Freeman Iceberg - Race 8 Boxing Day 2010

Lovely, Bright, Sunny, Cool (only a light frost) and barely a whisper of Breeze. That was when we got up however on arrival at Piddinghoe the apparent Ice cover made it obvious that this the last race of the series was not to be. The coverage was at least 3/4" thick and the safety boat was frozen in good and solid.

By normal start time there were eight or ten sailors and Kay (the series race officer) present in the gradually warming hut - the heaters were on. Coffee was not immediately possible - the taps were frozen up in the kitchen area. A hasty check found running water in the gents changing room and the oven hob was working so the mulled wine was soon warming up. The mince pies were another matter as no one present could navigate through the menu system to turn the oven on. Rescue came via the Microwave and so all were soon provided with the 'true' spirit of Xmas.

The only item on the agenda therefore was the prizegiving which then took place.

In third place in his full rig Laser was Paul Ryan sailing this year again after a two year break.

In second place was Laurence Venus in his Streaker, in only his second series on the pond.

Top spot went to Alan Simmons also in a Streaker, a long term winter visitor to Piddinghoe, who took home the Freeman Iceberg Trophy presented to him by John Freeman - the co designer/builder of the trophy. John gave all present ashort history of the Iceberg's origins back in 1973.

Kay was roundly thanked for her continual efforts in running the series, no matter what the weather - iced up pond execepted - and presented with a small gift on behalf of those who took part in the series.


The proceeding concluded with notification of the next race at Pidinghoe, due at 2.00pm on New Years Day and with the start of the first Numbum race the following day at 11.00am. Both of these events subject, of course, to a thaw of the pond's ice.

Freeman Iceberg Race 7 - 19/12/2010

Alan awoke to a grim scene, dark grey skies, a flurry or two of snow and a complete lack of traffic on the road outside - no busses, no cars and not many pedestrians. It did not help that he was still suffering from a heavy head cold and thus not feeling the best, none the less something had to be done. The night before Alan had intended to phone Kay, the Race Officer and organiser of the series, before leaving to have a pond inspection. Once he saw the state of play he would phone her again to let her know whether to come along - she lives a lot closer than Alan.
As it happens she, Kay, forestalled him with a call at about 8.30am saying that she did not think it worthwhile as she expected the pond to be fully frozen over.  Alan had to concur with that presumption as the temperature had barely been above freezing all the preceeding week. He called round a few of the possible racers and Rupert Smith said that he would be going down to have a look and would phone him back. The outcome was that Rupert confirmed at least an inch (25mm) of ice covering the whole pond. The previous week's ice breaking would not have been sucessfull a second time.

Although these pictures - courtesy of Julian Dobson - show the situation at 10.00am they do not quite create the desolate scenes at Piddinghoe that morning. By the looks of it even the fisherman did not go along!
That leaves the Boxing day race, the final of the series and with the current weather conditions, on a knife edge in more than one way. Will it happen, and can it,  if it does will Laurence Venus snatch overall victory from Alan - they are but 0.3 points apart in the league table? It would be a pity not to be able to race but the Series prizgiving will take place (at Piddinghoe) provided every one can still access the pond.
The next scheduled race is due on New Year's Day - 2.00pm - with the Elford Numbum series starting the day after - 2nd January 2011 at 11.00am.
Freeman Iceberg Series Results Standing to date :-
1st. Alan Simmons - 4.7 pts, 2nd Laurence Venus -5.0 pts, 3rd. Paul Ryan - 12 pts, 4th. Rupert Smith - 20 pts, 5th. Steve Duncan - 20 pts, 6th. Julian Dobson - 24 pts, 7th. Michael Veale - 25 pts, 8th. Chas Humphries - 28 pts, 9th. Jonty Freeman - 28.5 pts, 10th. Davis Hitchens - 48 pts.

Alan.S 1700

Freeman Iceberg Race 6 - 12/12/2010

Sunshine, Blue sky and just a hint of a North Easterly breeze but fairly cool greeted our arrival at Piddinghoe this morning at 9.30am. What none of us were prepared for was that the pond was frozen over its entire surface – subsequently a small patch of open water was observed way over near the east bank but that was only visible from afloat.

