Streaker Ramblings - Elford Numbum Races 13 & 14 - 19.02.2017

Bright but overcast, with just a whisper of breeze, as we set out for Piddinghoe on the Penultimate day of the Elford Numbum 2017 series. On arrival at the pond there was not a lot more wind in evidence but as race time approached it filled in a little from the south west (Car Park) direction at about force 2 and the sun came out!

Richard Beal, RO for the event set a course as below, with a windward start from close to the second slipway – down the south side of the pond from the entrance gates. Up to a mark in the south west corner, off the clubhouse. This was followed by a broad reach to a mark off the Fisherman’s Bay with a gybe onto a short run to a mark off the middle of the east bank. There followed a beat to a mark to the north of the island and then a short reach to the mark in the south east corner of the pond. The last leg was another beat, through the gate, up to the clubhouse mark. The breeze continued to build through the race up to a good top end force 3.

Nineteen boats took to the water, including the four Streakers and with Jazz sailing an RS Feva with Lucy McCaig as crew.

At the gun it was Chris and Charlie Foster (Laser II) first across the line with Roger McCall (Laser full rig) next, close to the pin end mark, with Laurence Venus (Streaker) down to leeward of him and Alan Simmons (Streaker) below Laurence. A little inshore Julian Dobson (Laser full rig) was moving well and held on to tack near the bank.

Although Chris and Roger got away well and were first to the clubhouse mark there was a bit of a mix for the rest of the fleet with several of the later starters pulling through. Rupert Smith (Streaker) was one and he turned the mark in third place with Alan close on his stern. Duncan McDonald (Streaker) was also a bit of a late starter but was soon up with Alan down the leg along the west bank and fast catching up with Rupert.

Laurence was eventually underway but had to give room to Julian at the mark off the east shore. Up the beat from the south east corner mark Duncan pulled ahead of Alan but missed the gate, rounding a nearby mark (not part of the course). This effectively meant he was a lap behind everyone from thereon. The order of finishing the first lap was as follows, Roger was in top spot with Chris second, Rupert third, Alan fourth, Laurence Fifth, Julian sixth. Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS200) were seventh across the line with Bill Wates (Laser full rig) eighth, Tom Taylor (Laser full rig) ninth, Zoe McCaig (Laser Radial) tenth, Dave Murley (Laser Radial) eleventh, Roan Briggs (Topper) twelfth, Jazz thirteenth, Charlie Rigg (Topper) fourteenth, James Cuxon (Topper) fifteenth, Geoff Sheridan (Byte original rig) sixteenth, Duncan 17^th. Penelope Duncan (Laser Radial) and Bill Giles (Solution) were both disqualified as they booth missed the gate on nearly every lap.

Lap 2 saw Roger still in front of the fleet but Rupert was closing in having overtaken Chris. Laurence had also closed in passing Alan to cross the line 7 seconds in front.

Behind this leading group there were no place changes above Dave, that is not to say that there was no close racing among them. Roan was passed by Jazz, Charlie and Geoff. James was also passed by Geoff and Duncan , now effectively on his second lap, gained nearly two minutes. No positions are allocated to Penelope and Bill.G.

Lap 3 Rupert overtook Roger to lead him across the line by five seconds. And Chris pulled back a bit on Laurence  with Alan also closing the gap. Again no further place changes among the following group ahead of Dave. Duncan gained more time, effectively now lying 12^th, behind Jazz. No changes either in the last four boats.

Lap 4. Roger pulled back ahead of Rupert to lead him across the line by 15 seconds and Laurence bested Chris to go 14 seconds in front with Alan also challenging and now just seven seconds astern. Julian was still behind Alan but Bill.W passed Michael to lie seventh. Tom remained ahead of Zoe and Dave with Duncan  by 30 seconds making no further place change at 12^th. Charlie went in front of Jazz with Geoff still holding off Roan and James.

Lap 5 Laurence finally got to the front of the fleet, his usual position, and Rupert went ahead of Roger once more. Alan overtook Chris to lie 20 seconds ahead. And Julian closed up to ten seconds behind. Bill.W and Michael remained in 7^th and 8^th position as Zoe caught and passed Tom who remained in front of Dave. Duncan remained in 12^th place but Jazz went back to 13^th as Charlie dropped back behind Geoff with Roan and James still 16^th and 17^th.

