Gillette Series 2016 Results

The Gillette Series for 2016 has now finished, which means the end of the Summer for another year.
 
In the Senior series, that is senior in terms of adults, not senior citizens (although some of us are!), the series result was –
1st Karen (Laser); 2nd Newton (Solo); 3rd Ellen (Radial); 4th Mike A (Lightning); 5th Hugh (Laser);
6th Julian W (Solo).
 
So a nice mix of boats reflecting the different weather conditions throughout the year with Karen just taking the series from Newton on count back.
 
In the Juniors the series result was –
1st Edward (Topper); 2nd Jemima (Oppie); 3rd Joe (Topper); 4th Ben (Topper); 5th Thomas (Topper; 6th Rhys (Topper)  
 
Again this was a close series with only one point between Edward and Jemima and Joe just two points further back. Well done to all the juniors who turned out and don’t forget you would be welcome to join in the racing on Sunday mornings.
 

Twilight Race 14th SAeptember

This was the final Wednesday evening race of the year and the chance for everyone to decorate their boats with lights and sail round in the dark (which is what some of us do all year!). Pleased to say the standard of decoration this year was much better than last year. There were a number of Christmas tree themes, some went for the searchlight approach and Dave & Ann had a very futuristic vertical laser set-up.
 
The race started in a light wind with a glorious sunset as a backdrop. There were 17 starters including the regular junior squad of Jemima, Joe and Edward.  
At the end of the first lap Newton had edged away in the lead with Jess B in 2nd place and Dean & Nick in 3rd and this was the pattern for the second lap as well.
By the third lap the wind had dropped right away and so had the light. No idea how the OOD Team managed to log the positions and times. They must have been very good at recognising light patterns and been in training on a carrot diet!
The lake looked quite magical with the ghostly boats drifting around with flickering lights moving through the gloom.
There was some doubt that all the boats would make it back to shore, but the lights were a help to the Rescue boats trying to find the stragglers in the dark.  
 
I think that Newton manged to hang onto his lead to win the race, but the most important accolade went to Edward who was considered to have the most impressive light display and also won the battle of the juniors..
 
Thanks to Karen who did us proud with a great barbecue and to Sally and Ann who had helped out throughout the year and a special thank you to Geesje  who was presented with a gift for all her hard work preparing great meals all year.
 
Thanks to Peter R and his OOD Team of Andrew B and Phil A and whoever else helped make the evening a great end to the Wednesday evening sailing.
 
 

11th September Cobley Series 2

Well last Sunday was quite windy but that was not the case today. The wind was coming from the WNW, when it was coming at all! With the very light wind Dave P wisely set a short course using the flag post nearest to the Clubhouse  with 6 as the first mark, then across to X (in the middle of the lake West of 8) then back through the start.
 
Pursuit Race
There were 11 starters again this morning and with no Toppers Chris H (Comet) was first away. By No 6 he had been caught and passed by Mark B (Laser) and Hadey (Radial), and then there was a line of Lasers led by Mike A followed by Ralph, Steve P, Richard S, Alistair S and Dave I.  Finally another boat, the Solo of Chris A, with the Laser of Rod bringing up the rear.
By the end of the lap Chris H had repassed Hadey and Richard S had gained two places to move up to 5th and the only other mover was Alistair who had gained a place.
At the gun the only further changes were Hadey back in front of Chris H, Dave I had passed Ralph and Rod had got past Chris A.
The final positions were –
1st Mark B; 2nd Hadey; 3rd Chris H; 4th Mike A; 5th Richard S; 6th Steve P
 
Handicap
The wind had improved a little for the second race and by the end of the first lap Richard S had managed to get away at the front. Mark B came through in 2nd place and Hadey in 3rd, with Mike A and Dave I crossing the line together behind her. Ralph (Laser) came through in 6th with Chris A 7th, Rod 8th, Steve P 9th, Alistair 10th and Chris H at the back in 11th.
 
On the second lap Mike A, Dave I and Ralph all managed to get past Hadey. Alistair had moved up two places to 8th and Chris H was up one place.
 
At the end of the third lap the first six boats had maintained position, but Rod moved up four places to 7th, Steve P was up one place to 8th.
 
On the fourth lap there was no change in the first seven boats, but Steve retired allowing Chris A to move up a place to 8th and Alistair up to 9th.
Chris A, Alistair and Chris H received the gun at the end of this lap.
 
At the end of the fifth and last lap there was no change with the first five boats, but Rod had gained another place by nipping past Hadey.
 
The final positions on the water were –
1st Richard S; 2nd Mark B; 3rd Mike A; 4th Dave I; 5th Ralph; 6th Rod
 
On Handicap, there should be no change with the first four boats, but Hadey should leapfrog to 5th place.
 
