Monday 28 November 2011

Streakerramblings -Freeman Iceberg Race 4 - 27th November 2011

A grey sky, wall to wall, a very strong breeze and rain coming down in sheets. That was just on the journey down to Piddinghoe this Sunday. On arrival Alan.S was in two minds as whether or not to sail in the westerly wind but decided to rig anyway. Huge gusts were coming across the water and the wind was howling in the rigging of boats on the bankside – suggesting at least force 5 to 6.
There was a fair amount of interest with finally eleven boats getting onto the pond, with one boat left on the bank, its helm unsure of the sense of going afloat ( having seen Alan.S in his Streaker, one of the first afloat, capsize and have to await the safety boat to free his mast from the mud) finally deciding against venturing out.
Kay, the RO set a course with an initial short beat up the long (west) side of the pond, turning in front of the clubhouse and followed by a close reach along the northern bank. Turning there led off on a broad reach back to the start mark and after another gybe another reach across to the east bank and thence behind the island on a run to the Southern corner and finally the main beat up the west side.

At the off there was a good bit of shouting as Paul Ryan (Laser, Hardway SC) coming up fast below Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial, NSSC) forced him up towards the pin mark. A little to leeward Rupert Smith (NSSC) sailing a Laser full Rig this week - instead of the Mirror he has used for the previous races – came off the line with good speed with Darren Field (Byte CII, NSSC) tucked in close behind. Alan Simmons (Streaker, Lancing SC) was close to the pin but just astern of Paul.R and right down to leeward Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS200, NSSC) started off on port tack.
By the end of lap one the order was Paul.R followed by Rupert.S with Jonty.F in third spot. Next up was Michael.V with Alan.S in 5th spot – these two remained in the same relative postion throughout the race with the gap between them opening and closing constantly. Tom Taylor (Megabyte, NSSC) was labouring in sixth on the water having been nowhere near the line at the start – probably not hearing the guns due to the wind and not seeing the visual signals, somewhat hidden in the reeds. In seventh place was Darren.F, then came Jack Turner and James Bovington (Laser II, NSSC) with D.Ford and girl crew in the Magno (NSSC) bringing up the tail.
Nathan Bloss (NSSC) sailing a Laser Radial suffered a broken Kicking strap in the first lap, after an early capsize, leading to a skying boom which eventually came off and he ended up on the east bank until towed home. Josh Smith sailing a Topper with the reduced rig found the breeze still too much for him and also capsized in lap one and then retired to the bank.
A battle royal was happening in the front of the fleet with Rupert.S passing Jonty.F in lap 2, losing the place back in lap 3. By lap 4 Jonty.F had also overtaken Paul.R as has Rupert.S. The top order then stayed Jonty, Rupert and Paul to the finish.
A bit further back down the fleet Jack.T had a capsize in lap 4 and retired whilst Tom.T suffered a dip in lap 5 but recovered and although he passed Alan.S before the finish he was still a lap behind.
Whilst the skies cleared and the sun shone out the breeze dropped slowly throughout the racing until it fizzled out almost entirely once everyone was ashore and packed up.
Once the handicaps had been calculated Alan.S had overtaken Michael.V but made no impression on the three front running Lasers.

Results (Unofficial, Unapproved) :-
1st. Jonty Freeman, 2nd Rupert Smith, 3rd. Paul Ryan, 4th.Alan Simmons, 5th.Michael Veale, 6th. Darren Field, 7th. Tom Taylor, 8th, D.Ford, 9th (Retired), Jack Turner, Josh Smith and Nathan Bloss.
Alan.S 1700

Monday 21 November 2011

Streakerramblings – Freeman Iceberg Race 3 – 20/11/2011

With the pond open again for sailing – after the Algae problem – Sunday dawned misty but bright with just a hint of breeze. The journey down to Piddinghoe necessitated the use of dipped headlights and upon arrival at the pond any sailing looked rather unlikely. Vision across the water was limited to little more than 30 metres, the nearest mark or two to the clubhouse. A waft of breeze was felt, well under a force 1, from the northern side of the pond.
After getting the boat off its trailer, down near to the slip way and rigging it, the visibility had only marginally improved and after launching it was little better. Finally the mist lifted enough for the RO, Chris Turner, to set a course, and allow the safety boat to reposition a couple of marks for the fleet to go round the outside of the pond.

Amazingly there was an enormous turnout – for Piddinghoe – with nineteen boats going afloat, only one of which although starting did not complete the course. There was one capsize, Paul Ryan (Laser, Hardway SC) managed to tip it in when launching.

At the start it was the aforementioned Paul Ryan who shot out in front on starboard tack and then managed to tack across in front of the pursuing pack. Next up was the Laser II of Jack Turner and James Bovington (NSSC) followed by Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial, NSSC), Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS 200, NSSC) and then Darren Field in his Byte CII (NSSC). Ed Thorburn (Finn, NSSC) – Race 1 winner – was behind these and the two Streakers – Alan Simmons, Lancing SC and Laurence Venus, NSSC – where well behind this gaggle.
At the end of the first lap the order was sorted out with Paul.R in top spot, Ed.T next, Jonty.F third and Laurence.V fourth. Lying fifth was Julian Dobson (Laser full rig, NSSC) and Alan.S in sixth spot. By the end of the second lap, in the still light breeze, Ed.T had moved into the lead with Paul.R behind him and Laurence.V up a place to third. Further back in the fleet Darren.F was up from 9th to 7th with Michael.V down to 9th. By the end of lap 4 the order was Ed.T in front with Laurence.V next then Paul.R and Alan.S in fourth, a sequence that was to remain until the finish although Alan did give Paul a few shocks when he almost got ahead on a few occasions. Back down the fleet it was Jack.T in the Laser II who lost out most, apparently getting his centreboard stuck in the mud on three occasions in almost exactly the same place at the end of the short windward leg, close to the clubhouse (and Dad Chris), dropping from 7th at the end of lap 1 to 14th in lap 7. Alice Smith and Alex Stonard (Laser II, NSSC) were slightly better off ending up at 12th in lap 7 from 14th in lap 1 – it really was not breezy enough for this class of dinghy.