Alan Simmons (Lancing) was on duty as rescue boat helm but ended up as Icebreaker Extrordinaire as he attempted to clear a passage around an estimated course. At first glance it appeared that there was only a light coating of ice – about 1/8” thick near the clubhouse – but further out and to the south east it was found to be nearer 1/2”thick and as the race – yes one was started – progressed it was re-freezing as soon as broken up.
By the time the competitors had made up their minds to attempt to sail a light force 2 breeze had filled in from the northeast and some 8 craft made it onto the water among them Callum Johnson (NSSC) sailing, for the first time, in a Laser Radial with a sail borrowed from Rupert Smith (Laser Radial - NSSC) who found yet another sail to use. Michael Veale (RS 200 – NSSC) could find no crew so opted to sail single handed and Mike Rosier (having crewed Michael.V previously) did find a crew for his Topper Mango.
The course, once Alan.S had cleared enough water, was the same as last week – up to the Northeast corner then around the Island, followed by a beat to the middle of the pond. From there it was a fetch to the south side and then north turn back to the start/finish mark just off the clubhouse.
First off the line was Michael.V followed by Laurence Venus (Steaker – NSSC) himself hot pursued by Rupert.S.
By the end of the first lap Laurence.V was nearly a minute ahead and each lap pulled up even further and was never challenged. Similarly Michael.V slotted into second place and stayed there. Rupert. S, heavy enough to break his way through the ice was however a wee bit too heavy for the gentle breeze and was soon overtaken by Darren Field (Laser Radial – NSSC).

After lap 1 Bill Wates (Laser Radial – NSSC) made a call ashore (for reasons unknown to the writer) and after re-starting was left in the tailender’s spot for the remainder of the race, having to follow Mike.R, in the Mango, around who himself was spotted jammed in the ice at one time.

Chas Humphries (Laser full rig) although 7th at the end of the first lap pulled up to 5th spot by the finish behind Rupert.S

The outright winner – using his original and not new sail - was Laurence.V, some four minutes ahead of the second boat of Michael.V and 6.1/2 minutes ahead of Darren.F.

Although there was little place changing during the race Callum.J must be congratulated on a brilliant performance and yes it is a little faster in a Laser but, in that breeze, not a lot. The rest of the fleet had to put up with some trying conditions too but hopefully the hot coffee afterwards helped. The R.O. sitting on her bench outside the club house, even if she was in the sun, deserves a medal – well done (as always but especially today) Kay!

After application of the handicaps the results were as follows (Unofficial, Provisional*) :-

1st. Laurence.V, 2nd. Darren.F, 3rd.Michael.V, 4th, Rupert.S, 5th. Chas.H, 6th. Callum.J,

7th. Mike.R, 8th. Bill.W.

Hopefully and in spite of the drop in temperature forcast it will be clear water and a trifle warmer next Sunday.

Alan.S 1700.

*For the official results see – http://nssc.org.uk/results/2010/freemanicberg2010.htm

Freeman Iceberg Race 5 - 5th December 2010

The external thermometer – in the car – was hovering between1 and 2 degrees C on the journey to Piddinghoe. The sky was grey and overcast with just a hint of the sun trying to break through. The pond was free of ice and a tiny breeze (4 to 5 knots) was blowing from the north eastern corner, along the top bank. By the end of the race and the packing up of the boats the sun did show itself briefly.

This has been the predominant wind direction for all the races to date so it was no surprise to have to sail a similar course. Leg one was a beat along the northern side to a bright (day-glow) pink mark. From thence it was a broad reach to a yellow mark northeast of the island and then a run to the other side of the island to a mark in the south east corner. After a short reach, to a mark north west of the island, it was a second beat to a turning mark near the middle of the pond, followed by a broad reach across to the southern side and finally a sharp north turn back to the start/finish line.

A little breeze had come up in time for the start – the low end of force 3 – and it was Laurence Venus (Steaker – NSSC), sporting his new P & B sail, who was first across the line at the start. Paul Ryan (Laser full rig – Hardway SC) was close behind Laurence and Steve Duncan (Laser full rig – NSSC) on their heels. Michael Veale (RS 200 – NSSC) was just to leeward of these three and Alan Simmons (Streaker – Lancing SC) found himself shoved even further down the line to avoid the leading bunch.

Paul.R and then Steve.D tacked off onto port to find the breeze in the middle of the pond whilst Laurence.V stayed near the north bank and by the time the windward mark was reached it was Paul.R a couple of boat lengths up on Steve.D with Laurence just behind him and Alan.S another length astern.
Tom Taylor (Megabyte – NSSC) sailing in his first race of this year’s Freeman Iceberg series had been a bit shy of the rest at the start but slowly but shurely began to pull up and was closing on Alan.S by the end of the lap. It was not however until the middle of lap 3 before he got ahead.