Lap 6. Laurence continued to extend his lead  now 49 seconds ahead of Roger who had caught and passed Rupert once more.  Alan crossed the line in 3^rd place having overtaken Rupert – 3 seconds ahead at the line. Whilst the order behind remained unchanged for the remainder of the fleet, Jazz, Geoff, Charlie, Roan and James having been finished at the end of the previous lap.

Lap 7 the final lap and Laurence pulled out an even more impressive lead to cross the line 38 seconds ahead of Roger with Rupert third across the line once more back ahead of fourth placed Alan.

With Handicaps applied the result was a Streaker benefit, Laurence first, Rupert second and Alan third, Roger fourth and Zoe fifth.

If Duncan had not missed the gate at the end of the first lap he would have swept the floor with the rest of the fleet, including the other Streakers who had had a really tight battle all round the course.

                                                                                   R13

Class	H Cap	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	Elapsed	BCE	Points
Streaker	1137	1706	NSSC	Laurence Venus		51.44	0.00.00	1.0
Streaker	1137	1681	NSSC	Rupert Smith		53.30	0.01.46	2.0
Streaker	1137	1700	Lancing S C	Alan Simmons		53.37	0.01.53	3.0
Laser Radial	1136	43382	NSSC	Richard Beal		OOD		3.0
Laser	1095	191067	Pevensey SC	Roger McCall		53.22	0.03.33	4.0
Laser Radial	1136	64200	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		47.40	0.03.22	5.0
Laser	1095	7/176670	NSSC	Julian Dobson		53.56	0.04.07	6.0
Laser	1095	26/133416	NSSC	Bill Wates		46.52	0.04.10	7.0
Laser II	1065	10594	Lancing S C	Chris Foster	Charlie Foster	53.57	0.05.30	8.0
Topper 'c'	1341	27531	NSSC	Charlie Rigg		49.02	0.05.27	9.0
Streaker	1137	1934	NSSC	Duncan McDonald		50.10	0.05.49	10.0
RS 200	1047	582	NSSC	Micheal Veale	Mike Rosier	47.20	0.06.30	11.0
Laser Radial	1136	142208	NSSC	David Murley		51.24	0.07.06	12.0
Topper 'c'	1341	58082	NSSC	Roan Briggs		51.23	0.07.48	13.0
Laser	1095	176813	Emsworth C A	Tom Taylor		50.55	0.08.13	14.0
Feva	1235		NSSC	Jazz Sayed	Lucy McCaig	48.04	0.07.56	15.0
Topper 'c'	1341	37585	NSSC	James Cuxson		53.18	0.09.43	16.0
Byte (origl)	1190	671	NSSC	Geoff Sheridan		48.57	0.10.17	17.0
Laser Radial	1136	81	NSSC	Penelope Duncan		DSQ		31.0
Solution	1090	398	NSSC	Bill Giles		DSQ		31.0

The second race of the day, sailed over the same course with a tiny bit less breeze had one less starter – Duncan had family commitments to attend to.

At the gun it was Chris first to cross the line with Laurence just below him and Roger next close to the shore. Alan having started closer to the pin end mark was able to tack at the bank and hold the windward side of the course up to the south west mark off the clubhouse.

Rupert had started at the pin end of the line and quickly tacked onto port. Having found more breeze further out from the shore he was able to tack back onto starboard and round the mark behind Chris in second place. Alan was next to round but with Laurence right on his shoulder. By the time the leaders reached the mark in the middle of the west side Laurence was lying second behind Chris and by the south east mark Rupert was ahead of Alan.
 

At the end of the lap the order was Chris 1st, Laurence 2^nd, Rupert 3^rd, Alan 4^th, Roger 5^th,Bill.W 6^th, Zoe 7^th, Julian 8^th, Michael 9^th, Penelope 10^th, Bill.G 11^th , Geoff 12^th, Tom 13^th, Jazz 14^th, Dave 15^th, Charlie 16^th, James 17^th and Roan 18^th.

