Streakerramblings - Alton Water - 22/09/2012

A lovely bright and clear morning start, 7.30am, for the journey to Alton Water, south of Ipswich. It was warm in the car but somewhat cooler in the open air once we had arrived. Whilst unpacking and rigging the boat there was a fairly strong breeze blowing from the far, north side of the reservoir.

Some seven visitors joined two home boats in the fleet for the Streaker Open meeting – no other boats were racing on the day. The furthest travelled by far was Primrose Salt having driven up the day before from the Bristol area (her club is Chew Valley) whilst Alan Simmons had only come up from Hove in East Sussex.
The course was laid with an initial beat, from the Committee Boat moored just off the clubhouse, to a mark on the north shore. The following leg was a broad reach across to the south shore and the another beat to the north west. After that the next leg was a long run to the east and a turning mark on the club side just north of the launching area before heading back through the gate at the Committee Boat.

By the time of the first start the breeze had eased to just about force 3 and first away, at the pin end of the line, was Gerry Ledger (Up River SC) in his home built (from plans) beautiful wooden boat.  At the Committee boat end it was Ian Bradley (Ouse ASC), in his new wooden Butler built boat, just ahead and to windward of Veronica Falat (Waveney & Oulton Broad SC). These latter two began to pull out from the rest of the fleet but after the reaching leg and on the next windward leg misread the location of the marks and headed well west of the true turning point. Alan Simmons (Lancing SC) had by this time managed to pull up into third spot on the water, ahead of Gerry.L and had spotted their error, rounding the correct mark in top spot as they turned back.
Alan.S held the lead for most of the long run back only to have Primrose.S and Gerry, L suddenly come up on their own private breeze and overtake in the last quarter of the leg. Both Veronica.F and Ian.B also overtook Alan. Richard Steadman (Alton Water SC) had also closed up on the run to just astern of Alan.S.

It was also in this first lap that Roger Smith (Deben YC) was seen to capsize close to the north shore, presumably caught out by a gust of wind. He failed to complete Race 1.
In the second lap Ian.B had the main halyard knot come adrift and his sail begin to drop down the mast. His only option was to deliberately capsize and re-tie the halyard.  Unfortunately for him (and without his request) the safety boat intervened and ‘gave assistance’ resulting in his disqualification from the race. Veronica went on to win with Gerry.L behind and Primrose.S third home.  Alan.S had his first 4^th place with Richard.S 5^th, Gary Hogan (Haversham SC) 6^th and Colum Fullerton (Alton Water SC) bringing up the rear in 7^th place.

Race 1 had been quite a long event thus race 2 was announced as being of just two laps only on the same course and held back to back with race 1. At the committee boat end it was Ian.B first across the line with Gerry. L once again well up at the leeward end. The breeze had shifted more to the north than in race 1 and that first beat was very one sided but Ian.B made it in first position with Veronica.F in second and Alan.S in third spot. Down the following broad  reach Alan.S found sufficient breeze to overtake Veronica only to lose out again on the following beat. Veronica.F and Ian.B were just about to round the mark when a flukey puff caught Ian.B out and he capsized, un-intentionally this time. Alan.S rounded next but was soon passed by Gerry.L on the run. Ian.B quickly recovered and also passed Alan.S but was unable to catch Veronica.F who went on to take top spot. A bit further back Gary.H managed to stay ahead of Primrose.S and Richard.S. Roger.S came in ahead of Colum.F

After a longish lunch break the RO delayed the start of the third race to see if any breeze would build, it was almost dead flat calm. By nearly 3.00pm some ruffling of the water was obvious so Race 3 commenced.

At the moment of the start the breeze died again and the fleet, now down to seven boats, drifted towards the course side of the line. In this race the fleet finally spread out with Gerry.L and Ian.B well out in front of Veronica.F.  Alan.S was back in 4^th but fell into a hole near the end of the second beat on the slightly modified course. He had four attempts to round the mark before setting off on the long run back eastwards. Eventually the breeze filled in a little and Veronica.F caught up and passed Gerry.L, Ian.B took the win whilst Alan.S closed up on the leading group but was unable to catch them. Primrose.S was just behind in 5^th, this time in front of Gary.H who led Colum.F home. Neither Richard.S nor Roger.S competed in this final race.

Setting good courses in these trying conditions was very difficult but the RO succeeded in spite of it and some good racing was experienced by all.

