Freeman Iceberg Races 13 & 14 - 15/12/2024

 

Freeman Iceberg Races 13 & 14 – 15/12/2024

Dull and Grey overcast skies, with a faint breeze, as we left Hove for Piddinghoe on Sunday morning 15^th December and on arrival little had changed. Half a dozen boats were already rigged on the bank and just before the starts there were twenty boats on the water.

Laurence Venus as RO, assisted by Bill Wates and with Andy Hamilton and crew in the safety boat, set an ‘M’ shaped course – as below to suit the wind coming from west. The start was from the south bank, just east of the Hamsa launch area and with the finish from the clubhouse to a mark off the small jetty on the west bank. All marks except that in the middle of the pond, north of the Island, were to be left to starboard.

At the gun Geoff Sheridan (Byte CII) and Alan Simmons (Streaker) were alongside one another at the pin end and first away as the start was signaled.

Photos by Michelle Smith.

By the end of the lap Geoff had pulled ahead of Alan by 14 seconds but David.M was still third, just, with Rupert one second astern. Julian was fifth, Mark sixth, Chris.T seventh, Zoe eighth, Andy Beck (Lightning) ninth, Carolyn (Laser Radial) 10^th, David Hitchens (Laser Radial) eleventh, Jo Bruggenwerth (Laser Radial) twelfth, Pete Henderson (Laser Radial) thirteenth, Jazz Turne (Hamsa s/h) fourteenth, Darrel Topp (Laser Radial) fifteenth, Adam Billany (Hamsa s/h) sixteenth, Simon Moles (Hamsa) seventeenth, Red Sheridan (Oppy)  nineteenth, Anna McNaugthon (Hamsa) twentieth, Jane Thompson (Hansa) twentyfirst.

Lap 2 had Geoff still ahead of Alan by 12 seconds and Rupert 23 seconds behind. Julian was still fourth with Chris now astern, having passed Mark. Dave.M had dropped back behind Mark and ahead of Zoe. Behind her Andy and Carolyn retained ninth and tenth places.       Pete came next having gained two places and Jo went up behind him. Darrel was also up two places to hold thirteenth and Jazz held on to fourteenth spot, with Adam and Simon behind. Chris.H retired allowing Red, Anna and Jane to gain two places each.  Dave.H dropped back to twentieth, missing a mark on the way.

Lap 3 Rupert took the lead from Geoff, by 21 seconds with Alan, now lying third now 35 seconds back, with Julian next and then Chris. Zoe was in sixth place having passed Dave.M as Mark dropped to places. Carolyn and Pete  both went ahead of Andy.B. Jo held on to thirteenth, as in lap 2, with Jazz behind her, up to thirteenth as Darrel retired. Adam and Simon both went up one place each with Dave.H astern of them. Jane and Anna swopped places with Red dropping behind them.

Lap 4 Whilst Rupert was still in the lead from Geoff, Alan found a sweet spot on the run along the west shore to the mark off the Fisherman’s bay and closed the gap on the pair ahead of him. At the finish line Rupert crossed the line 42 seconds ahead of Geoff with Alan crossing five seconds later. Julian was next, twenty seconds late with Chris.T 49 seconds later.

With handicaps applied the winner of the race was Jazz with Adam second, Geoff third, Simon and Calvin fourth and Alan fifth.

Results (provisional):-

Race 13 - 15/12/24

Rank	Fleet	Boat	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Finish	Elapsed	Laps	Corrected	Points
1	Menagerie	Violet	Hansa 303 s/h	848	NSSC	Jazz Turner		1580		51.34	3	0.43.31	1.0
2	Menagerie	Pheobe	Hansa 303 s/h	28	NSSC	Adam Billany		1580		52.50	3	0.44.35	2.0
3	Menagerie	Mothers Ruin	Byte CII	3394	NSSC	Geoff Sheridan		1132		50.54	4	0.44.58	3.0
4	Menagerie		Hansa 303	32	NSSC	Calvin/Simon	Simon/Calvin	1630		55.03	3	0.45.02	4.0
5	Menagerie	TFB	Streaker	1832	Lancing	Alan Simmons		1124		50.59	4	0.45.22	5.0
6	Menagerie	Saxon	OK	2239	NSSC	Rupert Smith		1100		50.12	4	0.45.38	6.0
7	Laser Hull	Bruce	LASER RADIAL	146162	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		1154		53.24	4	0.46.16	7.0
8	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	142208	NSSC	Dave Murley		1154		53.26	4	0.46.18	8.0
9	Menagerie		Streaker	1681	NSSC	Chris Turner		1124		52.08	4	0.46.23	9.0
10	Menagerie		Hansa 303	12	NSSC	Jane Thompson	Bea Brammah	1630		56.56	3	0.46.34	10.5
10	Menagerie		LASER RADIAL	26	NSSC	Bill Wates		1154		OOD			10.5
10	Laser Hull		LASER	7	NSSC	Julian Dobson		1102		51.19	4	0.46.34	10.5
13	Laser Hull		LASER	142221	NSSC	Andy Hamilton		1102		OOD			11.6
14	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	158365	NSSC	Carolyn Turner		1154		54.21	4	0.47.06	12.0
15	Menagerie		Hansa 303	65	NSSC	Anna McNaughton	Niall McMenemin	1630		57.48	3	0.47.17	13.0
16	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	43382	NSSC	Pete Henderson		1154		54.49	4	0.47.30	14.0
17	Menagerie	Blitz	Lightning 368	225	NSSC	Andrew Beck		1160		55.22	4	0.47.44	15.0
18	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	122461	NSSC	David Hitchins		1154		55.32	4	0.48.07	16.0
19	Menagerie		Supernova	526	NSSC	Mark Ramsay		1075		52.37	4	0.48.57	17.0
20	Menagerie	Sea Horse	Optimist	614	NSSC	Red Sheridan		1628		40.59	2	0.50.21	18.0
21	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	166421	NSSC	Jo Bruggenwirth		1154		44.50	3	0.51.48	19.0

Race 14 was held over the same course with, initially, much the same strength of breeze. It had shifted a bit and Laurence adjusted the start line to reduce the bias.