The other Lasers, Graham Hardy, Bill Wates, and Chas Humphries (all NSSC members) had their own little race, within a race, with Graham.H leading the field into 9th spot, on the water at the finish, ahead of Chas.H and then Bill.W. Michael.V in the RS 200, although using his spinnaker on several occasions, dropped slowly down th ranks from 8th in lap 1 to12th at the close.

Amongst the tail enders, Rupert Smith (Mirror single handed, NSSC) stayed constant in 15th position for 5 laps he managed to complete, once again not really enough breeze to move him round. Terry Jones (Pico, NSSC) just dropped one place in the race from 16th in laps 1 to 4 to 17th at his finish. Similarly Josh Smith (Topper, NSSC) dropped from 17th in lap 4 to 18th in lap 5, whilst John Smith (Pico, NSSC) went from 18th to 19th in lap 4.The Magno sailed by D Ford (NSSC) started the race in 19th, last, position and clawed up to 16th by the end of lap 5 but then retired.
By the time all the boats were ashore and packed up for the day the mist rolled in over the water once more. With the results calculated it was a clean sweep for the two Streakers with Laurence 1st and Alan 2nd.

Results (unofficial, unchecked):-
1st. Laurence Venus, 2nd. Alan Simmons, 3rd Ed Thorburn, 4th. Paul Ryan, 5th Jonty Freeman, 6th. Julian Dobson, 7th.Darren Field, 8th.Tom Taylor, 9th.Graham Hardy, 10th. Chas Humphries, 11th. Bill Wates, 12th Michael Veale, 13th Alice Smith, 14th Jack Turner, 15th. Rupert Smith, 16th. Terry Jones, 17th. Josh Smith, 18th John Smith,19th D.Ford


Alan.S 1700

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Streakerramblings -Freeman Iceberg Race 2 - 13th November 2011

Well another week and no sailing for me - or anyone else as it happens. The NSSC web site reveals all:-


NEWS

Winter Series Race Sunday 13th November - Cancelled

racing is cancelled this week, but should take place from 20th onwards

the temporary oxygenation pumps (see below) whilst in use

create a hazard for sailors and windsurfers

.

What is Hapening at Piddinghoe Pond ?

An Algae ‘bloom‘ has died with the colder weather and in decomposing

has taken the oxygen levels down to a point where the fish were dying.

.

The Environmental Agency have responded with pumps to provide

temporary areas of oxygenation until the pond recovers its natural balance

.

The algae was not toxic and there was and is no danger to people, dogs etc

This action by EA is funded through the UK fishing licences – not through local rates or club funds

.

It is a naturally occuring phenomena, however we are working closely with

Seaford Angling club who rent the angling rights,

together with the EA specialists to understand if we can,

over time, improve the habitat to reduce the risk of the algae blooms.
So there you are, all is revealed and hopefully we will be able to sail next Sunday.
Alan.S 1700

Thursday 10 November 2011

Streakerramblings -Freeman Iceberg Race 1 - 6th November 2011


This account is going to be third hand as I was not present, on or off the water, at the initial race of this winter’s pre-Xmas series so have to rely on the annotated lap sheet provided by Kay Young the RO.
Bett and I had been invited to lunch at Sussex YC by our friend Clare to celebrate the purchase of her Wayfarer Dinghy ‘Daggers’ – splendid Turkey and trimmings.
Back to the racing however, the morning’s Windguru had forecast at least force 5 but the reported white caps on waves would seem to indicate something a bit stronger although it did apparently reduce a little as the race progressed. Six boats came to the line and at the gun it was Rupert Smith (NSSC) single handed in a Mirror who was first away. Tailing him were Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (NSSC) in their RS200.
Within a few yards Ed Thorburn (NSSC) in his Finn had jumped into the lead and was to remain there unchallenged to the finish. By the end of the first lap the order was Ed.T followed by Paul Ryan (Hardway SC) in a full rig Laser with Tom Taylor (NSSC) next in a Megabyte – having by then overtaken Michael.V. In fifth spot were Alice Smith and Alex Stanard (NSSC) in their Laser II (Fun) and a goodly way ahead of dad Rupert.S. who had already managed to capsize at least once.
Lap two saw a bit more rotation when Alice and Alex capsized and Tom.T lowered his sail and was towed home with, it transpired, a broken gooseneck fitting.
In lap 3 Rupert.S managed to lose control and capsized again only also to lose his mainsheet as he righted the boat and being unable to recover that he sailed home under jib alone.
Whilst all on different laps all four remaining boats crossed the line within seconds of one another, in the 39 to 40 minute period, having all been on the planing leg simultaneously.
In lap 7 it was Paul.R’s turn to take a swim allowing Michael.V to get ahead of him, and stay there until the finish however once the handicaps were applied Paul.R pulled the position back. In the same lap Alice.S and Alex.S also took another swim but recovered and continued to the finish in 4th place.

It was certainly a fast and furious event with plenty of spills, thrills and retirements but unfortunately no pictures to display with these notes.

Results:-
1st. Ed Thorburn, 2nd. Paul Ryan, 3rd. Michael Veale and Mike Rosier, 4th. Alice Smith and Alex Stanard, 5th (Retired) Tom Taylor, 5th (Retired) Rupert Smith.
Alan.S 1700
PS Alan intends to be present next Sunday (remembrance Sunday) 13th November.