Streaker Ramblings - Freeman Iceberg Race 17 - 26.12.2013

The sun was just about up as we left for Piddinghoe on Boxing Day morning for the final race (race 17) of the Freeman Iceberg series. Of wind there was nothing – quite surprising considering the storms and flooding last week. We took the coast road just in case there should have been any fallen trees on the road down from Kingston Village. As it happened there were no problems when we returned home via Kingston other that the odd pool of water part way across the road.

On arrival at the pond an inspection of the boat revealed that all was well except that Streaker 1700's burgee was totally shredded and needs replacement – New Year’s day job – Oh yes, the cover held a large pocket of water  ‘under Ice’.
Laurence Venus had opted to be RO for the single race of the day as he needed to work out the final series results and then still get home at a reasonable time. His original intention was to have a Committee boat start but as the breeze filled in from next to nothing the angle changed and he started from the shore. The line was well angled back from the south shore with the pin mark just south of the western edge of the Island. From there it was a windward leg to a mark off the Fisherman’s bay and a fetch back to a mark off the clubhouse. There was a gybe here and then a leg to a mark midway along the eastern bank, another gybe and a leg to the mark in the south eastern corner passing behind the Island. From there it was a short beat back to the start and finish line pin mark.
Fifteen boats took to the water with both Alice and Brendan Smith (in his first ever race)taking out a Pico each, Tiger Cox taking a Topper, Mike Rosier taking out his Laser II with his son Chris – leaving Michael Veale to sail the RS200 single handed. A little breeze, about force 2, had filled in just before the start, and got up to about force three during the race only to fall off again by the final lap.

At the start, on a somewhat biased line, it was Alan Simmons (Streaker – Lancing SC) who was first away with Rupert Smith (Laser Radial) next, nearer to the bank but further back from the line, and Matt Springall (Laser full rig) a touch behind Alan and further to leeward. Next in line were Jazz Sayed (Laser 4.7), Steve Duncan (Laser full rig) and Daren Field and Nathan Bloss in the Vago.

 

Alan headed for the south shore and tacked as Rupert (and Matt) did, whilst Steve tacked off closer to the pin. As Alan arrived at the Fisherman’s Bay mark Steve arrive almost simultaneously but to leeward and Alan took the inside berth. Whilst turning onto the next leg Steve was a bit over-anxious and hit Alan on the Starboard Quarter then having to do turns on the following leg which left him well back in the pecking order. The following gaggle was initially led by Rupert with Matt close behind, then Darren, Jazz, Bill Giles (Solo) and Michael.V

By the end of the first lap Alan was ahead of Matt by 11 seconds with Darren third, Michael V (having used his Gennaker of the off-wind legs) lying fourth ahead of Rupert. Jazz was 11 seconds behind him and ahead of Steve by half a minute. Lying eigth were Mike R and Son in the Laser II with Bill  next, then Zoe, Tiger, Alice, Dave Murley (with son Aiden perched on the foredeck), Brendan and lastly, at 15^th, Tim Cox (Laser Radial). He had apparently thought the start was much later and was not on the water until the fleet was half way round the first lap.

Lap two saw Alan staying ahead of Matt and inching away, Darren was third ahead of Michael and Steve back up to 5^th having passed Both Rupert and Jazz. Tim had caught up quite a lot and was up to 11^th whilst Tiger slipped back a place and Alice fell back from 11^th to 14thbut still ahead of her brother Brendan.

Lap 3 saw Alan still in top spot ahead of Matt now pursued by Michael, having slipped past Darren. Steve was still 5^th but closing the gap., whilst Rupert had gained a little on Jazz in 7^th place, .there were no changes in mid fleet but Brendan had overtaken Alice. Lap 4 saw Alan pull out to lie some 3 minutes in front of Matt with Michael dropping back behind Darren once more and Steve jumping in between them.

Lap 5 had only five boats left still sailing with Alan increasing his lead to six minutes over Matt. Michael passed both Steve and Darren in a concluding dog fight between these three. With the handicap applied Alan was the clear winner followed by Jazz and Rupert in third place. Matt was 4^th Steve 5^th and Michael 6^th.

Results :- R17

Start: Start 1, Finishes: Place

Posn	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	Elapsed	BCE	Points
1	Streaker	1700	Lancing SC	Alan Simmons		58.25	0.00.00	1.0
2	Laser 4.7	206330	NSSC	Jazz Sayed		53.10	0.05.08	2.0
3	Laser Radial	7757	NSSC	Rupert Smith		51.04	0.05.36	3.0
4	Laser	81	NSSC	Matt Sprigall		64.27	0.09.08	4.0
5	Laser	203084	NSSC	Steve Duncan		65.18	0.09.59	5.0
6	RS 200	582	NSSC	Micheal Veale	Mike Rosier	64.27	0.10.52	6.0
7	Vago	808	NSSC	Darren Field	Louise Currell	65.41	0.11.32	7.0
8	Solo	3754	NSSC	Bill Giles		57.57	0.11.13	8.0
9	Topper	26340	NSSC	Tiger Cox		66.23	0.12.56	9.0
10	Laser 2	7886	NSSC	Mike Rosier	Chris Rosier	52.36	0.10.28	10.0
11	Laser Radial	16	NSSC	Tim Cox		58.23	0.12.55	11.0
12	Laser Radial	64200	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		58.38	0.13.10	12.0
13	Pico 2	2072	NSSC	David Murley		59.29	0.18.49	13.0
14	Pico	Purple	NSSC	Brendan Smith		61.05	0.20.25	14.0
15	Pico	Red	NSSC	Alice Smith		64.50	0.24.10	15.0

