4th May Pennant

The wind was a light South West about 8 mph and Dave I set a first beat to 4, back across to 9 then down to 3, back along the buoy line to 5, across to 8 then up to 6, 7 and back through the start.
There were 20 starters and a lull in the wind at the start made life difficult. Karen (Laser) infringed Hugh & Neville in the Leader and had to do penalty turns before she had really got going.
Paul R (Aero) did get a good start and was first back through the line at the end of the first lap. Jon (Laser) came through in 2nd followed by David C (Laser) and then Newton & Ellen (RS 200). Karen and Rod both in Lasers were very close together and crossed in 5th and 6th places. Chris A was going well in his Solo in 7th place and then close together were Adrian (Vago) and Sylvia (Laser).  Then there was a trio of two Lasers Curtis and Dean with Monica in her Europe (It was Monica’s Birthday – so many happy returns to you Monica). These were followed by Hugh & Neville (Leader), Peter S (Byte) and Mike C (Solo). Next it was good to see Ralph & Anna out in their Feva and Mick G out in the Otter and bringing up the rear of the fleet, Gordon in his Mirror and Eddie B in his Laser.
At the end of the second lap the first four remained the same but Rod had just nipped past Karen. Curtis had moved up three places to 7th and Sylvia up one place to 8th and Mike C four places to 10th.
Monica, Gordon and Eddie had all retired, no doubt off for tea and cakes !
The third lap was the last lap and Paul crossed the line to win with Newton& Ellen finishing 2nd with Jon 3rd. David C was 4th and Karen just managed to pip Rod to take 5th.
However on handicap it looks like 1st Paul; 2nd Jon; 3rd David with Peter S 4th (moving up from 12th on the water).
Thanks to the OOD team of Dave I, Oswin, John C, Kate H and Ian S.
 

3rd May Spring Pursuit 8

With a 13 mph West wind, Rod set the first beat up to 4, down to 2 then a run up to 5 and on to 6, down to 7 and then back through the start.
At the end of the first lap William came through in 1st place in his Topper, followed by Chris A (Solo), Newton & Ellen (Laser 2000) and Mike A (Lightning).
Hugh was going well in a Radial until his outhaul came adrift. He returned to shore, fixed it and then rejoined the race one lap down and kept going until the finish.
William managed to stay ahead for three laps before being caught first by Newton & Ellen and then by the Laser pack led by David C and Jon C and this pair made their way through to the front and led to the end. Richards S and Karen were not far behind the leaders and they had a terrific battle all race long as did Dave L and Curtis behind them. Curtis managed the distinction of the only capsize of the day. Phil A had another good race taking 6th place.
Unfortunately no intermediate lap times or places were recorded, but at the finish gun the final positions were –
1st David C; 2nd Jon C; 3rd Richard S; 4th Karen; 5th Newton & Ellen; 6th Phil A
 

Work Party Saturday

Work Party 2nd May 2015

1) Clean Slip ways

2) Cut back branches & twigs along access road

3) Cut down nettles next to Carpark Gate (to give access to Septic Tank ) and collect all rubbish from this area

4) Cut grass with Strimmer’s between boat rows and cut down nettles around Red Shed

5) Check Power boat equipment including First Aid Kits ( see check list from Don )

6) Clean Club House – Move Fridge and freezers to clean behind

Defrost upright freezer please bring freezer bags to hold food and check dates.

7) Other jobs on the day ( If Raining — Clean up Training Room, Red Shed, Clean Power Boats )

