Elford Numbum Races 5 & 6 - 22/01/2023

 

Elford Numbum Races 5 & 6 – 22/01/2023

Cold but bright and Sunny with barely a hint of breeze as we left Hangleton on Sunday morning. On the way down to Piddinghoe a bank of dark cloud was seen to the east but it did not develop into anything significant. The frost everywhere was very obvious and upon removing the Streaker’s cover the rear of the cockpit was seen to be covered in a sheet of ice about 3mm thick which had to be broken up and removed – rather chilly on the fingers even wearing gloves.

Breeze was sadly lacking apart from some shadows/ruffling of the water on the far, east, side of the pond but it began to fill in a little before the start of race 5. The photos herein give a good idea of the strength - or lack of it.

Laurence Venus as RO was assisted by Connie Sturt, with Richard Lowerson and Will Murphy in the safety boat, set an ‘M’ shaped course as shown below, with the start/finish line from the clubhouse and the first leg towards a mark off the Fisherman’s bay, followed by a run back towards a mark midway along the south bank. The next leg was a fetch/beat to a mark to the North east of the island and thence behind the island to a mark south of it and finally another single tack beat back to a mark in the south west corner, thence to the finish line.

      

Photographs by Bett Simmons

At the gun for race 5, Todd Grady-Gales (Laser full rig, Lancing SC) was first away close to the pin end of the line.  Ed Thorburn (Finn) was next to start further up the line with Julian Dobson (Laser full rig) to windward and slightly behind him. Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS 200) were next to go followed by Bill Wates (Laser Radial) and then Alan Simmons (Streaker – Lancing SC).

Ed was first to reach the windward mark which he rounded just ahead of Todd with Michael third to round and head off on the run. Fourth to set off on this leg was Julian, followed by Bill and then Alan.

By the end of lap 1 the order was Ed 1st, Michael 2^nd, Todd 3^rd, Alan 4^th, Bill 5^th, Zoe McCaig 6^th (Laser Radial) on her first outing on the pond this year, Dave Murley (Laser Radial) 7^th, Julian 8^th Jo Brugenwirth (Laser Radial) 9^th and Darrell (Laser Radial) 10^th.

Lap 2 continued with Ed slowly stretching ahead of Michael who in turn pulled ahead of Todd with Alan dropping back from Todd to still hold 4^th place. Julian had a spurt climbing from 8^th to fifth ahead of Zoe who remained 6^th. Bill dropped to 7^th still ahead of Dave.  Jo and Darrell held their respective positions with Jo and Darrell being finished.

Lap 3 saw no place changes among the leading three boats, Ed, Michael and Todd but Julian went ahead of Alan who pressed him to the line to cross 4^th, some 13 seconds in front  as both finished. All behind were finished without further  place changes.

Lap 4 had Ed  cross the line a minute and 44 seconds ahead of second placed Michael with Todd a minute and 3 seconds behind him.

With the results calculated the winner of the race was Ed Thorburn, with Todd Grady-Gales 2^nd, Michael Veale 3^rd, Alan Simmons 4^th and Julian Dobson^th

Results:-

Race 5 - 22/01/2023

Start: Start 1, Finishes: Place

Rank	Fleet	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Finish	Elapsed	Laps	Corrected	BCE	Points
1	Menagerie	FINN	595	NSSC	Ed Thorburn		1049		40.09	4	0.38.16	0.00.00	1.0
2	Laser Hull	LASER	209998	Lancing	Todd Grady-Gales		1100		43.03	4	0.39.08	0.00.57	2.0
3	Menagerie	RS 200	582	NSSC	Michael Veale	Mike Rosier	1046		41.54	4	0.40.03	0.01.52	3.0
4	Menagerie	STREAKER	1832	Lancing	Alan Simmons		1128		34.40	3	0.40.59	0.02.17	4.0
5	Laser Hull	LASER	7	NSSC	Julian Dobson		1100		34.33	3	0.41.53	0.02.58	5.0
6	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	146162	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		1147		36.40	3	0.42.37	0.03.44	6.0
7	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	26	NSSC	Bill Wates		1147		37.06	3	0.43.08	0.04.10	7.0
8	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	142208	NSSC	David Murley		1147		38.01	3	0.44.12	0.05.05	8.0
9	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	164421	NSSC	Jo Brugenworth		1147		33.25	2	0.58.16	0.11.28	9.0
10	Laser Hull	LASER	217834	NSSC	Darrell Topp		1100		37.18	2	1.07.49	0.16.15	10.0
11	Menagerie	TOPPER		NSSC	Connie Sturt		1365		OOD				18.0

 

Race 6 was held over the same basic course with a slight adjustment to the Mark off the Fisherman’s bay, taking it closer inshore. 