Overall Results:-

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Crew	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	1654	Veronica Falat	Waveney & Oulton Broad YC	1	1	[2]	2
2	1817	Ian Bradley	Ouse Amateur SC	[DSQ]	2	1	3
3	1780	Gerry Ledger	Up River YC	2	[3]	3	5
4	1812	Primrose Salt	Chew Valley Lake SC	3	[6]	5	8
5	1700	Alan Simmons	Lancing SC	[4]	4	4	8
6	1757	Gary Hogan	Haversham SC	[6]	5	6	11
7	1613	Richard Steadman	Alton Water SC	5	7	[DNC}	12
8	1729	Colum Fullerton	Alton Water SC	7	[9]	7	14
9	1758	R. Smith	Deben YC	[DNF]	8	DNC	18

Alan.S 1700

Streakerramblings - Ouse ASC - 08/09/2012

An early start – 6.00am – for what turned out to be a 3.1/2 hour journey up to Saddle Bow, just south of Kings Lynn. Bright and sunny all the way but next to no breeze as we arrived. The starts were delayed until about 11.30 by which time a bit of a breeze, almost straight up the cut, had filled in and the third Supernova had arrived on site. This was to be a joint Open meeting and seven Streakers were present with the last one arriving just in the nick of time. Apparently with the occasional opening of the adjacent sluice havoc had been caused with the usual arrangement of marks and course(s) were limited to the use of four of the normal 9 (or 10). During the day the breeze varied considerably in both strength and direction.

At the start of Race one it was Robin Jones (Hykeham) who was first off the mark across the line with Ian Bradley (Ouse ASC) at the back of the fleet although closer to the windward bank. Ian.B very soon got to the front and led by the end of the first lap with Paul Jago (Hykeham) up into 3rd place. Mark Langston (Beccles) was in 4th, Alan Simmons (Lancing ) 5th , Gary Hogan (Haversham) 6th and Hugh Ambery (Blakeney) in 7th. Lap 2 saw only minor place changes with Alan.S switching position with Mark.L. In the final lap the flukey breeze played its part and there were changes galore, except for Ian.B who stayed out in front. Paul.J passed Robin.J to take second place whilst Hugh.A climbed up to 4th. 5th spot went to Gary.H when he passed Alan S right on the finish line and MarkL also dropped back to last.

Race two, after lunch, had very slightly more breeze but it was still very variable in direction and power. Again Ian.B was soon in the lead but this time Hugh.A was on his heels in second spot with Robin.J in third and Paul.J 4th. In the second group Mark.L was lying 5th, Gary.H 6th and Alan.S bringing up the rear. In the second lap Robin.J passed Hugh.A as did Paul.J whilst Gary.H overtook Mark.L and Alan.S stayed put at the back. In the final lap there were no changes and thus IanB took his second win of the day.

Race 3 was sailed back to back and yet once more IanB took the lead with Paul J behind him. Hugh.A was in third spot at the end of the first lap with Mark.L in fourth. Robin.J was in his worst position of the meeting at 5th just ahead of Alan.S in 6th with Gary.H at the tail this time. By the end of the second lap Ian.B was still out in front by some distance, Paul.J was next and then Robin.J. Alan.S had moved up a couple of places to 4th and Mark.L dropped one to 5th. Worst off was Hugh.H who must have found a big patch of weed as he dropped from 3rd to last behind Gary.H. In the third lap Ian.B still led, ahead of Paul.J and on the upwind leg Alan.S briefly went up to third until at the top end gybe mark he capsized allowing Robin.J back in front. He did stay ahead of 5th placed Mark.L, Gary.H in 6th and Hugh.A in 7th.
Results
Helm                      Club                Race 1      Race2       Race3      Points    Posn
Ian Bradley         Ouse A S C           1              1              (1)              2           1
Paul Jago            Hykeham               2            (3)               2               4           2
Robin Jones        Hykeham               3             2               (3)              5           3
Hugh Ambery     Blakeney               4             4               (7)              8           4
Alan.Simmons    Lancing                 6            (7)               4              10          5
Gary Hogan        Haversham            5              5              (6)             10          6
Mark Langston   Beccles                 (7)            6                5              11          7
Alan.S 1700

Streakerramblings- Mengeham Rythe & Broxbourne - 1st & 2nd Sept 2012

This time you get a two parter with both the Mengeham and Broxbourne Opens covered.

Mengeham is a fairly local club for us but this was a first time for a Streaker Open at this venue in Chichester Harbour. Only one minor detour when we went into a close when almost at the club – we could see the masts of nearby Yachts.