Paul.R held the lead throughout the race by an average of no more than 15 seconds during the first 5 laps and that only increased to 30 seconds in the next four – each lap lasting on average 7 minutes.
Laurence.V was in a continual struggle with Steve.D, passing him in lap 3, losing out in lap 4, getting ahead once more in lap 5 and then losing out yet again in lap6 whilst staying behind then to the finish at the end of lap 9.
Michael.V (crewed by Mike Rosier – NSSC) although using their asymmetric spinnaker were unable to hold off a challenge from David Hitchens (Laser full rig - NSSC) and David got through them in lap 5. At the finish the order was 1st. Paul.R, 2nd. Steve.D, 3rd.Laurence.V and 4th Tom.T. The light, but shifty, breeze – which faded a bit towards the end - gave little chance for the faster boats to sail to their handicaps whilst the two Streakers revelled in the conditions and took overall first and second places.
Frozen fingers and feet were the order of the day but a nice steaming hot cup of coffe helped a little.
Results (Unofficial-Provisional) :-
1st. Laurence.V, 2nd. Alan.S, 3rd .Paul.R, 4th. Steve.D, 5th. Tom.T, 6th. David.H. 7th. Michael.V
Alan.S still leads the series, just, but next week has a rescue boat duty (hope today’s little problems with the engine are a thing of the past) – Laurence.V has one too the following week so there is still a battle to be joined.
Alan.S 1700.

Freeman Iceberg - Race 4- 28/11/2010

With a forcast of 9 to 10 knots from the north east, Grey overcast skies with a few tiny patches of blue but with a heavy frost on the ground – and ice in the boats – just 8 competetors prepared to take to the water. The actual breeze was nearer 3 knots before the boats went afloat just after a brief flurry of snow.
The first leg of the course was a beat along the northern side of the pond to the mark in the north east corner followed by a gybe onto a run to the next mark south of the Island. This was followed by another beat northwards and then a reach to a mark north east of the Island followed by a run to the south east corner of the pond. The final leg, leaving two other marks to starboard, was a close reach up the southern side of the pond to the finish point where the course had started.
First off the line was Paul Ryan (Laser full rig) with Jonty Freeman (Radial) close behind and then Julian Dobson (Laser full rig) and Michael Veale (RS 200) crewed by Mike Rosier. Alan Simmons (Streaker) was well off the line having failed to catch the start sequence sound signals and crossed behind the RS 200 and the full rig laser of Steve Duncan.
At the end of the first run Paul.R who was leading took the mark on the wrong side and as a result had three or four places to regain when he had rounded correctly. By the end of the first lap he was back in second spot just 6 seconds behind Jonty.F, the new leader, with Alan.S just another 3 seconds behind.
After two laps Paul.R was in front again with Steve.D some 30 seconds behind and Julian.D lying third whilst Alan.S was lying fourth. Jonty.F was just 5 seconds behind Alan and these two (Alan and Jonty) continued to tussle for the rest of the race.
Michael.V in the RS 200 could not make the boat go in the light breezes, which did build a little during the race, and he dropped back from an intial 5th place to 7th by the finish. The light stuff did not suit Callum Johnson (Pico) either and he was recorded in last place for each of the three laps he managed to complete, he is trying to convince his dad to get him a faster boat.
David Hitchens (Laser full rig) retired before completing three laps, almost certainly due to the freezing cold conditions, which left unprotected fingers extremely vulnerable. Chas Humphries (Laser full rig) soldiered on pulling up f4om 8th in lap one to 6th at the finish. One Laser, it is not clear which, did manage to lassoe the mark to the south east of the Island with his mainsheet – the mark held postion!

The main ‘excitement’ came in the last two laps when the battle between Alan.S and Jonty.F was joined once more. It was on the long close reach, in lap, 4 that Alan gained an inside overlap just before the final mark. It did not last long as Jonty found the breeze first but the same happened in the last lap at exactly the same point and Alan just pipped Jonty across the line. As an added bonus to this pair, Steve.D who had been lying in second place decided to head for the wrong mark mid lap and as a result of sailing a somewhat longer course ended up behind them in fourth spot.
Once the handicaps had been computed it was Alan.S who was declared the winner with Paul.R in second place and Jonty.F just adrift in third spot. Alan.S now heads the leader board for the series with Laurence Venus (Streaker) – who did not sail today in second position and Jonty.F in third.

Results (unofficial-provisional) :-
1st. Alan.S, 2nd. Paul.R, 3rd. Jonty.F, 4th. Steve.D, 5th. Julian.D, 6th. Chas.H, 7th. Michael.V, 8th. Callum.J, David.H - Retired.

