Bart’s Bash at Reading

This Sunday saw Reading Sailing Club participating again in Bart’s Bash the world’s largest sailing race with some 598 clubs in 80 countries holding races over the same weekend, raising money for the Andrew Simpson charity.  

Weather at Reading was fairly grey with light winds, as emphasised by the Virgin Hot Air Balloon carrying out a fly-over of the lake at about 100ft, 30 mins before the start.  Never a good sign for windy conditions!  

With the wind coming from the North, and filling in to 1-2mph,  James the  SOOD (yours truly) started the races from Tektona, the first being a small buoy race for the oppies.  4 boats, consisting of Bea, Jemima, Lucy and Nico, all coached by Hadey and William.  Jemima showed the way with Bea, Lucy and Nico coming in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively, 

After the Oppie race came the main fleet consisting of 15 boats, with the course being Xp 5p 9s 4p 2p S.  Adrian in his souped up Laser (Rooster 8.1) lead the first lap, with Mark B in his Laser following and the Solos of Chris and Phil in hot pursuit.   The second lap had the added entertainment of a fly-over of 3 Tiger Moths in tight formation.  There were two battles royale going on between Adrian and Mark, and the Solos of Phil and Chris.   Mark managed to overtake Adrian by lap 3, with Chris overtaking Phil on the fourth lap. 

On the water Mark crossed the line first followed by Adrian, then Chris followed by Phil.  Lower down the pack Milo crossed the line in his Laser Radial a couple of seconds in front of Hadey in hers!  Hadey’s marked her finish with speculation (later confirmed to be true) that her Laser was taking on water, and reminding the committee boat that she won Wednesday’s Twilight race.  Needless to say that there wasn’t much sympathy coming back from the committee boat, with remarks that the student (i.e. Milo) had now become master, and Wednesday was soooo last week!
Rhys brought the first Topper home ahead of Thomas, and while Carlos brought up the rear he certainly won the prize in sailing the most relaxed race. There were comments on the committee boat that if he got any more relaxed he would be mixing up cocktails on the foredeck, which was thought to be a fine idea. 

Final results are as below. After applying the Barts Bash handicap system, Chris took the honours of the day in his Solo, followed by Mark, then Phil and in 4th, Chris in his Comet.   In terms of the PY system, I think it is only Ron that has cause to complain. If the Club’s PY numbers were applied using the single handicap number for a Mirror, then he would have edged up from 5th into 3rd.  
However, whisper it very softly, if you look at the corrected speeds (the Bart Speed), then Jemima in her Oppie takes the overall honours for the day! 
Anyway well done to everyone who took part, especially for those for whom this was their first race or who don’t race that often. Well done for taking part. Thanks too to the OOD team of David, George, Laura, Mike, Steve and William. And thanks to to Ann and Suzi for organising the Cafe and Kuchen afterwards.  The club raised over £100 for the Andrew Simpson charity not including any online donations, so well done and thank you all for that. 
 
Reading Sailing Club – Barts’ Bash 2017 Oppie Race Reading Sailing Club – Barts’ Bash 2017 Main Race
Position Skipper Boat Class Sail Number Bart Speed (m/s) Position Skipper Crew Boat Class Sail Number Bart Speed (m/s)
1 Jemima D OPTIMIST 5881 1.33435 1 Chris A SOLO 3105 1.27688
2 Bea P OPTIMIST 3087 0.72288 2 Mark B LASER Standard 195248 1.24914
3 Lucy M OPTIMIST 0.68416 3 Philip M SOLO 3362 1.2406
4 Nicola B OPTIMIST 0..65927 4 Chris H COMET 587 1.209
5 RON V MIRROR dinghy 70513 1.20804
6 Adrian F ROOSTER 8.1 601 1.19008
7 Richard L LASER Standard 123605 1.16208
8 Bob L Roland L Leader 2 1260 1.09153
9 Milo C LASER RADIAL 72448 1.07885
10 Hadey L LASER RADIAL 130333 1.04933
11 Jeremy T LASER Standard 163287 1.01754
12 Rhys P TOPPER 46459 0.99002
13 Alistair S LASER Standard 176801 0.93071
14 Thomas M TOPPER 5893 0.88389
15 Carlo B LASER Standard 0.6513

WORK PARTY SATURDAY 2nd Sept

·       Cut back verges and overhanging branches on main access road. ½ metre maximum each side.