After an early briefing, nine Streakers set sail down the Mengeham Rythe channel into the main open water area of the harbour where the committee boat was moored to the north of East Head (and West Wittering). As with the briefing an early start was required, with a very light following breeze, a still flooding tide on the nose and grey skies, in order to reach the start for 11.00 hours.

As it happened the competitors need not have worried as the nine Streakers and twenty three Solos then sailed round and round and round whilst the Race Officer kept moving the marks about and looking, hopefully,  for some breeze. It finally filled in just before 1300 hours and the Solos eventually got away on a goodly sized course with the first beat towards the north west. The Streakers were off six minutes or so later in the force 3 breeze and the fleet split, some going on port initially and the others on starboard with Veronica Falat (Waveney and Oulton Broad SC) first to the windward mark and Paul Whyld (SeafarersSC) in hot pursuit. Third up was Penny Dormer (Mengeham Rythe SC) and the Ian Whitfield (Tamworth SC) with son Matthew (also of Tamworth) just behind. Alan Simmons (Lancing SC) was sixth at the top end of the beat with Frank Fern (Mengeham Rythe SC) just behind,  then Gary Hogan (Haversham SC) and Basil Messenger (Mengeham Rythe SC). By the end of the second lap (the Sausage) Paul.W managed to edge in front of Veronica.F whilst Penny.D withstood a challenge from Matt.W who had by then overtaken Dad Ian.W. The order of the four at the rear of the fleet stayed unchanged.

 

Race two started at about 1400 hours and again the fleet split but it was Veronica.F who got to the top in front once again with Paul.W  once again not far behind. These two stayed in front for the rest of the lap but it was Alan.S who surprised himself with a nifty bit of off wind sailing to end up in third postion. Penny.D was lying fourth and Ian.W fifth whilst Frank.Fwas in sixth Gary.H seventh and Matt.W way back in eigth and just ahead of Bas.M.

Lap two saw no change at the front with Veronica.F taking the gun from Paul.W and inspite of losing ground up wind Alan.S held on to third place until just before the gun when Ian.W had just that little extra upwind speed. Frank. F pulled up one place to fifth whilst Penny.D dropped three to seventh but Matt.W could not improve and finished eight with Bas.M behind him.

So race three kicked off on a reset, shorter course, at about 1500 hours. For Paul and Veronica it was make or break with the winner of the pair taking the meeting. Veronica was in the lead soon after the start gun and try as he may Paul was unable to catch her in the first lap. Ian.W got ahead and stayed ahead and stayed in 3^rd place in front of Alan.S with Frank.F just behind in fifth spot. Penny .D held sixth spot ahead of GaryH and Matt.W was back in eight once again with Bas.M at the tail. In lap two, the sausage,  Veronica held off Paul.W’s challenge to take the race and the meeting. Ian.W came in third ahead of son Matt who piped Alan.S on the last leg from the bottom mark to the finish line, this in spite of the latter having overtaken best part of the fleet on the downwind leg. Behind Alan the order was Frank.F, Penny.D, Gary.H and lastly Bas.M.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	1654	Veronica Falat	Waveney & Oulton Broad YC	2	1	1	2
2	1787	Paul Whyld	Seafarers SC	1	2	2	3
3	1548	Ian Whitfield	Tamworth SC	5	3	3	6
4	1446	Matt Whitfield	Tamworth SC	4	8	4	8
5	1666	Penny Dormer	Mengeham Rythe SC	3	6	7	9
6	1700	Alan Simmons	Lancing SC	6	4	5	9
7	1705	Frank Fern	Mengeham Rythe SC	7	5	6	11
8	1757	Gary Hogan	Haversham SC	9	7	8	15
9	1794	Bas Messenger	Mengeham Rythe SC	8	9	9	17

 

Penny Dormer was awarded a Streaker Class burgee as the leading finisher not in the main prize list.

Alan.S 1700

 

Broxbourne, on Sunday, had little more breeze than Mengeham on Saturday but the sun was shining and by the time of the first race it was about force two. Again this was a combined meeting , this time with Lasers (twenty or so) and eleven Streakers came to the line for the first race. This time Veronica Falat had a new challenger in Ian Bradley (Ouse A S C) and as nearly all the Streakers had spotted the Lasers staring at the pin end all went there, Alan.S seemed to be first across the line but by the end of lap one – of an intricate criss-crossing course – he was back in 10^th place. Mark Langston (Beccles ASC) was third, Mark Mason (West Oxfordshire was lying fourth, Ian Mansfield (Alton Water SC) was 5^th, Peter Selway (Broxbourne SC) 6^th, Gerry Ledger (Up River SC) 7^th, Martin Wyland (Broxbourne SC) 8^th, Geoff Town (Broxbourne SC) 9^th,Richard Dean (Broxbourne SC) bringing up the rear in 11^th behind Alan.S. By the end of the second lap, in fitfull and shifty breezes, Ian.B had overtaken Veronica.F, Mark.L was still 3^rd, Ian.M had pulled a place up to 4^th overtaking Mark.M. Both Gerry.L and Martin.W had climbed a place whilst Peter.S had dropped back two to 8^th with Geoff.T in 9^th ahead of Alan.S still in 10^th place, but ahead of Richard.D.

