Tuesday 8 July 2014

Streaker Ramblings - Stewartby - 5th July 2014

Rain, Rain and more rain as we set off for Stewartby, just south of Bedford, at 0700am. On arrival at the lake we had to call for the gate to be opened and then rigged the boat, still in the rain. The nearby huge modern windmill – do not recall seeing that last year – was indicating a fair bit of breeze and turning rapidly. At ground level the breeze was a good bit less.
The meeting was a joint affair with thirteen Streakers, thirteen Solos and seven Lasers, the Streaker event being the Streaker Southern Area, Pinnell and Bax sponsored, Championships. Although four races were programmed only the first three would count in the Streaker event. Competitors came from clubs as far afield as Sheffield in the north (relatively), Lancing in the south, West Oxford to the west and Thorpe Bay (Southend) to the east.
The lake is split into two halves, Sailing to the west and Motor boating to the east, with the marks 1 (nearest the clubhouse) to 4 on the east side and 5 to 8 on the west side with an additional mark ‘A’ between 8 and 1 at the south end.  The committee boat was stationed (for race 1) near mark 3 with a course off westwards to mark 6, down to A, back to 2, over to 7 and then back to 3.
 
First away, four minutes after the Solo fleet start, was James Wilson (Loughborough) – the youngest competitor), quickly tacking onto port, followed by Paul Jago (Hykeham), then Ian Bradley (Ouse ASC) and then Peter Cogill (Rotherham) towards the pin end of the line. In the light and shifty breeze it was Alan Gillard (Sheffield Vikings) however who rounded the windward mark ahead of Mike Holbin (West Oxfrdshire) and Ian Bradley. Next up was Ian Parish (Stewartby) with Alan Simmons (Lancing close behind. By the end of the lap the order was, first, Alan.G, Ian.B, Ian.P and Mike. Next up was James, then Ian Mansfield (Alton Water), Mark Langston (Beccles), Alan.S, Peter, Kevin Iles (Thorpe Bay), Paul, Bill Strange (Stewartby) and finally Nick Carter (Burghfield).
 
Lap 2 saw Alan.G maintaining his lead with Ian.B second and Ian.P third, having passed Mike. Fifth, Sixth and Seventh places remained unchanged whilst Paul climbed up to 8th, Kevin to 9th, Peter to 10th, and Bill to 11th, whilst Alan.S dropped back to 12th and Nick stayed at 13th.
 
Lap 3 saw no place changes amongst the first five helms but Mark gained a place to lie 6th at the finish, and Kevin two places up at 7th with Paul still 8th. Ian.M dropped back two places to finish 9th and Bill gained a scalp to finish 10th. Peter dropped one place to 11thwhilst Alan.S and Nick stayed at 12th and 13th respectively.
Lap 4, the final lap had Alan.G maintained the lead from Ian.B with Ian.P behind him. Mike lost a place as James overtook whilst mark hung on in 6th.Paul pulled up to 7th ahead of Ian.M and Bill took a scalp to finish 9thAhead of Kevin  who dropped 3 to finish 10th. Peter, Alan and Nick stayed as  on their  previous lap.
It had been a tricky race with the strength and direction of the breeze changing constantly. It did seem to pay to stay to the west on the first windward leg of each course and the same seemed to pay on the long downwind leg.
For Race 2 the RO changed the course somewhat, to make mark 5 the windward mark and omitting mark 7, making it a simple trapezoid. The rain, which had earlier eased, came back with a vengeance making the spotting of the marks difficult for those wearing specs and it was also not conducive to taking photos for the ladies ashore.
This time, with the decreased breeze, the first beat was even more critical and neither Alan.G nor Ian.B were at the front. This time it was Mike who took the lead with Ian.M behind him and then James 3rd with Bill in fourth, by the end of the lap, Alan.G was back in 6th place with Ian.B behind him followed in turn by Paul, then Ian.P.  Mark was 10th, Peter 11th, Nick 12th and Alan.S last of all at 13th.
By the end of lap two whilst Mike was still in the lead James had overtaken Ian.M and Kevin passed Bill whilst Paul overtook Alan.G and Ian.B to lie 6th. Ian.P still held 9th place and Mark 10th but Alan claimed two places up to 11th dropping Peter to 12th and Nick to 13th.
In lap three the front order remained Mike in front of James who was in turn ahead of Ian.M. Bill repassed Kevin to lie 4th and Ian.P claimed three places to lie 6th ahead of Paul and Ian.B who had in turn overtaken Alan.G. Helms in the last four places maintained the position of the previous lap.

After a break, ashore for lunch, the wind had died even more and the RO had difficulty in setting a reasonable course. Eventually the fleet got away and it was James who took the lead and held onto it for the first lap, ahead of Alan.G and Paul with Ian.B lying 4th. Mark was next up in front of Mike with Bill just behind in 7th.The order thereafter was Ian.P in 8th place ahead of Peter, then Kevin, Alan.S, Ian.M and Nick as tail gunner. The wind was such that only one further lap was run and it was Alan.G who took the lead and win with Paul 2nd, Ian.B 3rd and James relegated to 4th. Mark and Mike retained their 5th and 6th positions. Ian.P went ahead of Bill and Alan.S gained two places to 9th whilst Ian.M pulled back one to lie 11th. 12th and 13th places went to Peter and Nick.
That was all the races for the Championship concluded and it just remained for one more for the Open Meeting. The wind had died yet further and was swinging all over the place but finally the fleet was away – although somewhat depleted as a few could not stand the hanging about even though there was no rain and some sunshine. So only eight boats started and by the end of the lap Ian.B was in the lead ahead of Paul with Alan.G 3rd and James 4th. Ian.P was 5th, Bill 6th, Kevin 7th and Alan.S last.
Lap 2 was barely half over when the RO decided to shorten the course which Alan.G then won from Ian.B with Paul 3rd, James 4th, Kevin 5th, Ian.P 6th, Alan.S 7th and Bill 8th.
 
Results: (Unofficial):-




Helm
Sail No
Club
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
Posn S.Champs
Race 4
Posn Open

Alan Gillard
1832
Sheffield Vikings
1
(9)
1
1
1
1

Ian Bradley
1817
Ouse ASC
2
(8)
3
2
2
2

James Wilson
1668
Loughborough
(4)
2
4
3
4
3

Mike Holbin
1814
West Oxfordshire
5
1
(6)
4
DNC
5

Paul Jago
1763
Attenborough
(7)
7
2
5
3
4

Ian Parish
1886
Stewartby
3
6
(7)
6
6
6

Mark Langston
1789
Beccles
6
(10)
5
7
DNC
9

Bill Strange
1791
Stewartby
(9)
4
8
8
8
8

Ian Mansfiled
1723
Alton Water
8
3
(11)
9
DNC
10

Kevin Iles
1687
Thorpe Bay
10
5
(10)
10
5
7

Alan Simmons

1700
Lancing
(12)
11
9
11
7
11

Peter Cogill
1683
Rotheram
11
12
(12)
12
12
12

Nick Carter
1828
Burghfield
13
13
(13)
13
DNC
13

Please note that these results have been amended after recovery of Race 1, lap4-12/07/2014
 

Alan.S 1700

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