Streaker Ramblings - Freeman Iceberg Races 3 & 4 - 8th Nov 2015

Remembrance Sunday dawned grey and overcast with a stiff breeze – top end force 3 to mid 4 - blowing from the South at Piddinghoe.  After the  traditional two minutes silence was observed with all competitors assembled by the main flagpole some 20 boats took to the water for the main races plus 5 Novices.

The RO for the day, James Clapham, set a course around the outside of the pond – as below – with a very short leg to the windward mark and then a reach down the south side.

At the Gun, of those inshore, first away was Laurence Venus (Streaker) just a foot or so above Alan Simmons (Streaker) with Edward Thorburn (Finn) just tacking on to starboard. Lower down the line Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial) crossed on port tack just ahead of Rupert Smith (Streaker) and then Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS 200). Having the extra speed Ed soon pulled away from Alan who in turn was inside Laurence. Alan led Laurence around behind the Island and up to the Fisherman’s Bay mark and stayed ahead back to the line and windward mark with Michael slipping between him and Laurence with Penelope Duncan in 5^th place at the end of the lap. John.N was lying 6^th as Simon Suter and Chris Turner (Wayfarer) crossed in 7^th ahead of Jonty with Louise Currell (Byte CII) 23 seconds behind. Behind her was Tim Cox (Laser Radial) in 10th, Dave Murley (Laser Radial)11^th, Graham Hardy (Laser Radial) 12th  and James Cuxson (Laser radial) in 12^th place. Lying 13^th at the end of the first lap was Richard Beal (Laser full rig) 14th, Rupert Smith (Streaker) 15th, Bill Wates (Laser full rig) 16^th and Carolyn Turner (Laser Radial) 17th with Terry Jones (Laser full rig) 18^th, Jamie smith (Laser 4.7) 19^th and Chas Humphries 20^th.

Lap 2 saw no changes at the front of the fleet with Ed ahead of Alan and Michael behind him but still in front of Laurence. John.N held 5^th place in front of Jonty both of who having passed Penelope and Simon. Tim was in 7^th place with Penelope astern. Terry was lying 10^th with Rupert 11^th and having pulled up 3 places. Louise dropped back to lie behind Rupert in 12^th but still ahead of Dave and James. Richard also lost ground to lie 16^th in front of Carolyn whilst Graham plummeted to 18^th and Chas pulled ahead of last placed Jamie.
Lap 3 and the front three paces remained unchanged with Ed leading Alan, Michael and Laurence. Jonty overtook John.N to lie 5^th and Rupert passed Penelope, Simon and Terry to lie 7^th. Tim Dropped right back to 19^th as Dave went ahead of Louise to lie 11^th. James gained a place to lie 13^th ahead of Bill.W as Carolyn went up 15^th with a climbing Chas behind her and Jamie came off the bottom to go 17^th as Richard dropped back as did Graham.

 

Lap 4 had Ed still in front of Alan but with Laurence back in front of Michael and with Rupert also passing him and both Jonty and John.N. Simon held 9^th place ahead of Dave as Penelope dropped back to 11^th.Bill.W pulled back to places to lie 14^th passing Louise and James on the way. Carolyn, as a result of a capsize behind the Island, also went back to 19^th as Chas, Jamie , Richard and Tim all went ahead of her leaving just Graham behind her.

Lap 5 saw a change of fortunes at the front as Alan got too close to the windward mark, catching its mooring rope with his daggerboard and pulling it onto the boat. Once recovered he then had a capsize on the running leg on the east side of the pond. As a result Laurence, Michael, Rupert, John.N and Simon passed him dropping him to 7^th. Behind him Dave went from 10^th to 8^th. Terry dropped back to 14^th and Louise gained several places to hold his former 9^th place having also passed Bill.W. .Jonty also suffered a fall from grace from 6^th to 13^th. Penelope dropped from 11^th to 17^th as Tim gained places 15^th. Richard gained one place to lie 16^th ahead of Penelope  whilst Jamie went down to 18^th place in front of Carolyn and Graham.
Lap 6 had Ed.T still in the lead from Laurence as John.N went ahead of Rupert and Michael.  Simon held 6^th place ahead of Alan with Louise now up to 8^th behind him having overtaken Dave. Penelope also passed Bill.W to lie 11thwith James.C behind her and Chas behind him at 13^th.Jonty  was now 14th with Tim astern of him then Richard, Terry and Graham - Jamie and Carolyn having been finished at the end of the previous lap.
Lap 7 saw Laurence who had been gaining on Ed finally pass him to cross the line 2 seconds ahead. Michael regained third place passing John and Rupert. Louise also had a spurt and overtook Simon and Alan to take 6^th place. Dave took 9^th and Penelope, once again drew ahead of Bill.W. James crossed the line in 12^th place followed by Chas, Jonty and Graham – Richard and Terry having finished at the end of lap 6.
Lap 8 was sailed by only Laurence and Ed with Laurence continuing to pull out ahead crossing the line 48 seconds ahead.
With the Handicaps applied Laurence was the winner with Rupert second, John third, Alan 4^th and Dave Murley 5^th.