Freeman Iceberg Race 3 - 21st November 2010

Dark Grey and totally overcast with but the slightest hint of an easterly (once again) breeze were the conditions that greeted us on arrival at Piddinghoe for Race three of this year’s Freeman Iceberg Series. It was none to warm either, about 8 degrees C, requiring the extra layer or two to be worn.
The course was similar to last week’s, starting with a beat across the north side of the pond. It was then a gybe and run to a mark on the western side, close to the flag pole area, then another gybe off to a mark just north of the Island. The following leg was to be a broad reach to a mark south of the Island concluding with a close reach up the western side of the pond to the top, starting mark. This leg effectively meant boats passing the same mark but in different directions which was to lead to problems during the later stages of the race.

16 boats came to the line for the start, including a number of new entrants including two Toppers by which time the breeze had picked up to a good force 3. At the gun it was Jonty Freeman (Radial –NSSC) first away with Steve Duncan (Laser full rig - NSSC) just a tad behind but to windward, followed by Rupert Smith (Radial – NSSC) and then Julian Dobson (Laser full rig – NSSC).

These four soon tacked off onto port tack towards the middle of the pond whilst the Streakers of Laurence Venus (NSSC) and Alan Simmons (Lancing SC) , a bit to leeward headed for the northern bank along with the following pack. Once Laurence and Alan tacked they had to cross the followers and whilst Laaurence made it Alan was bulked by the RS 200 of Michael Veale crewed by Mike Rossier (NSSC) and had to duck his stern.
Paul Ryan (Laser full rig) had not had a glorious start but by the end of the first lap had pulled up to second place on the water just 9 seconds behind Jonty.F with Steve.D just behind these two. Behind these three it was Laurence.V just 7 second ahead of Rupert.S and then Michael.V. Alan.S was languishing in 7th place some 17 seconds behind.
By the end of lap 2 Paul.R was just ahead (4 seconds) of Jonty.F, Steve.D still held 3rd spot and Laurence.V still held fourth only 3 seconds ahead of Rupert.S and Michael.V. –thse two on exactly the same time.
The next changes , in lap 3 were when Steve.D managed to overtake Jonty.F, albeit briefly and Alan.S finally managed to get past Michael.V into 6th spot.
Jonty re-passed Steve in lap 4 and Julian.D pulled through to 8th position ahead of Michael.V , whilst Alice Smith (Topper – NSSC) climbed up to 11th place from 13th and Bill Waites (Radial - NSSC) managed to sail the wrong course and got himself disqualified.
In lap 5, there were no more changes but in an incident in lap 6 when there was a coming together of three boats, Steve.D, Bill Giles (Solo – NSSC) and David Hutchin (Laser full rig-NSSC) at the mark near the flag pole.
Steve.D was on the reaching leg whilst the other pair were gybing around that mark – about half a lap behind. There was a bit of vocalisation but all three boats suffered some delay and lost places, Steve.D dropping from 3rd to 6th, Bill.G from 10th to 13th whilst David.H gained a place by the end of the lap. Alan.S also gained a place to 5th from Steve’s loss. Also in lap 6 Tim Cox (Laser full rig- NSSC) retired although whether he was also involved in this or another incident is unknown to the writer.
In laps 7, 8 and 9 there were no more place changes although with an increase in the wind strength (to a good middle force 4) there was a bit of closing up with Alan.S especially making some ground on Laurence.V although insufficient to make a real challenge. At the finish gun the order was Paul.R, Jonty.F, Rupert.S, Laurence.V, Alan.S and then Steve.D.
Callum Johson (Pico – NSSC) sailed a steady if slow race and in lap 6 managed to get ahead of Sasha Stonard (Topper – NSSC) – in his first race of the series. Callum was afterwards heard to say he wished he could go a bit faster – and be ahead of both of the Toppers at least.
In the middle of the fleet Chas Humphries (Laser full rig – NSSC) had a mixed race but slowly pulled up from 12th in lap 1 to 9th by the time he finished his 8th lap. There were several capsizes for the less experienced helms but a spectacular show was put on by Michael.V and Mike.R when they laid their RS 200 flat with spinnaker up on the first running leg in the second or third lap. They did not both fall out and soon recovered but it was a sight to see. Through out the fleet there were mini battles taking place during the race, many very close encounters and a few loud words, some a bit excessive!
Results (Unofficial- provisional):-
1st. Laurence.V, 2nd. Alan.S, 3rd. Jonty.F, 4th.Paul.R, 5th. Rupert.S, 6th.Steve.D, 7th. Alice.S, 8th. Michael.V, 9th. Julian.D, 10th.Chas.H, 11th. Bill.G, 12th. Sasha.S, 13th. David.H, 14th. Callum.J. Tim.C – retired and Bill.W – disq -sailed wrong course.
Alan.S 1700.
PS. If I get it wrong, fail to mention your name or miss out any spicy or exciting bits please comment on the blogsite or better still tell me on the day. I have to work with what I see on the water (not easy to recall it all later) and then from positions gleaned from the lap charts.

