Elford NumBum RAces 6 (Re-run) & 15

 Elford NumBum Races 6 (Re-run) & 15 – 24/2/2024

Overcast and grey with a light breeze as we left Hove this Sunday morning, at least it was not rainy but it was not exactly warm. Once, on the drive to Piddinghoe, the Ice Icon came up on the car dashboard. Whilst changing the comment was heard that a Laser Radial mainsheet was frozen, but the writer only found a small sheet of ice on his boat cover. There was a slight change to the program as Race 6 was to be re-run as well as race 15 - the final race of the series. Nine boats came to the line on the ‘M’ shaped course that the RO for the day, Geoff Sheridan set, together with his helper Bredon Parsons The safety boat was crewed by a young man with an older assistant but neither are named on the lap sheets.

Photos by Bett Simmons

                                            

At the gun Zoe McCaig (Laser Radial)  was first away towards the pin end with Bill Wates (Laser Radial) just behind and to windward. Andy Beck (Lightning) was third to go with Sean Beevers (Laser Radial) next with Alan Simmons (Streaker) jus behind but closer to the south bank. 

After a very close winded leg Zoe was first to round the mark in the south east corner followed by Bill and then Ed Thorburn (Finn) with Alan just astern. After the leg behind the island and then that to the mark off the Fisherman’s Bay Zoe was still in the lead with Ed next having overtaken Bill. 

Sean was next ahead of Andy with Thomas Beck (Laser 4.7) next came  Dave Murley (Laser Radial). 

Next to last was Alan who had had a clog up with his mainsheet and been unable to let his sail out on the leg behind the Island allowing several boats to get ahead of him. Bringing up the rear at that point was Mark Ramsay (Supernova) who had been over the line at the gun, then traveled on for a short while before having to return to start properly. At the mark in the middle of the pond Zoe was in the lead with Ed just having passed Bill next to round.

At the line at the end of the first lap the order was Zoe 1^st , 13 seconds ahead of Ed 2^nd, 2 seconds in front of Bill 3^rd, Sean was 4^th, Andy 5^th Dave 6^th, Mark 7^th, Thomas 8^th and Alan 9^th. Alan had found the breeze a good bit stronger than he liked but he continued to race.

Lap 2 had Ed finally overtake Zoe to cross the line 6 seconds ahead and Sean also overtook Bill to lie fourth. Mark also climbed up the flee to hold fifth place ahead of Andy with Alan 4 seconds behind in seventh. Dave was next with Thomas astern.

Lap 3 saw no place changes at the front with Ed in the lead from Zoe (by 31 seconds) and Sean 18 seconds further aft. At the back Thomas went ahead of Dave by 5 seconds.

Lap 4 Ed made a tiny gain now 34 seconds in front of Zoe with Sean 22 seconds astern. Bill, Mark , Andy and Alan stayed in the same order as in lap 3 as Dave went back ahead of Thomas by 25 seconds.

Lap 5 The fleet order remained mostly unchanged but Dave went ahead of Andy and Alan had a nasty capsize. The safety boat came to give a lengthy assistance but even once the boat was upright he struggled to get back aboard and once he had finally done so he headed for the shore and started to dismantle the Streaker and pack it up for towing home, having decided not to complete in the second race of the day.

Lap 6 Ed still leads the fleet crossing the line 1 minutes  16 seconds ahead of Zoe with Sean third 13 seconds later, Bill fourth, Dave fifth, Mark sixth, Andy seventh and Thomas eighth.

Lap 7 At the finish it was Ed first 1 minute 35 seconds ahead of Zoe with Sean third 15 seconds astern and Bill fourth, the rest of the fleet having already finished the lap before.

With handicaps applied and times corrected the winner of the race was Zoe with Sean second, ed third and Bill fourth.

