Streaker Ramblings - Freeman Iceberg Races 1 & 2 - 07.11.2021

Here we are again once more, one lockdown and a new hip for the writer, with the start of the Freeman Iceberg series in 2021.

The first race (of two) on Sunday 7th Novemeber 2021 was held at Piddinghoe pond with Ian Lambert as RO assisted by Connie Sturt (Slipper, NSSC).

Ian set up a course round the outside of all the marks (except the 'pin') with a committee boat start just off the south bank 2/3 down from the clubhouse and the reqirement to pass through the 'gate' each lap. After the start the pin buoy was moved closer to the Committee Boat. A fleet of sixteen boats entered for this first race with the line having a pin end bias at the gun.

At the gun a big hole opened up adjacent to the pin end mark and Alan Simmons (D Zero - LSC) took advantage of it and with clear air headed off on the beat. Ahead of him crossing the line but closer to the shore Thomas Harland Smith (Laser Radial - NSSC) who was in turn just ahead but to leeward of Ed Rolestone (Laser 4.7 -   NSSC), then came Ed Thorburn (Finn - NSSC)  just astern of Alan.

After a tack near the south bank Alan was first to round the windward mark off the clubhouse and was followed by Ed.T with third to round Matt Springall (Laser full rig - NSSC), Rupert Smith (Streaker - NSSC) was soon up to fourth place and this was the order at the end of the lap. Lewis Johns (Laser Radial - NSSC) was in 5th place, Ed.R in 6th, Zoe McCaig (Laser Radial) in 7th, Thomas H-S in 8th, Julian Dobson (Laser Full Rig) 9th, Bill Waites (Laser Radial) 10th, Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS 200) 11th, Andy Beck (Laser full Rig) 12th, Tim Cox (Topper) 13th, Alice Smith (Hansa) 14th, Jazz Turner (Hansa) 15th,and Thomas Beck (Topper) in 16th place.

At the end of Lap 2 the top five order was as in lap 1 but Michael had move up to 6th place, Thomas H-S to 7th and Ed.R dropped back to 8th whilst Julian was still 9th. Zoe had fallen down to 10th with Bill also down one place to 11th. Andy, Tim and Alice stayed as in lap 1 but Jazz fell back astern of Thomas.B to trail the fleet.

Lap 3 saw Alan continue to hold the lead ahead of Ed.T with Matt third and had Lewis go ahead of Rupert to lie 4th and Ed.R overtake Michael. Zoe regained a place ahead of Julian  with no further changes in order behind him. 

Lap 4 and Ed.T passed Alan at the first jybe off the east shore to take the lead. Behind them Matt, Lewis and Rupert stayed as in Lap 3 while Michael eased past Thomas H-S. Ed.R fell back to lie 9th astern of Zoe with no place changes in the rest of the fleet.

Lap 5 saw no further place changes in the front four boats but Thomas. H-S got ahead of Rupert to lie in 5th place as Michael fel back to 7th. Julian went ahead of Zoe again and Ed.R crossed the line tied with her to lie 10th but with no further changes behind him except that Jazz retired.

Lap 6 Ed.T still held the lead from Alan with Matt still behind him and Lewis in 4th place. Ed.R made a massive gain to lie 5th ahead of Rupert with Thomas. H-S dropping back to lie 7th astern of him.Michael also lost a place to lie 8th and Zoe and Julian continued their battle with Zoe taking 9th place to Julian's 10th. Bill and Andy remained in 11th and 12th places with the slower boats having finished at the end of Lap 5.

Lap 7 was contended by 10 remaining boats and it was Ed.T who crossed the line 1st with Alan still holding on to 2nd place but unable to catch him. Matt was 3rd, Lewis 4th, Ed.R 5th, Rupert 6th, Michael 7th, Thomas.H-S 8th, Zoe 9th and Julian 10 th. 

With times adjusted, according to boat handicaps, the race winner was Ed Rolestone with Lewis Johns 2nd, Alice Smith 3rd, Ed Thorburn 4th and Matt Springall 5th.

