Streaker Ramblings - Burghfield SC - 24th May 2014

Wet, Wet and even more wet as we left Hove to head for Burghfield SC, near Theale, at 07.30 on Saturday. On arrival it was still raining although only gently, still enough to soak one to the skin unless wearing a good rain mack. The meeting was organised with the Streakers sharing the event with an OK juniors event.

The fleet of 13 Streakers, one more had ‘signed on’ but failed to reach the start line at the north end of the lake, arrived at the line for the start of the first race.

The RO set the course with the first leg eastwards and then a long broad reach towards the clubhouse at the south end of the water and then a second beat to the east and finally another reach back to the start mark.

 

 

The line was biased to the port end but of  those who started early at the port end, Nick Carter (Burghfield), Yvette Marshal Burghfield and Howard Frear (Sutton Bingham) only Howard profited. It was Graham Butler (Frensham Pond), who started near the committee boat and soon tacked off who took the lead. This leg sorted out the leaders for the first lap with Graham first and then Howard, with Mike Hobin (west Oxfordshire third, Ian Bradley (Ouse ASC) fourth, Veronica Falat (Waveney & Oulton Broad) fifth and Matt Whitfiled (Tamworth) 6^th. whilst  Lying seventh was Yvette, eighth was Alan Simmons (Lancing), Ian Whitfield (Tamworth) ninth, Alex Reindorp (Chipsted) tenth, Peter Whitington (Burghfield) eleventh, Nick Carter (Burghfield) twelth and Peter Russel (Burghfield) thirteenth.

The wind was a good top end force four with gust in excess of mid force five and variable in direction. By the end of the second lap the leader board stood as Graham still in front with Mike and Ian.B in third place. Howard had dropped back a place to lie 4^th whilst Veronica was still in 5^th position. Matt still maintained his 6^th place whilst Alex had gained three places to lie 7^th. Alan came in next still at 8^th just ahead of Ian.W. Peter.W was still 11^th and Nick remained in 12^th with Peter.R bringing up the tail.

Lap 3 (the final lap) saw Mike take the lead from Ian.B who had in turn passed Graham dropping him to 3^rd. Howard remained in 4^th whilst Veronica held on to her 5^th spot. Matt held on to a consistant 6^th and Alex remained at 7^th.Ian.W finally overtook Alan to lie 8^th. Peter.W also pulled up a place to finish 10^th ahead of Yvette, then Peter.R who overtook Nick.

After lunch the course was adjusted slightly, to suit a small change in the wind direction, with the first windward mark now lying behind the most northerly island  and the bottom mark closer to the clubhouse. The strength of the breeze had also decreased slightly and it was Ian.B who soon took the lead having tacked off to starboard early on in the first leg with Mike close behind and Howard also in contention. By the end of the lap this order prevailed with Graham lying 4th and Veronica 5^th. Next came Ian.W, then Alex, Peter.W was in 8^th place ahead of Matt and then Alan. Yvette was 11^th, Peter.R 12^th and Nick 13^th.

 

By the end of the second lap Mike had taken the lead from Ian.B whilst Howard was still 3^rd and Veronica had passed Graham to lie 4^th. Alex had also picked up a place to 6^th passing Ian.W on the way. Yvette had made great gains to lie 8^th overtaking Matt and Alan on the way. Peter.R pulled up one place to lie 11^th whilst Peter.w dropped back two to lie 12th and Nick was still at the rear at 13^th.

The final lap saw Mike retain his lead with Veronica  passing Ian.B and Howard also losing a place to finish 4^th. 5^th place went to Graham with Alex retaining his 6^th place. Yvette took another scalp to lie 7^th and Matt also gained a place to 8^th. Ian.W gained two to finish 9^th behind his son with Alan remaining consistently 10^th, the remaining three back places stayed unchanged.

Race 3, held over an unchanged course but in a  lighter breeze still was led from the start by Howard who pulled out a good initial gap from Mike. By the end of the first lap the order was Howard, Mike, Veronica , Graham, Ian.B and Alan. Matt held 7^th place ahead of Peter.W with Ian.W next up in 9^th followed by Yvette. Peter.R was 11^th, Alex not having sailed and Nick retiring.

Lap 2, the final lap, saw Howard reaining his lead over Mike with Graham pulling back a place into 3^rd passing Veronica on the way. Ian.B was 5^th with Alan maintaining his 6^th placed position. Matt likewise retained 7^th place with Yvette pulling through Ian.W and Peter.W whilst Peter.R remained at the back.

With the results assembled the meeting was won by Mike Hobin ahead of Howard Frear and with Ian Bradley taking third spot.

Overall Results.

Rank	Class	SailNo	HelmName	Club	R1	R2	R3	Total	Nett
1st	STREAKER	1814	Mike Hobin	West Oxfordshire SC	1	1	(2)	4	2
2nd	STREAKER	1777	Howard Frear	Sutton Bingham	(4)	4	1	9	5
3rd	STREAKER	1626	Ian Bradley	Ouse Amateur SC	2	3	(5)	10	5
4th	STREAKER	1654	Veronica Falat	Waveney & Oulton Broad YC	(5)	2	4	11	6
5th	STREAKER	1760	Graham Butler	Frensham Pond SC	3	(5)	3	11	6
6th	STREAKER	1446	Matt Whitfield	Tamworth SC	6	(8)	7	21	13
7th	STREAKER	1819	Alex Reindorp	Chipstead SC	7	6	(15 DNC)	28	13
8th	STREAKER	1700	Alan Simmons	Lancing SC	9	(10)	6	25	15
9th	STREAKER	1710	Yvette Marshall	Burghfield SC	(11)	7	8	26	15
10th	STREAKER	1548	Ian Whitfield	Tamworth SC	8	(9)	9	26	17
11th	STREAKER	1875	Peter Withrington	Burghfield SC	10	(12)	10	32	20
12th	STREAKER	1565	Peter Russell	Burghfield SC	(12)	11	11	34	22
13th	STREAKER	1828	Nick Carter	Burghfield SC	13	13	(15 DNF)	41	26
14th	STREAKER	1701	Ken Hydon	Burghfield SC	(15 DNS)	15 DNC	15 DNC	45	30

Alan.S1700

PS. This blog is a little late due to 8 races over the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend on the sea at Lancing SC- and Tuesday off to recover!