·       Remove dinghies from one boat park row to cut back overgrown weeds etc. Row to be decided.

·       Bring Tektona back to jetty to repair missing window, pump out water and possibly fit wood floor in rear of boat.

·       Repair broken wooden rail on right side of main slipway.

·       Check club rental and training dinghies for flat tyres and loose covers.

·       Clear remaining tree cuttings from N/W corner of car park and burn.

·       Collect any abandoned car tyres and stack with others by trailer park.

·       Rake weeds from slipways.

·       Clean/brush wooden jetty and pontoons.

·       Tidy red shed.

Tidy clubhouse

Gillette Results

The Gillette Wednesday evening results have now been reported with the adults and juniors separated as they were last year. The combined results can still be found here http://www.readingsc.org.uk/results/GilletteB17.htm

Well done to Jemima who was nearly 4 minutes ahead in last weeks combined results.

6th August Summer Series 9

With A WSW wind of about 10 mph Paul R set the first beat to 4, then 9s, 3p, Xp, 5s, 6s, 7s and back though the start.
 
Pursuit Race
There were 14 starters and Chris A (Solo) was first back through the line followed by Karen (Laser) then early starter Ron (Mirror). At the gun Karen was in 1st place with Chris A in 2nd and Ellen & Newton up to 3rd.
The top six were – 1st Karen (Laser); 2nd Chris A )Solo); 3rd Ellen & Newton (RS200); 4th Hugh (Laser); 5th Steve S (Solo); 6th Adrian (Rooster)
 
Handicap Race
Adele and Sally decided not to sail the second race so the fleet was down to 12 boats and in the light wind the race was a two lapper.
First back through the line were Newton & Ellen (RS200), just 8 seconds ahead of Steve & Lyn (505 – nice to see the Galleon back on the water, as long as you are not in its wind shadow!) and in 3rd position was Karen(Laser) followed by Adrian (Rooster), Hugh (Laser), Steve S (Solo) and Gareth (Laser).  30 seconds later Nev crossed the line in his Comet with Chris A (Solo) close behind him), then there was a gap back to Jeremy (Laser) and Mike C & Sally (Wanderer – so she did do the second race but not in her Comet!) and bringing up te rear was Ron in his Mirror.
At the end of the second lap there was no change in the order of the first three boats, but Hugh, Steve and Gareth had all moved up one place and the only other cahge was Chris getting past Nev.
 
The final positions on the water were –
1st Newton & Ellen; 2nd Steve & Lynn P; 3rd Karen;  4th Hugh; 5th Steve S; 6th Gareth.
 
On handicap there should be quite a few changes with Newton & Ellen still in 1st place, but Nev should move up to 2nd place with Karen in 3rd, Steve S 4th, Chris A 5th and Hugh 6th.    
 
Thanks to Paul R and the OOD Team of Jerry C, Gary W, Julian W and John W.
 

2nd August Gillette Series Race 16

With a strong SSW wind of 13-15 mph and persistent drizzle, so not a particularly pleasant evening,  Chris A set the first beat to X, then 1s, 4s, 9p, 6s, 7s and back through the start.
 
Not surprisingly there were only 8 starters tonight and first back through the line was Newton in his Solo, just ahead of the four Lasers of Ellen, Hugh, Richard H and Rick. Although Sally & Stuart (Leader and the only double hander out tonight) did cross the line level with Rick and they were followed 20 seconds later by Alistair (Laser) and Paul H (Supernova).
 
By the end of the second lap Ellen and Hugh had both got past Newton and further back Alistair and Paul had got past Sally & Stuart.
On the third lap the first four boats maintained their positions, but Paul had passed Alistair and crossed the line level with Rick in 5th place. Sally & Stuart had also passed Alistair to regain a place.
No change in the first four boats on the final fourth lap, but Rick had just eased away from Paul and Alistair had regained the place he lost on the previous lap.
 