Results (Preliminary)

Race 1 - 07.11.2021

Start: Start 1, Finishes: Place

Boat	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Elapsed	Laps	BCE	Points
	LASER 4.7	207462	NSSC	Ed Rolestone		1208	50.03	7	0.00.00	1.0
	LASER RADIAL	179808	NSSC	Lewis Johns		1147	48.17	7	0.00.46	2.0
Poppy	HANSA	2	NSSC	Alice Smith		1580	47.38	5	0.00.52	3.0
	FINN	595	NSSC	Ed Thorburn		1049	44.27	7	0.00.59	4.0
	LASER	207006	NSSC	Matt Springall		1100	47.38	7	0.02.03	5.0
	STREAKER	1681	NSSC	Rupert Smith		1128	49.16	7	0.02.32	6.0
	LASER RADIAL	72341	NSSC	Thomas Harland-Smith		1147	50.32	7	0.03.01	7.0
	LASER RADIAL	146162	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		1147	50.40	7	0.03.09	8.0
	D Zero	224	Lancing SC	Alan Simmons		1029	46.16	7	0.03.38	9.0
	TOPPER	41179	NSSC	Tim Cox		1365	45.08	5	0.04.44	10.0
	LASER	7	NSSC	Julian Dobson		1100	50.56	7	0.05.21	11.0
	LASER RADIAL	26	NSSC	Bill Waites		1147	46.29	6	0.05.45	12.0
	RS 200	582	NSSC	Michael Veale	Mike Rosier	1046	50.19	7	0.06.59	13.0
	TOPPER	47124	NSSC	Thomas Beck		1365	48.33	5	0.08.09	14.0
	LASER	176742	NSSC	Andy Beck		1100	47.04	6	0.08.00	15.0
Daisy	HANSA	5	NSSC	Jazz Turner		1580	RET	5		17.0

Race 2 was sailed over the same course albeit with the committee boat slighly repositioned, the breeze - force 3 occasionally 4 - having shifted slightly to the south.

The line for start of the race 2 had even more bias to the pin end and as a result everyone wanted to be there. It was however Thomas H-S who was first away with Julian behind but to weather and Ed.R third but to leeward of Thomas.  The pack at the mark meant that Ed.T, Matt and Alan were 'lost' in the pack. The wind had shifted enough to permit a single tack to reach the 'windward' mark off the clubhouse.

By the end of the lap Ed.R crossed the line in first place with Thomas H-S 2nd,  Matt 3rd, Ed.T 4th and Lewis 5th. Alan crossed in 6th place ahead of Rupert,Bill and Andy. Zoe was 10th, Michael 11th, Tim 12th, and Julian 13th.  The final two were Thomas.B, and lastly Alice. Jazz did not sail in this race.

Lap 2 saw Ed.T up into the lead of the fleet with Matt 2nd and Alan 3rd. Thomas H-S held 4th place ahead of Lewis and then Rupert in 6th. Ed.R had slipped back to 7th ahead of Bill and Zoe moved up to lie 9th. Julian pulled back up to lie 10th ahead of Andy with Michael 12th, Tim 13th, Thomas.B 14th and Alice 15th.

Lap 3 Ed.T led the fleet as Alan went ahead of Matt to lie 2^nd and Rupert went up to lie 4^th having passed Thomas H-S and Lewis with Ed.R still holding 7^th place ahead of Zoe as Bill dropped behind her. Julian stayed in 10th and Michael went ahead of Andy. Behind him the order stayed the same as in lap 2.

Lap 4 with Ed.T still in the lead saw the battle between Alan and Matt continue with Matt going back up to 2^nd place by one second. Rupert held on in 4^th place with Lewis passing Thomas H-S and Ed.R  to lie 5^th. Zoe remained in 8^th place as Julian and Michael both passed Bill. Tim went up to lie 12^th ahead of Thomas.B and Alice as Andy retired.

Lap 5 and there were no changes in the leading three boats with Alan now 3 seconds astern of Matt having pulled back from 32 seconds astern. Ed.R  jumped up to 4th place ahead of Rupert with Lewis behind him, Thomas H-S having dropped back to 8^th with Zoe behind him. Bill also went down the order to lie 11^th behind Julian and Michael. There were no place changes behind the above.