Thanks to Dave Portus and the OOD Team of Jan & Paul K, Al E and Nick L 
 

Gillette Series 22 7th September 2016

It was the last race of the Gillette Series, but it was a pity that the wind had decided not to grace the occasion with its presence. There was also no SOOD until Curtis stepped into the breech. What wind there was seemed to be coming from the SSE at least some of the time. Curtis set the first drift up to X on the buoy line (mid-way between 5 and 6), then sadistically down to 8, back up to 6 on the buoy line and back through the start.
 
There were 8 hopeful starters and they had the benefit of starting about 10 minutes after the Juniors, so that they could clearly see that there was no wind!  Mike A (Lightning) arrived at X in the lead, but unfortunately (for him) at the same time as the Junior fleet was rounding the mark so he had to go right round the back of their fleet. Mark B (Laser) was first to the second mark, closely followed by Karen and Hugh both in Lasers. There was only time for one lap and Mark held his lead to cross the line in first place.
The final positions on the water were –
1st  Mark; 2nd Karen; 3rd Hugh; 4th Chris A (Solo); 5th Jess B (Laser); 6th Mike T (Laser)
 
On handicap the first two should keep their positions, but Chris A should take 3rd place pushing Hugh back to 4th with Jess still 5th and Bob (Solo) coming up to 6th.
 
Karen really needed a win tonight to definitely take the Series from Newton. They are level on points so the final decision will go to count back – watch this space!
 
Juniors
There were 7 Juniors out tonight and although there was not much wind they seemed to be enjoying themselves and there was a lot of shouting and chattering going on. There was the usual call of “starboard”, but also “no tiller waggling” and “I need a wee” The latter call could be quite useful as it is the responsibility of all helms to avoid accidents so presumably this would give this boat precedence over all others!
The final positions on the water were-
1st Edward; 2nd; Rhys; 3rd Joe; 4th Jemima; 5th Thomas; 6th Bea; 7th William.
 
As the girls were in Oppies and the lads in Toppers the handicap result will be 1st Jemima; 2nd Bea and 3rd Edward.
 
This should give Jemima the series victory, so well done to her!
 
Thanks to Curtis (I think!) and the OOD Team of Helene W, Mark H, Dene F and Richard H.

Cobley Series 1 4th September

It was quite blowy this morning with a West wind about 15 mph with 25 mph gusts coming through. It had been decided to use the same format as the Summer Series with a 35 minute pursuit race followed by a 45 minute handicap. Mike A set the first beat to 5 then 2s, 4s, 8p, 7p and back through the start.
 
Pursuit Race
William and Joe in their Toppers were first away from the line and at the end of the lap William was still in the lead with Curtis (Radial) up to 2nd and Joe 3rd. Ralph (Laser) had come through to 4th with Chris H (Comet) 5th, Hugh (Radial) 6th and then the Lasers of James, Richard S, Franz and Gareth with Chris A (Solo) in the middle of this Laser Pack.
Unfortunately on the second lap Joe made a mistake with the course which pushed him to the back of the fleet.
At the gun the positions were –
1st Curtis; 2nd William; 3rd Ralph; 4th James; 5th Hugh; 6th Richards S
 
Well done William and bad luck Joe who had been going really well.
  
Handicap
Despite the frisky conditions there were no drop-outs and all 11 started the second race.
Richard S was first back through the line, but only just ahead of James and Curtis. Ralph came through in 4th place with Hugh close behind him. Then there was a slight gap back to the Lasers of Gareth and Franz and then another gap back to Chris H and Chris A and finally the two Toppers of William and Joe.
On the second lap James passed Richard to take the lead and Hugh moved up to 3rd place. Ralph was now 5th and all the boats behind him maintained station.
By the third lap Curtis had come to the front pushing James down to 2nd and Hugh to 3rd and Richard to 4th. Ralph retired (cream-crackered) and the only other mover was Chris A who had got past Chris H. William and Joe received the finish gun at the end of this lap.
At the end of the fourth and last lap James crossed the line first, which meant that the lead had changed on every lap! Everyone else remained in the same positions as the lap before.
Despite the windy conditions it was a really good race to watch and all the sailors seemed to enjoy it.
There were only two capsizes by Gareth and Joe respectively, but these were virtually dry capsizes and they both got going again very quickly.
 
The final positions on the water were – 1st James; 2nd Curtis; 3rd Hugh; 4th Richard S; 5th Gareth; 6th Franz
 
On Handicap, Curtis and Hugh, who were out in Radials, should move up to 1st and 2nd with James 3rd Richard 4th, and Gareth 5th, with Chris H moving up to 6th.
Remarkably it looks as if Franz and Chris A will tie for 7th place! – just shows how close the racing was.     
 
Well done to William and Joe who kept going in testing conditions.
 
Thanks to the OOD Team of Phil M, Monica and Mark R, Chris B and Rick. 
 