 

At the prize giving the 2013 Freeman Iceberg Series winner was Alan Simmons with David Murley 2^nd, Tim Cox 3^rd and Rupert Smith 4^th. For the full results see the NSSC web site via this link :-

http://www.nssc.org.uk/cms/images/nsscdocs/results/2013/wsfio2013h.htm

 

The Laser Class  winner was Steve Duncan with Tim Cox runner up and Rupert Smith third- for full results follow this link :-

http://www.nssc.org.uk/cms/images/nsscdocs/results/2013/wslfi2013h.htm

The Menagerie class winner was Alan Simmons with second place going to David Murley with Michael Veale and Mike Rosier taking third spot, for the Class result table go to :-

http://www.nssc.org.uk/cms/images/nsscdocs/results/2013/wsfim2013h.htm

The prize for the top Cadet went to Josh Smith who persisted by sailing a Topper

 through thick and thin in 12 of the possible 17 races.
 This year no races were lost to bad weather and there was a dead heat between strong and light breezes – something for every one.

The next race will be on New Year’s Day – at 2pm to allow for any hangovers from the previous night’s partying. Following that the Elford Numbum Series commences on Sunday 5^th January and runs until Sunday 23^rd February – watch this space for the weekly reports.

Alan.S 1700

PS. To all readers of this blog, be you Streaker sailors, sailors of other classes and even non sailors, here’s wishing you all a very Happy (and prosperous) New Year.

Streaker Ramblings - Freeman Iceberg Races 15 & 16 - 22.12.2013

Just before we got up the back of the house was ‘pounded’ with tremendous rain and wind. It had stopped raining, almost, whilst the boat was fitted to the trailer for return to Piddinghoe after repairs to the Transom. The forecast for Sunday morning was appalling with winds at up to 30 knots and the journey down under low grey skies, with the cloud rushing by, did not portend well for the mornings racing.

On arrival it was blowing a good force four, with huge gusts across the water, with the wind coming over the south west corner and heading for the middle of the east bank.
With Chas Humphries as RO, Alan Simmons as ARO and Tim Cox on the safety boat the potential fleet was already three down. Also in the two safety boats were three non-racers, Penelope Duncan, Dan Ford and Quentin Thorp, all of whom were to be kept very busy during this event. Laurence Venus (Streaker) , who had been leading the series decided not to even uncover his boat whilst Josh smith (Topper) and Steve Duncan rigged but eventually decided against going afloat.

A course was set, before the wind shifted further west, with a short leg from a line set to the east of the club to the mark off the Clubhouse in the south west corner. From there there was a broad (hairy) reach to the mark at the south east corner ending with a gybe and then onto the plane behind the Island. This leg ended at a mark midway along the eastern shore and then a solid beat back to the pin end mark of the start line (that was). From here there was yet another reach to the mark off the Fisherman’s bay and another windward leg back to the mark off the clubhouse.

As stated above there was a good force four blowing, well up the scale, with gusts which were of the order of force six – one could hear the whistling in the rigging of the boats on the bank. With each bank of dark cloud that raced through there was a downpour forcing the ARO to dive into the clubhouse so that the results sheet stayed dry.
None the less eight boats took to the water with John Smith (Laser full rig) the first casualty when he capsized, with mast stuck in the mud, mid-way down the southern shore. He was still stuck half way through the first lap. Next to have a dip was Jazz Sayed Laser 4.7) although she was up in time for the start.

 

Matt Springall (Laser full rig) was first away at the gun with Jazz close behind around the first mark. Alex Mills- Barton (Laser full rig) was close to the first Mark and third to turn it but immediately went low, towards the Island, keeping his wind clear from the windward bunch and ended up as first to gybe at the end of the reach, All boats managed to stay upright during the first lap but Alex powered away and crossed the line some 50 seconds ahead of second placed Matt. Third up was Rupert Smith (Laser Radial) with the two mikes (Veale and Rosier) in their RS200 lying fourth and then Jazz fifth. Sixth round in this lap was Dave Murley (with son Aiden) in the Pico and six minutes later John finally made it round for the first time.
Lap 2 saw Alex extending his lead, to just over two minutes ahead of Matt and Jazz taking her second dip of the day and the RS200, with frequent use of the Gennaker, passing Rupert. Darren Field (crewed by Nathan Bloss) in the Vago was half a minute behind Rupert and with a recovered Jazz in 6^th place followed by Dave.M and finally John.S.
Lap 3 had Alex now two and a half minutes out in front of Matt. Rupert lying third went swimming but quickly recovered and did not lose a place although Darren closed up on him. The order remained the same for the rest of the fleet.
Lap 4 saw no place changing nor did lap 5 and only the top three finished lap 6 with Alex by then some five and a half minute ahead of Matt – though he had had a near escape in that lap on at least one occasion. With the handicaps applied the order wad Alex 1^st, Matt 2^nd, Rupert 3^rd and Dave.M 4^th.