Please print your name on the Work Party Sheet

This is in the club entrance area

29 April Gillette Series 4

 The wind was a brisk  W 13 mph and Karen set the first beat up to 5 back down to 8 and then up to 4, back down to 9 and then across to 6 and 7 and back through the start.
There were 14 starters, it would have been 15, but Newton sat on his tiller and cracked it before he could get started.
Good to see Clive E again, who had brought his Lightning down for one of his occasional visits. Dean had volunteered to crew with Hugh in the Leader, he had obviously not heard that Hugh was working his way through the club members and not many of them were getting away without an early bath !
First back through the start was David C (Laser) followed by Ian C (Supernova), Clive E, Mark B (Radial), Curtis (Laser) and Sylvia (Radial). Then came the two Solos of Julian and Mike C in 7th and 8th places, closely followed by Ellen (Radial). Hugh & Dean were 10th, just one second in front of Peter S in his Byte, who was six seconds in front of Paula (Radial). At the back of the fleet Mike A (Lightning)  and Paul H(Radial) were having their own battle.
There were a few capsizes and Mark B and Curtis got entangled rounding 4 with Curtis coming off worst, capsizing and losing several places. There was a vigorous exchange of views about rights and water !
At the end of the second lap the first four held their positions but Sylvia, Julian and Mike C had all moved up one place due to Curtis’ misfortune. Paula had moved up three places to 9th and Mike a had moved up two places.
The first five had retained their places after three laps, but Curtis had regained two places and Julian had retired (not sure why). Ellen had moved up two places to 8th and Peter and Paul had also moved up two places.
Lap four and the first six were the same as the previous lap, but behind them there was some really close racing with lots of passing and repassing. Ellen had managed to get past Mike C to move up to 7th. Clive retired at the end of the lap as he had places to go.
On the fifth lap Curtis managed to pass Sylvia to move up to 4th, but everyone else maintained their places.
The final positions on the water were 1st David C; 2nd Ian C; 3rd Mark B and these will not change on handicap although Sylvia will take back 4th place from Curtis.
Thanks to the OOD Team, Karen, Stuart, Sally, Nick and Colin.

26 April Spring Series 7

The wind today was pretty well the same as last Sunday – 10 mph NE and Bob L used a Tektona start with an unusual course, a beat down to X, across to 8 and then to 4.
There were 25 starters with two new entrants to the Series, John W in his Laser and Nick L in his Gull, not sure that Nick actually started but he certainly did not complete the first lap.
As usual the first boat back round was William in his Topper followed by John C (Topaz), Hadey (4.7) and Peter S (Byte). 
The first boat to catch this group was Steve S in his Solo and a lap later Karen in her Laser. Karen was by some way the leading Laser at this stage.
After this the details get a bit hazy as the OOD team did not record any lap positions or times, but there were some close battles taking place throughout the fleet and no one capsized !
The final positions were – 1st Karen; 2nd Paul R (Aero); 3rd David C (Laser)
 
A plea to the OOD teams – please can you record lap times and/or positions – Thanks

 

19th April Spring Series 6

With a 10 mph NE wind Mike N used a Tektona start with a first beat to 8 then up to 7 on the buoy line, down to 9, back up to 5 then 2 then 4.
There were 23 starters although Bob decided to start much later than everyone else. Welcome to Simon T, a new member starting his first race with us in his Laser and to Charlotte appearing for the first time this year. Karen had also rejoined us along with Chris and Phil A
The first boat back past the clubhouse was William (Topper) followed by Peter S (Byte), Hadey (4.7), Mike A (Lightning), Steve S (Solo) and Sylvia (Radial).
After two laps Peter S had moved up to 1st with Hadey 2nd and William now 3rd and Steve S 4th. The first of the later starters was David C (Laser) in 5th and Karen had moved up three places to 9th and Ian was up four places to 18th.
At the end of three laps David C came through in 1st with Steve S 2nd and Peter S 3rd, but Karen in 4th place was catching him and Newton & Ellen (Laser 2000) were up to 5th.
After four laps David C still led but Karen was now 2nd with Steve S 3rd, Jon (Laser) 4th and Richard S (Laser) up to 5th, Newton & Ellen were 6th with Ian closing in on them.
At the gun David had held on to the lead but Steve S had just retaken Karen to take 2nd with Jon 4th and Ian 5th. Phil A (Laser) and Charlotte (Radial) did well in their first outings this year to take 8th and 10th respectively.
Thanks to Mike & Sally N, Mike C, Roland L, Tracey, and Paul W for running the race.
 
The final positions were 1st David; 2nd Steve S; 3rd Karen; 4th Jon; 5th Ian; 6th Richard.

 

Gillette Series 2015

Well you may have noticed that the Wednesday evening Gillette Series has now started

(some of us had not !).
 
