Freeman Iceberg Races 14 & 15 - Boxing Day - 26/12/2022

Freeman Iceberg Races 14 (Re-Run) & 15 – Boxing Day - 26/12/2022

Clear Blue skies, and sunshine, with little or no breeze as we left Hangleton Boxing day morning. The XCWeather forecast for Piddinghoe was 12 knots but on arrival there was nothing. 

Just after rigging a gentle breeze appeared from the west and the RO, Rupert Smith assisted by Chris Turner ARO) - with Darrel Topp in the safety boat, set a slightly complex course, as below:- 

Photos by Bett Simmons

At the gun Thomas Beck (Topper) was first across the line at the pin end with Matt Sprigall (Laser full rig) second but to windward of him. At the shore end it was Ed Rollestone (Laser Radial) just after Alan Simmons (Streaker) in mid line. 

At the windward mark Matt was first to round closely followed by Alan and in quick succession, Ed Thorburn (Finn), Ed.R and Sean Beevers (Laser full rig). 

On the run to the mark to the north of the Island (the Gybe mark) Matt held the lead with a few place changes behind but with Alan still holding off Ed.T who had caught and overtaken Ed.R and Sean.

Astern of this group Dave Murley (Laser Radial) led Bill Wates (Laser Radial) with Alice Smith (Laser Radial) ahead of Julian Dobson (Laser full rig) and lastly Thomas. The leg to the mark off the Fisherman’s Bay was just a tad off a full beat with the wind now at about mid force 3 making it quite speedy. 

There followed a run and then a broad reach along the east shore behind the island, the latter seeing the odd place change. 

The final leg, from the mark to the south of the Island saw yet more place changes. At the line the order was Ed.T with Alan behind by 21 seconds , then Sean 11 seconds further back, Matt 5 seconds later and Ed.R fifth by just 1 second. Dave was 6^th, Julian 7^th, Bill 8^th, Alice 9^th and Thomas 10^th.

Lap two had Ed.T 46 seconds ahead of Matt who had passed Alan (crossing the line 1 second ahead) with Sean 20 seconds further astern and Ed.R 8 seconds behind him. Julian had worked his way ahead of Dave who had dropped back astern of Bill with Alice and Thomas at 9^th and 10 respectively.

Lap 3 had Ed.T still out in front now leading second placed Matt by a minute and 2 seconds with Alan in 3^rd place, 12 seconds behind Matt. Behind them there were no further pace changes.

Lap 4, the final lap saw no changes in the order of the leading three boats (EdT 1^st, Matt 2^nd and Alan 3^rd) and but Ed.R went ahead of Sean. Julian crossed the line in 6^th place ahead of Dave who had pipped Bill whilst Alice was last to finish, Thomas having finished at the end of Lap3.

With Calcs completed the winner of the race was Ed Thorburn, with Ed Rollestone 2^nd, Alan Simmons 3^rd, Thomas Beck 4^th and Sean Beevers 5^th.

   Race 14 - 26/12/2022 at 10.35

Start: Start 1, Finishes: Place

Rank	Fleet	Boat	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Elapsed	Laps	Corrected	BCE	Points
1	Menagerie		FINN	595	NSSC	Ed Thorburn		1049	39.43	5	0.37.52	0.00.00	1.0
2	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	207462	NSSC	Ed Rollestone		1147	35.15	4	0.38.25	0.00.30	2.0
3	Menagerie	The Final Bash	STREAKER	1832	LANCING	Alan Simmons		1128	35.34	4	0.39.25	0.01.24	3.0
4	Menagerie		TOPPER	47124	NSSC	Thomas Beck		1358	32.55	3	0.40.24	0.02.04	4.0
5	Laser Hull	Icterus	LASER	46237	NSSC	Sean Beevers		1100	35.43	4	0.40.35	0.02.24	5.0
6	Laser Hull		LASER	207006	NSSC	Matt Springall		1100	36.04	4	0.40.59	0.02.45	6.0
7	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	72	NSSC	Alice Smith		1147	39.54	4	0.43.29	0.05.09	7.0
8	Laser Hull		LASER	7	NSSC	Julian Dobson		1100	38.36	4	0.43.52	0.05.17	8.0
9	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	26	NSSC	Bill Wates		1147	40.27	4	0.44.05	0.05.42	9.0
10	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	142208	NSSC	Dave Murley		1147	40.42	4	0.44.21	0.05.57	10.0

The second race of the morning was held over the same course, albeit with a slight change in the lie of the start line and of the windward mark - the latter closer to the clubhouse. The breeze had shifted slightly further west and increased in strength by a fraction.