Gillette 21 Juniors 31st Aust 2016

Juniors
As usual Eddie and Joe were out in their Toppers joined by Thomas in his Topper and Jemima  in her Oppie
At the end of the first lap Eddie held a good lead over Joe with Jemima about the same distance behind Joe with Thomas just behind her and they maintained these positions for the whole of the race.
 
However on handicap Jemima will again pip her brothers to take victory and the final positions were –
1st Jemima; 2nd Eddie; 3rd Joe; 4th Thomas
 
With one race left Jemima leads the series by just one point from Eddie
 
 

Gillette Series 21 31st August 2016

Ellen was standing in for Newton who had absconded on holiday! With a good 12 mph Westerly wind she set a first beat to 4 then back to 9p, 5s, 6s, 7s and back through the start.
 
There were 18 starters tonight which was a bit better than recent weeks. Mark B (Laser) was leading on the first lap, but only just ahead of Curtis (Radial), Monica (Europe) and Hadey, back from her big boat sailing, in her 4.7.Then there was a slight gap back to Dave & Ann in the first Leader and a bigger gap back to Rick (Laser).
 
On the second lap Monica retired from 3rd place and Rick gained three places to move up to 3rd with Dave & Ann moving up to 4th. There was close racing throughout the fleet and this could be seen by Franz gaining six places to move to equal 5th with Hadey. Further back Julian (Solo) and Mike A (Lightning) were trading places and Paul H (Supernova) and Sally & Mike C (Leader) moved from 12th and 13th to 7th and 8th respectively! Bob (Solo) had also gained a place by just squeezing past Alistair (Laser). At the back of the fleet Amy (Comet) and Tracey (Leader) were battling for family honour with Amy just ahead, but Tracey retired at the end of the lap.
 
At the end of the third lap the leading five boats maintained their positions, but had spread out slightly.Sally & Mike C had moved up to 6th place with Paul H 7th and Richard H gaining three places was up to 8th.
 
On the fourth and last lap Mark B retired from the lead, presumably he suffered a gear failure, and Amy also retired, reason unknown. Curtis crossed the line in 1st place with Rick a clear 2nd well ahead of Richard H who had stormed up to 3rd place. The other movers on the last lap were Paul H who gained two places up to 5th, Franz who gained three places up to 6th and Mike A and Mike T who both gained three places up to 8th and 10th.   
 
The final positions on the water were –
1st Curtis; 2nd Rick; 3rd Richard H; 4th Dave & Ann; 5th Paul H; 6th Franz
 
On handicap the first two will keep their positions, but Hadey should move to 3rd with Dave & Ann still 4th, Mike A up to 5th and Sally & Mike C up to 6th.
However the headlines of the night are definitely –
 
BIG ONION TAKES GOLD AND THE NEW TREASURER RUNS AWAY WITH THE SILVER
 
If you don’t understand this ask Curtis if he will show you his whopper (and you should see the size of his pumpkins !!)
 
Thanks to Ellen and the OOD Team of Bill and Peter C and Martin W.
 

Lex Cup Bank Holiday Monday August 2016

The only member of the OOD Team to turn up was Steve P, but Paul R stepped up as SOOD and was ably assisted by James P. It was a light tricky wind which kept changing direction and strength. In the end Paul moved No 5 down towards 6 and made that the first mark, so the course was 5p, 8s, 4p, 2p, 9p, Xp.
Steve S (Solo) was first back through the line followed by Monica (Europe), Peter R (Enterprise), Ralph (Laser), Mike A (Lightning) and Franz (Laser). Adrian was next through sailing his Vago single handed again (he does like a challenge!) and close behind him was Phil M (Solo) and Rick and Alistair in Lasers. Nick T was giving his Finn an airing, the first time for a while, and at the back of the fleet William and Rhys were having their own battle in Toppers.
On the second lap there was no change in position for any of the boats in the fleet, but on the third lap the first four boats had pulled clear of the rest and Peter R had come through to the lead. Further back Phil had gained two places and Rick one place. 
In the Topper battle William had led for the first two laps, but on the third (and last lap for them) Rhys managed to cross the line ahead. Nick T retired on this lap.
At the finish gun Steve had regained the lead with Ralph coming up to 2nd place, but it was a very close finish between the leading four boats. The back half of the fleet came to a complete halt between 4 and 2 for about 5 minutes before a light breeze got up and they managed to move again. Adrian got his spinnaker up and regained the two places he had lost the lap before  and Alistair managed to get past Rick.
The final positions on the water were –
1st Steve S; 2nd Ralph; 3rd Peter R; 4th Monica; 5th Mike A; 6th Franz.
 
On handicap Steve will retain the victory and the LEX Cup, but Monica should move up to 2nd with Peter R 3rd, Mike A 4th, Ralph 5th and Phil M 6th.
 
Thanks to Paul R, James P and Steve P for ensuring the cup race actually took place.
 
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