Results:-

Race 6 - 25/02/024

 

Fleet	Boat	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Elapsed	BCE	Points
				NSSC	Brendon Parsons			OOD
Laser Hull	Bruce	LASER RADIAL	46	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		1150	39.19	0.00.00	1.0
Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	46237	NSSC	Sean Beevers		1150	39.34	0.00.15	2.0
Menagerie		FINN	595	NSSC	Ed Thorburn		1049	37.44	0.01.52	3.0
Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	26	NSSC	Bill Wates		1150	42.00	0.02.41	4.0
Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	142208	NSSC	Dave Murley		1150	37.38	0.03.56	5.0
Laser Hull		LASER 4.7	No No	NSSC	Thomas Beck		1207	39.46	0.04.24	6.0
Menagerie		LIGHTNING 368	225	NSSC	Andy Beck		1160	38.15	0.04.15	7.0
Menagerie		SUPERNOVA	526	NSSC	Mark Ramsay		1077	37.56	0.06.22	8.0
Menagerie	TFB	STREAKER	1832	Lancing	Alan Simmons		1128	RET		9.0
Menagerie		BYTE CII	3394	NSSC	Geoff Sheridan		1144	OOD		38.0

 

Race 15 was to be sailed over the same course, with a tiny bit less breeze which had shifted a little to the south.

At the gun it was Sean who led the way down towards the pin end. Next to go was  Andy in mid line with Ed to leeward and then Zoe closest to the south shore. Bill was just behind the first three boats and Dave and Mark well back from the line.

Just before the mark in the south east corner Sean was in the lead, tacked and capsized, letting Ed through onto the leg behind the Island. Andy was next to round followed by Zoe and then Bill. Sean was over for quite a while allowing Dave and Mark to pass him before he fully recovered.

At the end of the lap the order was Ed fist with Zoe 18 seconds later, then Andy 30 seconds later. Dave was fourth ahead of Bill fifth with Mark sixth next. Sean brought up the rear.

Lap 2 saw Zoe cross the line 20 seconds behind Ed. The order behind remained unchanged with Sean closing the gap behind Mark.

Lap 3 Ed had extended his lead to 54 seconds ahead of Zoe with Sean have recovered time to lie behind her and ahead of Andy, Dave, Bill and Mark.

Lap 4 no change in the leading three boats as Bill went past Andy and Dave to lie fourth with Mark still at the back of the fleet.

Lap 5 with Ed still out front of Zoe, and Sean astern of her, Bill in fourth place as Dave went ahead of Andy who remained in font of Mark.

Lap 6 Ed was now 2 minutes 39 seconds ahead of Zoe and Sean a further one minute 39 seconds astern. The order behind remained Bill 4^th, Dave 5^th, Andy 6^th and Mark 7^{th.   A}part from Ed who was sent round on another lap the rest of the fleet were finished here.

Lap 7 as above noted only Ed sailed this lap.

With calculations done the result was a win for Zoe with Ed second, Sean third, Bill fourth and Dave 5^th.

Results:-

Race 15 - 25/2/2024

 

Fleet	Boat	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Elapsed	BCE	Points
				NSSC	Brendon Parsons			OOD
Laser Hull	Bruce	LASER RADIAL	46	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		1150	33.24	0.00.00	1.0
Menagerie		FINN	595	NSSC	Ed Thorburn		1049	36.24	0.00.51	2.0
Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	46237	NSSC	Sean Beevers		1150	35.03	0.01.39	3.0
Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	26	NSSC	Bill Wates		1150	36.28	0.03.04	4.0
Laser Hull		LASER RADIAL	142208	NSSC	Dave Murley		1150	37.01	0.03.37	5.0
Menagerie		LIGHTNING 368	225	NSSC	Andy Beck		1160	37.41	0.04.00	6.0
Menagerie		SUPERNOVA	526	NSSC	Mark Ramsay		1077	37.58	0.06.41	7.0
Menagerie		BYTE CII	3394	NSSC	Geoff Sheridan		1144	OOD		38.0

Two good strong wind races, not to everybody’s taste however, as seen by the writer’s retirement, and that of Thomas. Not too many capsizes although Sean’s in the second race was quite prolonged.

This was the end of the NumBum series with the series overall won by Zoe with Ed second Bill third, Alan fourth and Dave fifth, and there should have been a prizegiving but in part due to attendance at the Dinghy Show there was no one available for the presentation of the trophy and place prizes. It is understood that this will take place next Sunday 3^rd March after the racing in the Duncan Dash – for which there will be no blog/report by the writer. 

Alan.S 1832