Race 16 was held over the same course and the wind if anything had increase to a top end force four with gusts in the mid sixes and wild variations in direction in these too.

At the start it was the RS200 first away and around the first mark with Darren and then Rupert. Alex had been close by the west bank and got stuck in the clubhouse shadow and starting 7^th with only Dave..M (having left Aiden ashore) behind him. Again Alex went low on the first reach but catching and passing the other six boats. Matt, Jazz and Rupert passed the RS200 and the Vago up the first windward leg and by the end of lap1 the order was Alex 21 seconds ahead of Matt, then Jazz, Michael.V, Rupert, Darren, John and Dave.

 

Lap 2 was a bit upsetting when Matt took first one and then another dip and John also did another ‘bottom survey’. Jazz stayed ahead of Rupert but the gap was down to 2 seconds with Michael just a further 5 seconds behind. Matt was in 5^th place in front of Darren, Dave and John.
Lap 3 was sheer chaos with Matt, Michael, Darren and John all taking a dip with the order ending Alex, Rupert, Jazz, Michael, Matt, Darren, Dave and John.
Lap4 had Matt keeping up the swimming practice whilst retaining position and no other place changes.
Lap 5 had Matt with his fifth (seen) capsize and still maintaining his 5^th place and Alex continuing to pull out ahead – by then some six minutes in front of second placed Rupert. Being just four seconds behind Rupert at the end of the lap meant that Rupert had to complete a sixth lap too. On coming ashore however he reported that the wind had dropped off a lot for that final round and had been ‘almost comfortable’. With the handicaps applied Alex was the winner with Jazz second, Dave third and Rupert fourth.

It was a very hairy sail for all, except possibly Alex who revelled in the conditions, with only him managing to stay upright in both races. The rest of the fleet presumably went home for a ‘recovery’ nap.

With Laurence declining to sail it was Alan who went to the top of the leader board for the Frostbite Series and (apparently) cannot be beaten even if he does not sail on Boxing Day.

Results :_

R15

Start: Start 1, Finishes: Place

Posn	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	Elapsed	BCE	Points
1	Laser	203084A	NSSC	Alex Mills-Barton		35.42	0.00.00	1.0
2	Laser	81	NSSC	Matt Sprigall		41.10	0.05.28	2.0
3	Streaker	1700	Lancing SC	Alan Simmons		OOD		3.0
3	Laser Radial	16	NSSC	Tim Cox		OOD		3.0
3	Laser Radial	7757	NSSC	Rupert Smith		35.47	0.05.13	3.0
3	Laser	175741	NSSC	Chas Humphries		OOD		3.0
7	Pico 2	2072	NSSC	David Murley		43.45	0.07.18	4.0
8	Laser 4.7	206330	NSSC	Jazz Sayed		39.16	0.06.58	5.0
9	RS 200	582	NSSC	Micheal Veale	Mike Rosier	42.12	0.07.37	6.0
10	Vago	808	NSSC	Darren Field	Louise Currell	36.32	0.07.25	7.0
11	Laser	177611	NSSC	John Smith		42.47	0.18.59	8.0

R16

Start: Start 1, Finishes: Place

Posn	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	Elapsed	BCE	Points
1	Laser	203084A	NSSC	Alex Mills-Barton		35.26	0.00.00	1.0
2	Laser 4.7	206330	NSSC	Jazz Sayed		35.35	0.03.32	2.0
3	Streaker	1700	Lancing SC	Alan Simmons		OOD		3.0
3	Laser Radial	16	NSSC	Tim Cox		OOD		3.0
3	Pico 2	2072	NSSC	David Murley		40.13	0.04.02	3.0
3	Laser	175741	NSSC	Chas Humphries		OOD		3.0
7	Laser Radial	7757	NSSC	Rupert Smith		42.28	0.06.03	4.0
8	RS 200	582	NSSC	Micheal Veale	Mike Rosier	36.48	0.08.12	5.0
9	Laser	81	NSSC	Matt Sprigall		38.12	0.08.40	6.0
10	Vago	808	NSSC	Darren Field	Louise Currell	38.22	0.09.28	7.0
11	Laser	177611	NSSC	John Smith		38.53	0.15.16	8.0

Alan.S 1700

PS. A very Happy Christmas to all who read this blog.