The first race on 8th April saw the return of Bob L in his Solo and Chris & Carol in their Sport 14.  It also saw the debut of Newton in a Solo.
The first six in the twilight were 1st David C–Laser; 2nd Paul R–Aero; 3rd Ian C–Supernova; 4th Sally & Nev–Leader; 5th Curtis–Laser; 6th Newton–Solo. It was certainly a mixed leader board for the start of the series.
 
The second race on the 15th April saw an increase in starters, the word must have got around ! Ellen cast out of the Laser 2000 by Newton’s switch to a Solo appeared in a Laser Radial. Paula & Angela came out in their Comet Duo, Gordon got his Mirror out and Dean his Laser and Karen had returned from her winter hibernation refreshed and ready to go.
Unfortunately just after the leaders had completed three laps the wind disappeared completely leaving many of the fleet struggling to finish and in fact 10 of them called it a night and retired.
The first six were 1st Karen –Laser; 2nd Paul–Aero; 3rd Newton–Solo; 4th Bob– Solo; 5th Ian-Supernova; 6th James-Laser.
 
The third race on 22nd April saw more sailors returning, Tracey appeared in her Comet, Paula in her Radial and Paul H in his Supernova and Julian joined the growing Solo fleet.
Karen won again with Ian 2nd; Julian 3rd; David C 4th; Monica 5th and Newton 6th.
 
So after three races the overall leader is Ian-Supernova with Paul-Aero 2nd; Newton– Solo 3rd; Mike C-Solo 4th; Bob-Solo 5th and the first Laser of David C 6th.
Now that’s a turn-up only one Laser in the first six, but three Solos !

12 April Spring Series 5

This was another windy Sunday with a SSW rising from about 12 mph to plus 20 with some strong gusts coming through.
Mike A set a beat down to 2, then on to 3, back along the buoy line to 4 then across to a gybe at 8, back up to 5 on the buoy line with another gybe, then toward the clubhouse and No 7 and back through the start line.
Before the start Peter S and Jon C got entangled and at one point Jon had Peter captured underneath the sail of his Laser !  Fortunately they sorted things out before Peter was due to start.
Most of the Laser sailors had opted for the radial rig and some were wishing they could opt for a 4.7 ! Mike C decided to team up with Hugh in the Leader.
There were 13 starters and William was first away as usual in his Topper followed nine minutes later by Peter S (Byte), then Hugh & Mike C three minutes later.
Alistair (Laser – full rig) came to grief on the first lap and eventually had to leave his boat to be retrieved later – the first but not the last !
William still led by quite a distance at the end of the first lap with Steve S in 2nd and Newton & Ellen (Laser 2000) 3rd. About two minutes later Hugh & Mike crossed the line closely followed by a pack of Lasers, David C, Richard S, Curtis, Jon C, then the late starters Paul R (Aero) and Ian C (Supernova) and finally Dave L (Laser) and Peter S.
On the second lap the wind really started to get up and there were numerous capsizes all over the lake. Steve S looked as if he would cross the line in first place, but he capsized round 5 and the cleats on his foredeck pulled out so he toured in (quite quickly !) to retire. Newton & Ellen who were not far behind Steve then crossed the line 1st with David C 2nd and Paul R 3rd.
At this point there were more boats over than upright and the two Safety Boats were struggling to cope. Mike A as SOOD reluctantly made the decision to abandon the race.
 
Steve S, Jon C and Hugh set out in a third Safety Boat to help retrieve helms and boats.
James P & Steve P in one Safety Boat and Ross B & Issy in the other Safety Boat did a great job all morning and many thanks to them for their great efforts.
Once all the helms were safely ashore the Safety Boats set out again to retrieve all the boats that had been abandoned around the lake.
 
Quite an eventful morning !

 


Gillette Series Starts This Week

This week sees the start of the Gillette Wednesday evening series. This a couple of weeks earlier than previous years, and the available light may be an issue. The race will start promptly with the start gun at 19.00 ( 5 minute warning at 18.55). The race may be a restricted to around 45 mins depending on the light levels at the time. 
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