Lap 6 Ed.T was still in the lead and Matt remained 5 seconds ahead of Alan with Rupert now back in 4^th place as Lewis climbed back to 5^th as Thomas H-S crossed the line in 7^th place, Ed.R having plummeted to 9^th.Julian went up to lie 7^th ahead of Zoe. Michael remained in10th place ahead of Bill and with no further changes in position of Tim, Thomas.B nor Alice.

Lap 7 Behind the leader Ed.T Alan passed Matt to cross the line 7 seconds in front and 7 second astern of Ed.T. Lewis went ahead of Rupert as did Ed.R who made a great comeback to lie 5^th. Thomas.H-S dropped a place to 7^th ahead of Zoe while Michael gained a place to 9^th and Bill also gained a place to lie 10^th ahead of Julian who had a big loss with Tim bringing up the rear, Alice and Thomas.B having finished the lap before.

Lap 8 and the final lap was still led by Ed.T who had pulled back to lead Alan across the line by 23 seconds. Matt was 3^rd 49 seconds astern. Lewis was next to finish ahead of Rupert with Thomas H-S next 6^th ahead of Zoe and then Ed.R. Julian and Bill having finished at the end of lap 7.

With Handicaps applied the winner of the race was Alice Smith with Lewis Johns 2^nd, Matt Springall 3^rd, Thomas Harland-Smith 4^th and Rupert Smith 5^th.

Race 2 - 07.11.2021

Start: Start 1, Finishes: Place

Boat	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Elapsed	BCE	Points
Poppy	HANSA	2	NSSC	Alice Smith		1580	40.15	0.00.00	1.0
	LASER RADIAL	179808	NSSC	Lewis Johns		1147	39.00	0.00.02	2.0
	LASER	207006	NSSC	Matt Springall		1100	38.03	0.00.41	3.0
	LASER RADIAL	72341	NSSC	Thomas Harland-Smith		1147	39.52	0.00.54	4.0
	STREAKER	1681	NSSC	Rupert Smith		1128	39.14	0.00.55	5.0
	FINN	595	NSSC	Ed Thorburn		1049	36.41	0.01.03	6.0
	LASER 4.7	207462	NSSC	Ed Rolestone		1208	42.35	0.01.33	7.0
	TOPPER	41179	NSSC	Tim Cox		1365	42.51	0.02.17	8.0
	D Zero	224	Lancing SC	Alan Simmons		1029	37.14	0.02.17	9.0
	LASER RADIAL	146162	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		1147	42.06	0.03.08	10.0
	TOPPER	47124	NSSC	Thomas Beck		1365	38.02	0.03.16	11.0
	LASER RADIAL	26	NSSC	Bill Waites		1147	38.12	0.04.07	12.0
	RS 200	582	NSSC	Michael Veale	Mike Rosier	1046	37.07	0.06.02	13.0
	LASER	7	NSSC	Julian Dobson		1100	41.29	0.08.47	14.0
Daisy	HANSA	5	NSSC	Jazz Turner		1580	DNS		17.0
	LASER	176742	NSSC	Andy Beck		1100	RET		17.0

Conditions, for this the opening of the series, could hardly have been better - light to moderate westerly breezes, warm sunshine clear skies and no rain. The younger members of the fleet took the honours, they really are improving and all credit to them. The racing was all very tight with lots of two boat battles occurring in both races, making for great and interesting racing. The forecast for Sunday (Remembrance Sunday – start at 11.15) looks good currently, perhaps a touch more breeze – keep your eyes on it.

My thanks to Michelle Smith for taking the photos used in this blog - using my Camera, as Bett was unable to attend.

PS. You may wonder how it is possible to write such detailed lap by lap reports. Well I have to create an Excel spreadsheet from the actual lap sheets provided by the RO and ARO. The spreadsheet is achieved, in this instance, by adjusting the ‘actual’ recorded times with respect to the ‘actual’ start times. The results are then sorted to give the actual finishing places each lap – Simples!

PPS. Try as I may I am unable to 'insert' the Excel  lap postion sheets - they are just too wide.