What a change, New year’s
day , after a night of yet more heavy rain, dawned with a bright blue cloudless
sky and just the hint of a breeze from a westerly direction. Yet again the road
on the way to Piddinghoe had a few puddles but were passible. The rigging area
was however a sea of mud and very slippery. Whilst getting the boats prepared
we were very pleasantly surprised to see John Freeman preparing his OK to join
in this one off race.
By the start the breeze was
at the top end of force 3 and some 14 boats were on the water. Kay Young
(Elford) was RO for the session. She set a course starting with a line adjacent
to the middle ramp on the southern side of the pond giving a beat to the twin
buoys in the south western corner of the pond opposite the clubhouse. From
thence there was a close reach to the mark off the Fisherman’s bay and then a
broader reach to a mark half way along the eastern bank. After a gybe it was
yet another (very) close reach to the middle of the pond and then a leg going
behind the island (with a further gybe) to a mark at the south eastern corner
of the pond. The final leg was a long beat up the south shore to the clubhouse
area.
The first group, close to
the line, including Rupert Smith (Laser full rig – NSSC), John Freeman (OK-
NSSC), Michael and Sarah Veale (RS200 –
NSSC) and Alice Smith (Laser Radial) were all a touch early and soon began to
close with the bank. A little further
back but closer to the limit mark were Steve Duncan (Laser full rig – NSSC)
with Laurence Venus (Streaker – NSSC) alongside (and inside him) with Mike and Chris Rosier (Magno – NSSC). Alan Simmons (Streaker – Lancing SC) was behind even this group having been
squeezed out and having to tack off for clear air.
First to reach the windward
mark was Steve.D with Rupert.S not far
astern and Laurence.V a touch further back and Michael.V behind him. Alan.S was
chasing Michael.V up the close reach to the middle of the pond. At the end of
the first lap Steve was ahead of Rupert by some 12 seconds and Laurence behind
Rupert by 13 seconds with Alan half a minute behind him. In fifth spot was
Michael with Alice astern of him and then Chris and Carolyn Turner (Laser II –
NSSC). Behind Chris and Carolyn the order was Roger McCall (Laser full rig –
Bexhill SC) then Graham Hardy (Laser full rig – NSSC), Mike.R, David and Aiden
Murley (Pico – NSSC) Zoe McCaig (Gull – NSSC) and Dan Ford sailing another Pico
(NSSC). John Freeman , in his OK, considered the thought that he might possibly
capsize, being so out of practice. The fact that he actually had no proper
clothing, neither wet nor dry suit, made the decision for him
and he come ashore – a few days
ago he could have asked Father Xmas with some help for suitable apparel.
In lap 2, at the front of
the fleet, Laurence began to catch up with Rupert who himself began to fall
behind Steve and Alan made a slight improvement towards these three whilst
extending the distance between himself and Michael. Both Roger and Graham
passed Chris and Carolyn but could not catch Alice. With Mike and Chris still in
10th place, towards the back of the fleet Zoe passed David but Dan languished at the rear. Lap 3 saw
Laurence overtake Rupert and close in on Steve a little whilst Alan caught up
with Rupert and they both finished the lap at the same time. Both Alice and
Roger found their way in front of Michael whilst Chris and Carolyn briefly
passed Graham to get back to 8th place on the water .
Mike , Zoe and David stayed
in the same relative positions at 10th, 11th and 12th.
Lap 4 saw continued gains,
in time, by Laurence, now only 14 seconds behind Steve whilst Alan pulled 20
seconds ahead of Rupert. There were suggestion that the breeze dropped off but
looking at the lap times for Steve there was between 8 and 9 minutes per lap on
average with no significant variation. In this lap Graham once again overtook
Chris and Carolyn. In lap 5 Michael passed Roger and Chris and Carolyn once
more got ahead of Graham whilst David got in front of Zoe. Lap 6 saw no change
at the front with Steve still ahead of Laurence (just) and Alan slipping back
just a tiny few seconds. Rupert in 4th place still maintained his
lead over daughter Alice and Graham and Chris continued to exchange places.
Lap 7 , the final lap, saw
Laurence close to within a ‘knats’ of Steve – 3 seconds at the finish line.-
but still was unable to pass him. Alan also edged slightly closer to the
leading pair finishing 32 seconds behind Steve, with Rupert some 3 minutes
behind Alan. In the closing stages of the last lap Graham edged ahead of Roger
and the pair pipped Alice to the line (barley 12 seconds between the three
boats) leaving Michael in pen ultimate spot ahead of Chris and Carolyn.
With the handicaps worked
out Laurence was the winner with both he and Alan placed ahead of Steve with Rupert fourth
managing to cling on to his lead over Alice (by about 30 seconds on corrected
time).
It was a lovely day for a
sail (not exactly hot but not too cold) and with bright sunshine and a nice
comfortable breeze. Here’s hoping it is a sign of good things to come for
sailing in 2013.For the official results see the Newhaven and Seaford SC web site – follow this link:-
http://www.nssc.org.uk/results/2013/newyearsday.htm
Alan.S 1700
PS. Happy New Year to all my
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