Elford Numbum Races 11 & 12 - 12/02/2023

 Elford Numbum Races 11 & 12 - 12/02/2023

Overcast, grey from horizon to horizon and flat calm as we left for Piddinghoe. As we arrived it was little better with flat calm water apart from a ruffled strip on the far, east side, of the Pond. Just prior to the race a very light breeze filled in from the south east enabling Laurence Venus, RO - assisted by Michael Veale with Terry jones and Mike Rosier in the safety boat - to set a course, as below, with a start line from the small jetty to a mark east of the clubhouse. 

There followed a short windward leg to a mark in the south west of the clubhouse and then a beat down the south shore to a mark south of the Island. There was then an offwind leg to a mark midway along the east bank with a gybe to the mark off the Fisherman’s Bay. The next leg was another beat back to a mark, well out, a short offwind leg back to the start mark and a final beat to the finish mark off the clubhouse.

                                Photographs by Bett Simmons

Twelve boats went afloat and at the gun it was Bill Wates (Laser Radial) starting at the pin end of the line who was first away. Ed Thorburn (Finn) was next to go, a little downwind with Dave Murley (Laser Radial) third off the line and Thomas Beck (Laser Radial) fourth away.

By the end of that first windward leg it was Bill who rounded the mark in the corner in first place with Ed astern, Thomas next and Alan Simmons (Streaker) fourth with Todd Grady-Gales behind him.

It was a tight beat down the South shore, no boats making it on a single tack but heading for the south end of the Island, and then needing a short tack to round the nearby mark in the south east corner.

Along the leg behind the Island Ed pulled into the lead and Todd passed Alan to lie second. By the end of the lap the order was Ed first, Todd second, Alan third, Bill fourth, Geoff Sheridan (Byte CII) fifth, Zoe McCain sixth, Julian Dobson (Laser full rig) seventh, Thomas eighth, Darrell Topp (Laser full rig) ninth, Andy Beck (Moth- non foiling)  tenth, Jo Bruggenwirth (Laser Radial) eleventh and Dave  twelfth 

 

Lap 2 saw the front four boat positions unchanged as Julian went up to fifth place ahead of Geoff and Zoe. Behind them Thomas remained in eigth with Andy pulling up to lie ninth and Dave slotting in astern of him. Darrell dropped back to lie eleventh ahead of Jo.

 

Lap 3 was led by Ed but now just 20 seconds ahead of Todd with Alan a minute 22 seconds further back. Julian pulled ahead of fifth placed Bill but with no changes in the rest of the fleet.

 

Lap 4 had Ed pull away from Todd and both from Alan. Geoff went ahead of Julian and Zoe overtook Bill with no further place changes astern. Apart from Ed and Todd all the rest of the fleet were then finished.

 

Lap 5 saw Ed cross the line a minute and 49 seconds in front of Todd.

With the necessary calculations made Todd was declared the winner with Ed second, Alan third, Geoff fourth and Zoe fifth.

Rersults:-

Race 11 - 12/02/2023

 

Rank	Fleet	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Finish	Elapsed	Laps	Corrected	BCE	Points
1	Laser Hull	LASER	209998	Lancing	Todd Grady-Gales		1100		39.52	5	0.36.15	0.00.00	1.0
2	Menagerie	FINN	595	NSSC	Ed Thorburn		1049		38.08	5	0.36.21	0.00.07	2.0
3	Menagerie	STREAKER	1832	Lancing	Alan Simmons		1128		35.01	4	0.38.48	0.02.19	3.0
4	Menagerie	BYTE CII	2623	NSSC	Geoff Sheridan		1144		36.05	4	0.39.26	0.02.55	4.0
5	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	146162	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		1147		36.45	4	0.40.03	0.03.30	5.0
6	Menagerie	RS 200	582	NSSC	Michael Veale	Mike Rosier	1046		OOD				5.6
7	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	26	NSSC	Bill Wates		1147		37.18	4	0.40.39	0.04.03	6.0
8	Laser Hull	LASER	7	NSSC	Julian Dobson		1100		36.29	4	0.41.28	0.04.35	7.0
9	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	176742	NSSC	Thomas Beck		1147		40.10	4	0.43.46	0.06.55	8.0
10	Menagerie	Motyh non Foiling		NSSC	Andy Beck		1145		40.24	4	0.44.06	0.07.12	9.0
11	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	142208	NSSC	David Murley		1147		40.35	4	0.44.14	0.07.20	10.0
12	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	164421	NSSC	Jo Brugenworth		1147		43.05	4	0.46.57	0.09.50	11.0
13	Laser Hull	LASER	217834	NSSC	Darrell Topp		1100		41.50	4	0.47.32	0.09.56	12.0
14	Laser Hull	LASER	48154	NSSC	Terry Jones		1100		OOD				20.0

 

Race twelve was held over the same basic course but the start line was adjusted, due to a small wind shift, to be from the clubhouse to the unmoved ODM.

Again twelve boats went on the water and at the gun it was Ed in his Finn who was first away near the pin end of the line, with Julian next but well down the line and then Geoff with Todd just to windward. Todd and Alan had been too early, both had to tack back to the correct  side of the start, some four or so lengths behind Ed.