In the final lap there was no change in the lead pair with Ian.B in first at the finish with Veronica behind.  Ian.M had climbed up to a very creditable third place with Mark L in 4^th.Once again (as at Mengeham) Alan S had a nifty little sail along the off wind leg on the north side of the water and pulled up to 5^th . Gerry.L was 6^th home with Peter S clawing back a place to 7^th passing Martin.W on the way . Mark. M was not having a good race falling back from 5^th in lap one to finish 9^th just ahead of Geoff.T and Richard.D. During this race (and the next two races) there was a fair amount of crossing of the two fleets but apart from having to tack quickly or bear off astern there were no report incidents - had it been windier who knows!

 

Race two, after a general recall for the Lasers, was off to a clean start for the Streakers and very quickly Ian.B took the lead which he held throughout the race. Likewise Peter.S took and maintained second position. Mark.M held 3^rd position in laps 1 and 2 only to drop back to 5^th at the end. Gerry.L held onto 4^th place throughout the race. Unusually Veronica.F was , for her, a lowly fifth until climbing back to third in the final lap. In sixth until the final lap was Martin. W who then lost two places to 8^th . It was not Ian.M’s best race either as he fell back from 7^th to 9^th whilst Mark L climbed up  two places to finish 6^th. Similarly Alan.S was 9^th after one lap but up two to 7^th at the finish. Geoff .T and Richard D once again brought up the rear but their placings hide some good positions during the race.

Race three started with Veronica.F out in front of Ian.B (the overall meeting winner) and was not going to let him win all three races and she was away and out in front from the start gun.

Behind these two Peter.S firmly established himself in 3^rd position although he was strongly challenged by Alan.S in lap 2 until he failed to give sufficient room for an inside boat to gybe (and got clobbered with the boom) and had to do turns. The irony being that he had previously called out another boat for the same reason and requested him to do turns. Alan later also clobbered a mark when trying to edge round inside another boat which did not help, having to do yet another turn. So after one lap Mark.M was lying 4^th, Alan.S 5^th, Mark.L 6^t,  Ian.M 7^th, Richard.D 8^th, Gerry.L 9^th, MartinW.10^th and Geoff.T 11^th. In lap two there was no change in the front three but Mark.L moved up to 4^th,and Mark M down to 5^th. Alan.S with all his banging and crashing dropped back from 5^th to 8^th. Ian.M clawed back one place to 6^th , Richard.D dropped to 10^th whilst Gerry.L gained two to 7^th and Martin.W pulled up one place to 9^th leaving Geoff.T at the back again. In the final lap , as before the three leaders, Veronica.F, Ian.B and Peter.S remained out front in that order. Alan.S benefitted yet again from excellent offwind speed to climb from 8^th to 4^th at the gun. Next home in 5^th was Mark.M then Mark.L in 6^th down from 4^th.Martin.W gained from 9^th to 7^th at the end and Gerry.L fell one to 8^th. Ian.M lost out again dropping 3 places to 9^th whilst Geof.T pulled up one to finish in 10^th ahead of Richard.D.

The breeze throughout the racing was fitfull in strength and true to Broxbourne shifty as hell. In you got in phase you were streets ahead, some people did but most were not so lucky. After the first race the Race Officer exclude the legs in and out of the ‘Box’ which given the conditions was an eminently sensible decision. It was, in that first race, getting a bit hectic with boats from both fleets coming and going and crossing upwind and down wind.

Results:-

1^st Ian Bradley, 2^nd. Veronica Falat, 3^rd. Peter Selway, 4^th. AlanSimmons, 5^th. Mark Langston, 6^th. Gerry Ledger, 7^th. Mark Mason, 8^th. Ian Mansfield, 9^th. Martin Wayland, 10^th. Geoff Town,11^th. Richard Dean.

Veronica Falat also took the Lady Helm’s prize and Alan Simmons was awarded the ‘Overs’ prize.

Alan.S 1700