Streaker Ramblings - Stewartby WSC 2nd July 2011

Bright blue sunlit skies and no breeze as we set off at 7.30am on the 115 mile trip up the M23,M25 and M1 to Stewartby just south of Bedford. We arrived at 9.30am, quite good considering all the road works on the route with the usual 50 mph speed limits, luckily the variable speed limits around the M25 were not functioning.

Once rigged and after the shore-side briefing the 8 Streakers, in company with eleven Solos, took to the water. There was a bit of a delay before the Solos got away on their first start whilst the RO waited for what little breezethere was to materialise sufficiently for him to choose a direction in which to send them.

The Streakers started their sequence a minute or so after the Solos had left on the short leg to the first mark near the clubhouse and launching area. The first half of the fleet, Barney Proud (Stewartby WSP), Veronica Falat (Waveney & Oulton Broad SC), Bill Strange (Stewartby) and Nigel Denchfield (Stewartby) managed to round the widward mark before the breeze died completelty whilst the second half - David New (Paxton Lakes), Alan Simmons (Lancing SC), Ian Parish (Stewartby) and Peter Billington (Stewartby) – all clustered around the mark, Alan.S being rammed (gently) and then hitting the mark and requiring to re-round it. By the end of the first lap Barney.P led Bill.S and Veronica.F with Alan.S in 7^th position. In the second lap Veronica got ahead of Barney and Bill and Alan moved up one place. By the end of the third (and last) lap the lead had changed yet again with Barney in front of Veronica and then Nigel.D. Bill.S had lost out one place and Alan.S had pulled up another to fifth. Even at the back it was all change with David.N going from 5^th to 7^th then back to 6^th however Peter.B stayed firmly in last spot at the end of each lap.

After Lunch, with a similar course and just a tiny bit more breeze, the Streakers set off again. It was Barney who once again took the lead (and managed to hold it to the finish), whilst Ian.P was close behind him, then Veronica and Nigel in fourth. Alan.S who had yet to get a reasonable start had pulled through to 5^th by the end of the first lap with Peter .B just behind him. By the end of the second lap Veronica had passed Ian and Alan was ahead of Nigel. By the beginning of the third and last running leg Alan got into 3^rd spot only to lose out to Ian again by the end of the leg. So the finish order was Barney.P 1^st , Veronica.F 2^nd, Ian.P 3^rd and Alan.S 4^th.

Just prior to the final race the wind died almost completely but the RO persisted with a change of course – a little longer than before – and obligingly the wind began to fill in. Alan still failed to get a good start but Barney, Bill  and Veronica did and that was the order for those three with Alan second to last in 6^th. In lap 2 Veronica got in front of Barney and Alan had sneaked through to be in 3^rd place. In the final lap Veronica still held off Barney’s challenge and Alan could catch neither but held on in third. Peter.B had not sailed the last race but there was still a tussle between Bill, Ian, Nigel and David which was resolved in that order.

So three races planned and in spite of the lack of breeze three races completed. The low strength and shifts made for difficult sailing necessitating constant concentration with a good deal of luck to be in the right spot at the right time thrown in. Alan was delighted to find himself in 3^rd spot overall having had a 5^th, a 4^th and then finally a 3^rd place in the racing. A good day’s sport with very tricky conditions facing the RO with which he coped admirably.

Results :-

1^st Barney Proud, 2^nd Veronica Falat, 3^rd Alan Simmons, 4^th Ian Parish, 5^th Nigel Denchfield, 6^th  Bill Strange, 7^th David New, 8^th Peter Billington - fourth ,fifth and sixth positions were all on equal points with identical discards and required intricate settlement on count back.

Alan.S 1700
PS. For the official (SCOA) race report follow the link http://www.streaker-class.org.uk