At the gun it was Todd who crossed the start first at the pin end with Alan managing to sneak under Ed’s stern a bit further up the line. Ed should have been third to start but he fell into the wind shadow of the clubhouse whilst Michael started third close to the pin end of the line.

Todd was first to round the windward mark and set off on the run towards the south bank with Ed next and then Alan and Michael, the former managing to hold off the Gennaker powered RS200 and round just clear ahead. Behind these for was another group led by Zoe clear ahead of Bill who had Julian astern and Darrell at the rear of the bundle. Julian went ahead of Bill on the leg to the mark off the east bank and both he and Zoe passed Michel somewhere behind the Island.

At the line the order was Todd 1^st, Ed 2^nd 13 seconds astern, Alan 3^rd  another 19 seconds behind, Julian 4^th 61 seconds later, Zoe 5^th,1 second behind, Michael 6^th, Bill 7^th, Darrell 8^th, Dave 9^th and Jo 10^th.

Lap 2 saw Ed close up to lie 3 seconds behind Todd at the line with Alan another 44 seconds further back. Behind these three there were no place changes but Julian pulled away from Zoe to cross the line 33 seconds in front and Michael fell back from 9 to 22 seconds astern of her.

Lap 3 saw Ed finally get ahead of Todd by 25 seconds at the line as Julian closed down the gap behind 3^rd placed Alan but there were no further place changes in the rest of the fleet.

Lap 4, the final lap and the lead was maintained by Ed who crossed the line 46 seconds ahead of Todd with Alan 3^rd some two minutes later but just ahead of Julian by 19 seconds. Zoe was 5^th 24 seconds later.

With the results calculated Todd Grady-Gales was declared the winner with Ed Thorburn 2^nd, Alan Simmons 3^rd (six seconds behind on corrected time), Zoe McCaig 4^th and Julian Dobson 5^th.

Results:-

Race 6 - 22/01/2023

Start: Start 1, Finishes: Place

Rank	Fleet	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Finish	Elapsed	Laps	Corrected	BCE	Points
1	Laser Hull	LASER	209998	Lancing	Todd Grady-Gales		1100		36.34	4	0.33.15	0.00.00	1.0
2	Menagerie	FINN	595	NSSC	Ed Thorburn		1049		35.48	4	0.34.08	0.00.56	2.0
3	Menagerie	STREAKER	1832	Lancing	Alan Simmons		1128		38.37	4	0.34.14	0.01.07	3.0
4	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	146162	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		1147		40.20	4	0.35.10	0.02.12	4.0
5	Laser Hull	LASER	7	NSSC	Julian Dobson		1100		38.56	4	0.35.24	0.02.22	5.0
6	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	26	NSSC	Bill Wates		1147		42.25	4	0.36.59	0.04.17	6.0
7	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	142208	NSSC	David Murley		1147		43.22	4	0.37.49	0.05.14	7.0
8	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	164421	NSSC	Jo Brugenworth		1147		44.03	4	0.38.24	0.05.55	8.0
9	Laser Hull	LASER	217834	NSSC	Darrell Topp		1100		42.50	4	0.38.56	0.06.16	9.0
10	Menagerie	RS 200	582	NSSC	Michael Veale	Mike Rosier	1046		42.14	4	0.40.23	0.07.28	10.0
11	Menagerie	TOPPER		NSSC	Connie Sturt		1365		OOD				18.0

 

A lovely little quiet sail and a healthy turnout – see how the sun tempts ‘on the water’ pastimes. There was some close racing, on the water, as well as on handicap (check out the BCE entries) and it was enjoyable for all who sailed. Actually the breeze in race 5 was rather light and patchy but did increase a mite for race 6, some had to actually ‘sit out’ on the side decks.

Alan was annoyed that his mainsheet, in race 6, had wrapped itself up on the first run of the third lap, wondering if the time lost sorting it out on the subsequent beat could have gained him second place had it not happened.

The current forecast for next Sunday looks quite good at force 3 to 4 but come down anyway, if only to watch, but preferably to sail/race.

Alan.S 1832

PS. To see the pics in an enlarged view click on the first (Course view) and then use your mouse scroll wheel to bring up each other one.