At the gun Rupert and Chris.T did not make the mistake they had in the previous race and got away in clean air rounding the mark in the south west corner well ahead of the rest of the fleet. Alan had no such luck and was buried in the pack unable to make much headway at all. Julian was next on the run along the west shore with Dave.M fourth and Mark fifth a bit astern. Rupert and Chris.T made the most of their early lead and finished the lap eighteen seconds apart with Chris.T a minute and 38 seconds ahead of Julian. Dave.M was twenty four seconds behind with Mark 19 seconds later in fifth place. Geoff was next with Zoe was 7^th to cross the line and Andy.B behind her, then came Pete and Alan in 10th place ahead of David.H. Next came Jo and then Carolyn in 13th place. Adam, in the Hansa was next in 14th place ahead of Jazz with Anna behind her. Darrel was next to cross the line with Jane behind him. Then came Red in 19^th.  with Simon astern. With Chris.H  in 21^st place Calum brought up the rear.

Lap 2 Rupert and Chirs.T continued to pull away from the rest of the fleet with Chris.T now 2 minutes 53 seconds ahead of third placed Julian. Mark went ahead of Dave.M as did Geoff, now lying 5^th. Alan gained three places on what was to be his last lap as the breeze faded to nothing on the last leg up the south shore, the direction also swung from side to side making that leg sometimes a beat and otherwise a reach with everyone tying to catch the merest of puff. Zoe was eighth to finish with Carolyn just behind her. Andy.B lost four places in the loss of wind to cross the line 11^th. with Pete losing four places to cross 12^th. David.H ended up behind Carolyn in 10^th spot as Jo also lost a place. Adam went down to cross in 16^th as Jazz went up to cross 14^th ahead Jane who had gained four places. In the lack of breeze Red gained a place to cross 18^th.  Simon and Chris.H had already been finished after a single lap.

Lap 3 was sailed by the remaining 5 boats with Rupert nearly 3 minutes ahead of second placed Julian with Chris.T third, Mark fourth and Geoff fifth.

With Handicaps applied the winner of Race 14 was Rupert with Chris.T second, Geoff third, Julian fourth and Dave.M fifth. See results below.

Race 14 - 15/12/24

Results (Provisional):-

Race 14 - 15/12/24

 

Rank	Fleet	Boat	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Finish	Elapsed	Laps	Corrected	Points
1	Menagerie	Saxon	OK	2239	NSSC	Rupert Smith		1100		40.01	3	0.36.23	1.0
2	Menagerie		Streaker	1681	NSSC	Chris Turner		1124		43.06	3	0.38.21	2.0
3	Menagerie	Mothers Ruin	Byte CII	3394	NSSC	Geoff Sheridan		1132		43.28	3	0.38.24	3.0
4	Laser Hull		LASER	7	NSSC	Julian Dobson		1102		42.59	3	0.39.00	4.0
5	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	142208	NSSC	Dave Murley		1154		30:43	2	0:39:56	5.0
6	Menagerie		Supernova	526	NSSC	Mark Ramsay		1075		43.19	3	0.40.18	6.0
7	Menagerie	Violet	Hansa 303 s/h	848	NSSC	Jazz Turner		1580		43.01	2	0.40.50	7.0
8	Menagerie		Hansa 303	12	NSSC	Jane Thompson	Bea Brammah	1630		45.04	2	0.41.28	8.0
9	Menagerie	Pheobe	Hansa 303 s/h	28	NSSC	Adam Billany		1580		44.6	2	0.41.52	9.0
10	Menagerie		Hansa 303	65	NSSC	Anna McNaughton	Niall McMenemin	1630		47.07	2	0.43.22	10.0
11	Menagerie	Sea Horse	Optimist	614	NSSC	Red Sheridan		1628		48.27	2	0.44.38	11.0
12	Laser Hull	Bruce	LASER RADIAL	146162	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		1154		35.54	2	0.46.40	12.0
13	Menagerie	TFB	Streaker	1832	Lancing	Alan Simmons		1124		35.10	2	0.46.56	13.0
14	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	158365	NSSC	Carolyn Turner		1154		36.30	2	0.47.27	14.0
15	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	122461	NSSC	David Hitchins		1154		39.50	2	0.51.47	15.0
16	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	217834	NSSC	Darrel Topp		1154		19.59	1	0.51.57	16.0
17	Menagerie	Blitz	Lightning 368	225	NSSC	Andrew Beck		1160		40.20	2	0.52.09	17.0
18	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	43382	NSSC	Pete Henderson		1154		40.35	2	0.52.45	18.0
19	Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	166421	NSSC	Jo Bruggenwirth		1154		41.35	2	0.54.03	19.0
20	Menagerie	Purple	Hansa 303	32	NSSC	Simon Moles	Quinty	1630		35.47	1	1.05.52	20.0
21	Menagerie		Hansa 303 s/h	2277	NSSC	Chris Hobday		1580		37.30	1	1.11.12	21.0

 

The breeze in the second, and subsequent lap for the leaders, caused rather an upset as it varied enormously in both direction and strength. If you found some you gained a lot and for the others it set you back substantially – it was truly a lottery if you missed it - but that’s the Pond!

Looking at the overall results, on WhatsApp, it appears that 38 boats completed at least one race in the series so far.

One more Sunday before Xmas, with the current forecast showing 27 to 29 knots, and then the last race on Boxing Day.

Alan.S 1832