At the gun Ed.T was first away near the shore end of the line but soon tacked off. Alan meanwhile started near the pin end and also tacked onto port whilst the remainder of the fleet headed towards the south bank shore and they (with the exception of Ed.R) fell into a bit of a hole. 

As a result Ed.R led round the windward mark followed by Alan and then Ed.T. Matt was behind Ed.T and just ahead of Sean on the downwind leg.  

By the end of the first lap the order was Ed.R in the lead followed by Ed.T 6 seconds behind, then Alan another 30 seconds astern, Matt was in 4^th place with Sean 5^th, Julian 6^th, Alice 7^th, Bill 8^th, Dave 9^th and Thomas 10^th. All the fleet were in close timed groups.

Lap 2 and Ed.T was then leading Ed.R by just over a minute with Alan 3^rd 40 seconds behind with Matt behind him by 7 seconds. Sean was in 5^th place with Julian behind him in 6^th place but with no changes behind him.

Lap 3 and Ed.T extended his lead from Ed.R to nearly 2 minutes as Alan lost a little ground to hold third. Sean went ahead of Matt to lie 4^th by 12 seconds with no place changes behind.

Lap 4 had Ed.T continue to edge ahead of Ed.R but Alan closed the gap to lie 3^rd some 19 seconds behind. Sean was a further 9 seconds behind with Matt dropping back to make the gap 21 seconds. Next came Julian in 6^th place ahead of Alice who had overtaken Bill and with Dave 9^th, Thomas having been finished the lap before.

Lap 5 was sailed only by Ed.T as the others had already finished.

With the results calculated the winner was Ed Rollestone 1^st, Alan Simmons 2^nd, Matt Springall 3^rd, Ed Thorburn 4^th and Sean Beevers 5^th.

Race 15 - 26/12/2022 at 11.26

Start: Start 1, Finishes: Place

Rank	Fleet	Boat	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Elapsed	Laps	Corrected	BCE	Points
1	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	207462	NSSC	Ed Rollestone		1147	31.23	4	0.27.22	0.00.00	1.0
2	Menagerie	The Final Bash	STREAKER	1832	LANCING	Alan Simmons		1128	31.10	4	0.27.38	0.00.18	2.0
3	Laser Hull		LASER	207006	NSSC	Matt Springall		1100	30.44	4	0.27.56	0.00.38	3.0
4	Menagerie		FINN	595	NSSC	Ed Thorburn		1049	29.43	4	0.28.20	0.01.01	4.0
5	Laser Hull	Icterus	LASER	46237	NSSC	Sean Beevers		1100	31.42	4	0.28.49	0.01.36	5.0
6	Laser Hull		LASER	7	NSSC	Julian Dobson		1100	32.09	4	0.29.14	0.02.03	6.0
7	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	142208	NSSC	Dave Murley		1147	33.43	4	0.29.24	0.02.20	7.0
8	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	26	NSSC	Bill Wates		1147	33.54	4	0.29.33	0.02.31	8.0
9	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	72	NSSC	Alice Smith		1147	34.04	4	0.29.42	0.02.41	9.0
10	Menagerie		TOPPER	47124	NSSC	Thomas Beck		1358	30.23	3	0.29.50	0.02.31	10.0

These two races being the last in the series the prize giving was held next. The overall winner was Ed Thorburn with Alan Simmons 2^nd and Thomas Beck 3rd.

                              

                                 Thomas also won the prize for the Cadet fleet.

In Ed.T's 'acceptance speech' he thanked all who had carried out their duties as RO, ARO and Safety boat crew. He had especial thanks for the canteen 'staff' and to Michelle Smith for the Mulled Wine and Mince Pies today!

For some obscure reason the series results are not yet posted on the NSSC web site but when they are one will see the results for Races 14 & 15 transposed to that shown here. The writer used the start times of these last two in chronological (Time) order.

                        Rupert Smith (RO) and Chris Turner (ARO)

Apart from the weekend of the 18^th December (and the re-run of one of those races today) only one race was lost out of the 15 races programmed for the series. Turn-outs were a bit disappointing though, with all but four races having fleets in single figures. Conditions were for mostly light winds, in spite of higher wind strengths forecast but which came to nothing on the days.

The next race is that due on New Year’s Day – with a start time of 2.00 pm for the ‘Laurence Venus Trophy’ – the later time being due to allowing for the clearance of any ‘hang overs’ – heaven forbid’.

Happy new year to all my readers

Alan Simmons