The final positions on the water were –
1st Ellen; 2nd Hugh; 3rd Newton; 4th Richard H; 5th Rick; 6th Paul H; 7th Alistair; 8th Sally & Stuart
 
On handicap Newton will take 1st place and Sally & Stuart will move up to 6th.
 
Thanks to Chris A and the OOD Team of Ian S, Karen and Dean.  
 

Leader Open 29th & 30th July

We hosted a Leader Open meeting on the weekend of 29th/30th July and the fleet was not huge, but it was friendly! There were 9 boats competing, six from RSC and three visitors, with three races on Saturday and three on Sunday.
 
On Saturday the wind was fairly light, about 10 mph from WSW and dropped off slightly during the day. The first race was a three lap affair and first back through the line on the first lap were Dave & Ann, but they were being chased down by the hot favourites Chris & Jane, who crossed the line in 1st place at the end of the three laps. Dave & Ann managed to hang on to 2nd place with Karen & Milo (both new to Leaders and using Tracey T’s boat) coming in 3rd place.  Veteran Leader sailors Nev & Mike just beat Newton & Bob for 4th place with Sally & Stuart just behind them in 6th. Dave & Adele (a RSC Junior and big thanks to her for stepping up to crew) were 7th. Dean M from Ostend (sailing solo) and Hugh & Dean were having their own battle at the back of the fleet.
After the first race there was some frantic tuning going on with Newton & Bo changing their sail and Hugh & Dean raking their mast!
 
Newton & Bob’s sail change obviously had an effect as they won the second race with Chris & Jane coming 2nd after a race long battle. Dave & Ann had another good race taking 3rd place and Dave & Adele went one better in this race finishing in 6th place.
There was more frantic tuning by Hugh and Dean before the start of the third race and unfortunately Sally injured her back and could not take part in this race. Adele had to leave, so Dave was left solo for this last race of the day. There was a right melee at No 6 towards the end of the first lap and several boats had to re-round the mark which caused a drastic change in the order.  In the end Dave (without Adele) took the victory with Newton & Bob in 2nd place and Karen & Milo 3rd.
 
On Sunday the wind was stronger, about 13 mph from the SW, and Dave was glad to have his mate Paul (from Milton Keynes)  crewing for him. Dean also managed to find a crew, in this case Will S from RCS (who usually sails an Enterprise).
The stronger wind seemed to suit Chris and Jane and they won all three races. The 2nd place was keenly contested with Newton & Bob taking two 2nd places and Karen & Milo taking the other. Dave & Paul were going well with 4th place in the first two races and were 4th at the end of the first lap of the third race, but this position was eventually taken by Nev & Mike. Dean & Will had mixed fortune finishing the first race in 7th place, but capsizing in the second. Will decided that was enough for him and he was replaced with Franz (another RSC sailor !)  
 
It was interesting to note that the Leaders sailed with the club racers in the morning races and would have taken the first three places in the handicap race!
 
Overall Positions
Name
Race
1
Race
2
Race
 3
Race
4
Race
5
Race
6
Overall
Position
Chris & Jane
1
2
6
1
1
1
1
Newton & Bob
5
1
2
2
3
2
2
Karen & Milo
3
4
3
6
2
3
3
Dave & Ann
2
3
4
5
5
5
4
Dave & Adele/Paul
7
6
1
4
4
6
5
Nev & Mike
4
5
5
3
6
4
6
Sally & Stuart
6
7
DNS
DNS
7
7
7
Dean & Will/Franz
8
8
7
7
DNF
8
8
Hugh & Dean
9
9
8
8
8
DNF
9
 
Well done to all the competitors, particularly the overall winners Chris & Jane, but also including the most consistent team of the day Hugh & Dean (who also did the most tuning between races)
 
An enjoyable  weekend with six races, lots of food and a great Barbecue on Saturday night.
Thanks to everyone who helped with the event, especially Sally who did all the organising and Geesje and Sue for sorting out the food.
 
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