Streaker Ramblings - Chipstead - 04/05/2014

Up and away at 08.00 for the comparatively short journey to Chipstead near Sevenoaks in Kent. Dry and bright though a trifle chilly, with the only hold-up (40mph restriction) for the five or so mile stretch south of Bolney, made for arrival at Chipsted shortly after 09.00.

The Streaker Open Meeting was to be held jointly with Graduate dinghies and eventually 10 Streakers went onto the water for the first race in but the slightest of breezes from the west end of the lake. The breeze was to be very light and variable in direction all day with periods when the water was completely glassy, unruffled, and with no discernable breeze.

A committee boat start was set up for Race 1 at the extreme east end of the lake and there was just about sufficient breeze to cross the line , the Grads having started 5 minutes earlier and barely half way to the north west corner. Five or so boats managed to get away at the southern, Committee boat, end of the line and began to pick their way to the east playing the shifts, or missing them by as little as a boat length. Mike Hobin (West Oxfordshire) made it first back down the long east run to lead the first lap, followed by James Dawes (Redditch) with Veronica Falat (Waveney and Oulton Broad) 3^rd and Graham Butler Frensham Pond) 4^th.  5^th placed was Ian Bradley (Ouse ASC), 6^th Scot Bonner (Durleigh), 7^th Alex Reindorp (Chipsted), 8^th Jeremy Daniel (Bough Beech), 9^th Jon Hill (Bough) and lastly Alan Simmons (Lancing) – the only sea sailor among the pondites and missing the tide and waves. By the end of another frustrating shifty, almost windless and fluctuating lap the lead had changed with James Dawes having overtaken Mike Hobin,  as had Veronica Falat  with Ian Bradley having pulled up a place ahead of Graham Butler. Scott Bower held on to his 6^th place with Alex Reindorp also staying 7^th. John Hill overtook Jeremy Daniell and Alan Simmons dropped back even further in last place.

Race 2 starrted back at the east end of the lake but with the top two marks to be taken in reverse order. Yet again the committee boat end was favoured by the majority but it was Alex Reindorp who found a puff from the middle of the line and led the way to the windward mark only to lose out in the last few yards and allowing Scott Bonner, Graham Butler and Ian Bradley to slip through. By the end of the following long run to the east James Dawes was first to cross the line having found his way past this entire group. Second to cross was Scott Bonner, then Alex Reindorp – having pulled back a place. Graham Butler was 4^th, Mike Hobin 5^th, Ian Bradley having dropped back to 6^th, Jon Hill 7^th, Veronica Falat 8^th, Alan Simmons 9^th and Jeremy Daniell 10^th. In the second lap places changed again at the front with Scott Bonner taking the lead from James Dawes. Third home was Graham Butler with Ian Bradley next. Veronica climbed back two places to lead Mike Hobin. Alex Reindorp had also fallen back to cross in 7^th place with Jon Hill also dropping a place to 8^th and Alan Simmons 9^th and still last as Jeremy Daniell having retired.

After a very short period ashore (after Alan had finished) Race 3 was started from the clubhouse line but otherwise over the same course as previously. The Grads had barely stated the first short beat to the south west corner and what little breeze they had had disappeared. For the Streakers it was a struggle to make any headway. Several boats just made it to the windward mark with Ian Bradley at the front – a  lead he managed to hold on to until the finish. Second place at the end of the first lap was held by James Dawes – a position he also held on to throughout the race. Next came Alex Reindorp who also held the same position until the finish. Next up was Veronica Falat, then Scott Bonner with Graham Butler in 6^th spot, John Hill 7^th, Alan Simmons bring up the rear in his consistently last place as neither Jeremy Daniell nor Mike Hobin had started. At the end of the second, and final, lap the three front runners were as above with 4^th place taken by Graham Butler who overtook Veronica and Scott (having failed to cross the finish line).  6^th Place went to Jon Hill ahead of last placed Alan Simmons.

The meeting was won by James Dawes with a first and second place, with Ian Bradley second (a first and fourth placing) and Scott Bonner in third position (one first and a sixth).

It had been a very testing meeting with the breezes rarely touching force 2 and mostly barely force 1, very shifty in direction and very shifty in delivery. Luck that one was in the right place when the puff or shift came played a large part in success or failure but, so we were told, not unusual for this location.

Overall Results:-

Sail No	Name	Club	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Points	Postion
1851	James Dawes	Redditch	1	2	(2)	3	1
1626	Ian Bradley	Ouse ASC	4	(4)	1	5	2
185	Scott Bonner	Durleigh	6	1	DNF	7	3
1654	Veronica Falat	Waveny & O B	2	5	(5)	7	4
1760	Graham Butler	Frensham Pond	(5)	3	4	7	5
1814	Mike Hobin	West Oxfordshire	3	6	(DNS)	9	6
1819	Alex Reindorp	Chipstead	7	(7)	3	10	7
1632	Jon Hill	Bough Beech	8	(8)	6	14	8
1700	Alan Simmons	Lancing	(10)	9	7	16	9
1603	Jeremy Daniell	Bough Beech	9	RTD	DNS	20	10

 

Alan.S 1700