Lap 2 Had Chris still leading but with Laurence reeling him in  - just 4 seconds astern at the line – and Rupert a further 20 seconds behind him. Alan was holding on to 4^th place with Roger close behind. Bill.W was close on Roger’s stern with Zoe a trifle behind. Michael and Penelope passed Julian and Tom went ahead of Geoff as Dave passed Jazz. In the toppers Charlie was leading with Roan now in front of James.

Lap 3.Chris still led having made a slight gain on Laurence with Rupert closing the gap to just 2 seconds and Alan also moving closer as he pulled away from Roger. Bill.W, Zoe and Michael stayed in the same relative order as Penelope dropped right back   (to 14^th from 9^th) Bill.G, Tom, Dave and Geoff all gained at her expense  and the last four places remained unchanged.

Lap 4 and Laurence finally went ahead of Chris to cross the line 11 seconds in front as Rupert dropped back and Alan closed in to cross just 2 seconds astern and a trifle further ahead of Roger. Bill.W remained in 6^th place with Zoe behind him but Michael retired - with a broken tiller – allowing the following fleet to each gain a place although remaining in the same order.

Lap 5 and  Laurence led as Chris managed to ‘capture’  the mark off the clubhouse and drag it towards the Fisherman’s Bay. Both Rupert and Alan then passed him. Roger benefitted from the several yards shorter course to close up on Alan and also pass Chris and Bill.W, Zoe and Julian also closed up on Chris.

With the handicaps applied Laurence was the winner with Rupert second, Alan third, Roger 4^th and Zoe fifth.

R14

Class	H Cap	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	Elapsed	BCE	Points
Streaker	1137	1706	NSSC	Laurence Venus		31.50	0.00.00	1.0
Streaker	1137	1681	NSSC	Rupert Smith		32.20	0.00.30	2.0
Streaker	1137	1700	Lancing S C	Alan Simmons		32.33	0.00.43	3.0
Laser Radial	1136	43382	NSSC	Richard Beal		OOD		3.0
Laser	1095	191067	Pevensey SC	Roger McCall		32.38	0.01.59	4.0
Laser Radial	1136	64200	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		34.13	0.02.25	5.0
Laser	1095	26/133416	NSSC	Bill Wates		33.16	0.02.37	6.0
Topper 'c'	1341	27531	NSSC	Charlie Rigg		33.17	0.03.15	7.0
Laser II	1065	10594	Lancing S C	Chris Foster	Charlie Foster	33.03	0.03.14	8.0
Topper 'c'	1341	58082	NSSC	Roan Briggs		33.50	0.03.48	9.0
Feva	1235		NSSC	Jazz Sayed	Lucy McCaig	31.35	0.03.55	10.0
Topper 'c'	1341	37585	NSSC	James Cuxson		34.25	0.04.23	11.0
Byte (origl)	1190	671	NSSC	Geoff Sheridan		31.01	0.04.22	12.0
Laser	1095	7/176670	NSSC	Julian Dobson		35.57	0.05.18	13.0
Laser Radial	1136	142208	NSSC	David Murley		30.38	0.05.11	14.0
Laser Radial	1136	81	NSSC	Penelope Duncan		31.14	0.05.47	15.0
Solution	1090	398	NSSC	Bill Giles		30.01	0.05.36	16.0
Laser	1095	176813	Emsworth C A	Tom Taylor		30.24	0.05.52	17.0
RS 200	1047	582	NSSC	Micheal Veale	Mike Rosier	DNF		19.0

Once again there was a very close tussle between the three Streakers but the light breeze did not suit Chris’s Laser II, in spite of his huge Spiinnaker!

 Several expression of it having been a lovely sail were heard once all were back ashore, even though the bright sunshine had by then disappeared. Next Sunday is the last race of the series, the overall result of which is already determined with an outright win for Laurence. Rupert is holding on to second place overall having overtaking yours truly. For the overall results, to date, view the page on the NSSC web site :-

http://www.nssc.org.uk/cms/images/nsscdocs/results/2017/elfnum14.htm

After that there is the Dinghy show at Alexandra Palace the following weekend. Then it will be work parties and at the end of march the Summer season on the sea begins. It also means the end of my weekly blogs which will then occur only if I attend any Streaker Open meetings but hopefully I can keep on sailing even if I don’t bore you with my biased (who else is going to blow my trumpet but me) reports!

 

Alan.S 1700