R3

Start: Start 1, Finishes: Place

Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Finish	Elapsed	Laps	Corrected	BCE	Points
STREAKER	1706	NSSC	Laurence Venus		1138		36.07	8	0.31.44	0.00.00	1.0
STREAKER	1681	NSSC	Rupert Smith		1138		32.39	7	0.32.47	0.01.03	2.0
LASER	136424	NSSC	John Nash		1091		32.34	7	0.34.07	0.02.16	3.0
STREAKER	1700	Lancing SC	Alan Simmons		1138		34.35	7	0.34.44	0.02.59	4.0
LASER RADIAL	142208	NSSC	Dave Murley		1135		34.48	7	0.35.02	0.03.17	5.0
WAYFARER	11097	NSSC	Simon Suter	Chris Turner	1112		34.18	7	0.35.15	0.03.25	6.0
RS 200	582	NSSC	Michael Veale	Mike Rosier	1047		32.21	7	0.35.19	0.03.16	7.0
FINN	595	NSSC	Ed Thorburn		1042		36.55	8	0.35.26	0.03.51	8.0
TOPPER	15693	NSSC	Toby Wride (c)		1340		17.59	3	0.35.47	0.02.02	9.5
LASER RADIAL	81	NSSC	Penelope Duncan		1135		35.32	7	0.35.47	0.04.01	9.5
LASER RADIAL	163443	NSSC	Graham Hardy		1135		35.55	7	0.36.10	0.04.24	11.0
LASER RADIAL	174808	NSSC	James Cuxson (c)		1135		35.57	7	0.36.12	0.04.26	12.0
BYTE CII	2941	NSSC	Louise Currell		1150		36.55	7	0.36.41	0.04.59	13.0
LASER RADIAL	192842	NSSC	Jonty Freeman		1135		36.38	7	0.36.53	0.05.07	14.0
LASER	133416(26)	NSSC	Bill Wates		1091		35.39	7	0.37.21	0.05.21	15.0
LASER	138183	NSSC	Chas Humphries		1091		36.01	7	0.37.44	0.05.43	16.0
LASER RADIAL	158377	NSSC	Tim Cox		1135		32.49	6	0.38.33	0.05.48	17.0
TOPPER	No No	NSSC	Natasha Stonestreet (c)		1340		25.54	4	0.38.39	0.04.38	18.0
OPPIE	8	NSSC	Harvey Jenkins (c)		1665		25.07	3	0.40.14	0.05.18	19.0
TOPPER	3	NSSC	Will Street (c)		1340		21.30	3	0.42.47	0.05.33	20.0
LASER	43382	NSSC	Richard Beal		1091		35.01	6	0.42.48	0.09.03	21.0
LASER	30678	NSSC	Terry Jones		1091		35.18	6	0.43.08	0.09.20	22.0
LASER 4.7	2063	NSSC	Jamie Smith (c)		1195		33.15	5	0.44.31	0.09.33	23.0
OPPIE	(Gromit)	NSSC	Toby Holmes-Ling (c)		1665		19.15	2	0.46.15	0.06.02	24.0
LASER	158365/83663	NSSC	Carolyn Turner		1135		35.17	5	0.49.44	0.12.46	25.0

After a short break the 4^th race of the series started, over the same course with much the same strength of breeze (top end force 3 to Mid Force 4) but with a slightly more southerly inclination, making the leg from the Fisherman’s bay a bit more of a beat.

 

This time it paid to start nearer the middle of the line and Laurence was to windward of Alan who was similarly above Rupert and with Tim further down the line. All four crossed almost simultaneously however Tim was just a bit too eager and was over the line at the gun. His times were taken, for the second and subsequent laps, and after the race were adjusted backwards, his second lap counted as his first etc. With the extra speed of the Finn Ed was soon in front and off down the reach to the south east corner with Laurence not far behind and Rupert also up there. By the end of the lap John.N was fourth, Alan 5^th and Jonty 6^th. Dave drew 7^th, Carolyn 8^th, Bill.W 9^th and Simon 10^th. Michael, not having had the best of starts was 11^th, Louise 12^th, Richard 13^th and Terry 14^th. Graham headed the final group in 15^th with Jamie next, then Chas, Penelope, James  and because of his early start Tim in 20^th and last place.

