^rd Emily; 4^th Lucy; 5^th Thomas

Well done to all of you for competing in difficult light wind conditions.

Adult’s Race

There was a bit of a delay before the adults could get away as James wrestled with the problem of a constantly shifting wind. In fact, he had two different courses on the race sheet before settling on a third option! He finally decided that he would change the course and change the start line. He then used a committee boat start parallel to the bank and going straight out to A then 9, 4, 2, 5, 6, 7 and back through the start.

The wind was a bit better for the adults and Ralph (Laser) was first back across the line one minute ahead of Sam & Newton (RS 200) followed 30 seconds later by Jess in her Laser. After 2 minutes Mike A (Lightning) crossed in 4^th place not far ahead of Dean & Nick (Vago), Alistair S (Laser) and Thomas (Laser). Nev (Comet) and Joe (Laser) came through battling for 8^th place and they were about a minute ahead of Peter R (s/h Enterprise). Then along came the Mirrors of Ron on his own and Jewels with little Tahlia as crew, followed 30 seconds later by Simon B with son James in the RSC Sport 14 (considerably lower Tech than his usual Blaze). Rhys and Emily were next renewing their battle from the first race with Rick and Lottie in Lasers just behind them. Bringing up the rear of the fleet were Paul W (flying an enormous red pennant – perhaps that’s a keep clear signal!) and David Knight in his Laser 2000.

The second lap saw the first three away and clear, but Peter R had fired up his booster and gained six places to move up to 4^th.Thomasmoved up to 6^th by passing Alistair and Dean & Nick retired from 5^th position, Joe got past Nev to move up to 7^th place and Rick also fired up his engines and gained six places to move to 9^th . Emily passed Rhys, Simon and Jewels to move up to 12^th place and further back Lottie gained a place.

At the end of the third and last Ralph finished 1^st with Sam & Newton in 2^nd place and Peter just pipped Jess for 3^rd spot. Joe passed Thomas and Mike to take 5^th and lower down the order Simon gained four places, Rhys repassed Emily and Paul W got past Lottie. The final order on the water was –

1^st Ralph; 2^nd Sam & Newton; 3^rd Peter; 4^th Jess: 5^th Joe; 6^th Mike A

On corrected time the order is 1^st Ron; 2^nd Jewels; 3^rd Ralph; 4^th Peter; 5^th Jess; 6^th Sam & Newton

Thanks to James and the OOD Team of Aileen M, Bea P, Bill C, Brian M, Gordon C, Richard H and Richard M.

Following the racing Barbara cooked sausages and burgers and there were tables of cakes made by Ann Day, Suzi Primrose, Sam Shears and Nick Heaven (who had also brought down games  including tossing the horse shoes (thought  there would be a technical name for that but on looking on the web, it is called Tossing Horseshoes – makes sense)

After a bite to eat the boat building began in earnest. Brian had brought his usual kit for the younger sailors to build their own boat from plastic bottles, bits or wood and other things. Brian and Richard (of course) could not resist building their own craft to also compete. Brian and Richard then released the craft from the safety boats with James on the bank as adjudicator.

As far as we can remember (and not including parental assistance!), Molly Steele won the competition against boats built by Jemima Day, Joe Day, Izzy Heaven, Bea Primrose, Rhys Primrose, Emily Shears and Phoebe Shears. There was one other who left early, but their name escapes us along with a lot of other things these days!
However, not forgetting the adults who were disqualified (Richard and Brian Moore!) fun was had by all.

With the lovely weather and 30 boats racing (11 Juniors and 19 Adults) and burgers, cakes and messing about it was a really good day. Well done to everyone who took part and helped out to make it a special day for this year’s Barts Bash.