Ed was first to round the mark in the south west corner of the pond and set off on the beat down the south shore. With the wind shift, most  but not all, boats were able to lay the mark to the south of the Island in a single tack.

By the end of the leg, at that south east mark, Ed was in the lead followed by Todd and with Alan third in line having pulled ahead of at least three boats. Alan was to hold third throughout the race. At the end of the leg from the mark off the Fisherman’s Bay, Julian had pulled ahead of Geoff and was in fourth place. At the line the order was Ed 1^st, Todd 2^nd, Alan 3^rd, Julian 4^th, Geoff  5^th, Thomas 6^th, Zoe 7^th, Bill 8^th, Dave 9^th, Darrell 10^th, Jo 11^th and Andy 12^th.

Lap 2 and the top four places were unchanged with Todd 18 seconds behind Ed and Alan a further 46 seconds astern. Bill was up to 5th with Zoe 6^th, both having passed Geoff and.Thomas dropped back even further  to lie 9^th.Jo went up to 10^th ahead of Darrell both still ahead of last placed Andy.

Lap 3 Todd although still second was closing in on Ed, now just 18 seconds behind With Alan another minute and 14 seconds adrift. Zoe went back ahead of Bill, by 5 seconds, who retained 5^th place and Julian dropped back to 6^th a further 5 seconds back,  as Dave also went ahead of Geoff. The  next four positions remained as in lap 2.

Lap 4 Ed still led the race but unable to get away from Todd who stayed 18 seconds behind and Alan now a minute and 11 seconds down the order but still well ahead of Julian who had repassed Zoe. Geoff also went ahead of Dave to lie 6^th as Bill fell back behind him to lie 7^th, Dave also dropped a place but there were no further changes. Andy was seen to have had a capsize, trying to roll-tack in his Moth he said and was finished at the end of this lap.

Lap 5 Ed started to pull away from Todd, crossing the line a minute and 10 seconds ahead as Alan gained 3 seconds behind Todd and Julian edged a trifle closer to Alan. Thomas pulled back two places to lie 7th ahead of Dave who had gone ahead of Bill. Behind them Jo Darrell and Andy remained in their previous lap positions. Apart for the leading four boats all others were finished at the end of this lap.

Lap 6 saw Ed cross the finish line a minute and 12 seconds ahead of Todd who was a minute and 20 seconds in front of Alan and Julian a minute 27 seconds later.

With the calcs done the winner of the race was declared as Todd with Alan second, Ed third, Julian fourth and Zoe fifth.

Results:-

Race 12 - 12/02/2023

 

Rank	Fleet	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	CrewName	PY	Finish	Elapsed	Laps	Corrected	BCE	Points
1	Laser Hull	LASER	209998	Lancing	Todd Grady-Gales		1100		40.58	6	0.37.15	0.00.00	1.0
2	Menagerie	STREAKER	1832	Lancing	Alan Simmons		1128		42.18	6	0.37.30	0.00.17	2.0
3	Menagerie	FINN	595	NSSC	Ed Thorburn		1049		39.46	6	0.37.55	0.00.42	3.0
4	Laser Hull	LASER	7	NSSC	Julian Dobson		1100		43.45	6	0.39.46	0.02.47	4.0
5	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	146162	NSSC	Zoe McCaig		1147		38.20	5	0.40.06	0.02.44	5.0
6	Menagerie	RS 200	582	NSSC	Michael Veale	Mike Rosier	1046		OOD				5.6
7	Menagerie	BYTE CII	2623	NSSC	Geoff Sheridan		1144		38.38	5	0.40.31	0.03.08	6.0
8	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	176742	NSSC	Thomas Beck		1147		38.56	5	0.40.44	0.03.20	7.0
9	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	142208	NSSC	David Murley		1147		39.05	5	0.40.53	0.03.29	8.0
10	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	26	NSSC	Bill Wates		1147		39.06	5	0.40.54	0.03.30	9.0
11	Laser Hull	LASER RADIAL	164421	NSSC	Jo Brugenworth		1147		41.27	5	0.43.22	0.05.51	10.0
12	Laser Hull	LASER	217834	NSSC	Darrell Topp		1100		43.09	5	0.47.04	0.09.01	11.0
13	Menagerie	Motyh non Foiling		NSSC	Andy Beck		1145		38.50	4	0.50.52	0.10.24	12.0
14	Laser Hull	LASER	48154	NSSC	Terry Jones		1100		OOD				20.0

 

For race 11 the breeze was very light needing full concentration to make any headway. For race 12 the slight shift of angle was a help as was the slight increase in strength.

I would draw your attention to the Corrected and BCE column in the results tables which show how close the results between the top three boats, in both races, were. A single extra (or less) tack could have seen a different outcome. The outlook, wind-wise, for next Sunday 19^th Feb , is currently showing a bit more breeze at 11 to 14 knots.

Alan.S 1832

PS. Has anyone ever seen any Newts (Salamanders) in the Pond – I don’t mean upside down Sailors?