Lap two and the leading pack was in the same order as they crossed the line. According to the lap sheets Jonty dropped from 6^th place to last – did he capsize or was the timing out. Looking at later laps suggests there is something odd..Bill.W was up to 6^th behind Alan with Simon behind him. .Jamie is shown as lying 8^th ahead of Dave and then Michael who had pulled up one place. Chas was 11^th and up from 17^th, then came Louise and Graham. Carolyn had dropped back from 8^th to 14^th as James pulled up from 19^th to lie 15^th. Terry at 16^th had lost two places and Penelope gained one to 17^th. Next came Richard also dropping down the fleet with Tim next and Jonty in last place.
Lap 3 and the front five places remained the same with Ed in front and Alan lying 5^th
ahead of Simon who passed Bill.W during the lap. Jamie suffered a great fall from grace, down from 8^th to last place, Chas took over his former slot with Dave holding 9^th place and Michael still 10^th. 11^th place went to Graham, up from 13^th but  passing Carolyn on the way. James maintained 15^th place as Penelope took Richards scalp to go 16^th. Tim was now 18^th and Jonty 19^th as Jamie fell from grace.
Lap 4 and a change at the front as Rupert briefly took over second place from Laurence. Ed was still in front and John.N 4^th in front of Alan. Simon passed Bill.W to go 6th as Chas climbed to 8^th ahead of Dave and Michael. Graham took 11^th ahead of Terry who in turn had passed James, Carolyn and Louise. Tim was now up  a place at 18th with Jonty behind  and Jamie still tail ender.

Lap 5 and Ed was still leading as Laurence clawed back second place from Rupert. Alan was unable to catch John.N who held onto 4^th place with Simon behind him. Chas however now  took 7^th place by passing Bill.W and Michael clawed back in front of Dave. Graham in turn passed Terry to lie 11^th. James remained at 13^th with Penelope behind and then Tim at 15^th. Jonty gained two places as Carolyn dropped two to lie 17^th. Louise also fell down the fleet to be in 18^th with Richard and Jamie astern.
Lap 6 and whilst Ed and Laurence still stayed 1^st and 2^nd it was John.N who passed Rupert to go 3^rd but with Alan and Simon still 5^th and 6^th. Bill.W was still battling with Chas and got past him to lie 7^th. Michael came next having found a way past Dave and Tim held 10^th (on paper).Terry gained 11^th place also overcoming Graham. Dave dropped back 3 places to lie 13^th with Penelope still holding 14^th as Jonty gained a place back to lie 15^th.James was next  followed by Louise then Richard, Carolyn and lastly Jamie.
Lap 7 commenced with the front five positions unaltered with Ed in the lead. Chas moved up from eigth to sixth passing Bill.W and Simon on the way. Michael and Mike in the RS 200 experienced difficulties with their Gennaker and unable to lower it had to fly it up the windward leg and in so doing dropped from 9^th place to 17^th.As they did so Graham went ahead of Terry to lie 9^th, Tim dropped back to 12^th and Jonty went forward to 11^th. Penelope also gained a place  passing Dave on the way with James and Louise benefiting from this melee. Richard brought up the rear in 18^th place, Carolyn and Jamie having finished.
Lap 8, the final lap, saw no further positional changes with Ed taking the gun ahead of Laurence who was followed by John.N, Rupert, Alan, Chas, Bill.W  and Simon.
After the handicaps had been applied Laurence was the winner with Ed taking second place and Rupert third. John Nash was fourth, Alan fifth and Simon sixth.
Alan.S 1700

 

PS. Once again I have not been able to report on the Novices Races but the results were the same in each race, 1^st Toby Wride (Topper), 2^nd James Cuxson (Laser Radila) and 3^rd Natasha Stonestreet (Topper). For full results and those of the Main fleet go to:- http://www.nssc.org.uk/cms/index.php/sailing/club-series-results

PPS. This report is well late due to my hospital visit last Friday and to difficulties with the mass of lap times in races 3 & 4 due to lots and lots of short laps. Future reports may have to be a bit shorter on detail with fewer individual place changes included. I hope to mention everyone participating at least once but the lead places will be covered as always.