Freeman Iceberg Race 2 - 14th November 2010

A rather grey sky, cool and no wind was the situation on arrival at Piddinghoe for the second of the Freeman Iceberg Races. Half of the pond surface (the northern half) was mill pond flat whilst the was the lightest of ruffles on the other half. This being Remembrance Sunday boats were rigged but largely left ashore until the two minutes silence was observed – in pouring rain - close to the club flag pole.
A course was set, once a tickle of easterly breeze arrived, with an initial beat along the north side, turning south on an offwind leg to the Island area. The next leg was a beat close by the Island shore to a turning mark in the pond centre. Once round this it was back towards the island before finally turning north towards the start line off the clubhouse.

At the starting gun most of the pack was heading towards the shore end of the line but Alan Simmons (Streaker) spotted that there was going to be a bit of a melee and held back at the tail end tacking off immediately at the pin end as the gun went. Second up was Paul Ryan (Laser full rig) and then Steve Duncan (Laser full rig). Julian Dobson(Laser full rig) was next but a little low down whilst Rupert Smith(Radial) had extricated himself at the head of the shore end group.
By the time the first boat arrived at the windward mark the wind was about force two. This suited Alan and his initial decision had proved right as he rounded in the lead and which he maintained –just – throughout the race.
Laurence Venus (Streaker) made a disasterous start close under the bank where he lost all of what little breeze there was but he began to pull (Streaking) through the leading boats and by the end of lap 1 he was in third spot on the water. Alan.S meanwhile, having fended off an inside water call from Paul.R – inside the two lengths limit – remained ahead leaving Paul and Laurence to contend second place on the water. With the variable wind strength Alan’s lead over the second boat varied between about 12 seconds to 30 seconds during the race.
By the end of lap 4 Laurence.V had managed to get ahead of Paul.R by about half a minute however it was not to last and Paul regained second spot in the following lap and stayed ahead to the finish after eight laps.
Julian.D maintained his fourth position whilst Darren Field (Radial), in his first race of the series, slipped ahead of Steve.D ( in lap 3)who was wanting of ‘more breeze’ - as did Rupert.S struggling to maintain any boat speed in the ‘light stuff’. The forcast had been for the breeze to up to a force 4 or so before midday but that never materialised although there was a marginal increase in the later laps.
Chas Humphries (Laser full rig) was also struggling for want of breeze and was stuck in 8th place throughout the race.
Mike Rosier (Mango) had been up with the leading group at the start but even using the jib this time he continued to lose ground – boat weight being the suspect in this case.
There was another ‘new kid’ on the block – Callum Johnson - sailing an un-numbered Pico. He did not have a brilliant start being way off the line at the gun but using both sails kept him quite occupied during the race given the ideal wind strength for a novice.
At the finish it was Alan.S first over the line, followed by Paul.R , then Laurence.V and about a minute later Julian.D.
Results (provisional):-
1st.Alan.S, 2nd. Laurence.V, 3rd. Paul.R, 4th. Julian.D, 5th. Darren.F, 6th. Steve.D, 7th. Rupert.S, 8th.Chas.H, 9th. Mike.R, 10th. Callum.J

Freeman Iceberg Winter Series - Race 1 - 7th Nov 2010

These ramblings are an unofficial blog/report and are  strongly personal and biased as a Streaker
owner/racer in a mixed handicap fleet and I make no appologies for that fact. I do hope that they will nonetheless be of interest to those participating and those reading out of sheer noseiness.

The new season of winter races at Piddinghoe (Inland water of Newhaven and Seaford SC) was held today – Sunday 7^th November.
This year, as in the past few years, it was a general handicap race, with an eleven boat fleet consisting predominantly of Full Rig Lasers, a couple of Radials, a couple of Streakers,  a Solo
and a Mango (sailed single handed with furled jib).

It was bright and sunny with a cool breeze of around the middleof force 4 from the eastern side of the pond. A course was set , starting off the club house with a beat along the north side, a broad reach to south of the Island, a slightly tighter but shorter one to the north and then another beat
to a mark in the middle of the water. Turning this there was a run to the west, a turn north once more to the top of the pond to then a final turn to starboard to begin the next lap.

Ten boats came to the line – the eleventh was a wee bit late and did not arrive until the leading boats were into their second lap – although there were only four boats near the line at the off.

First away was Jonty Freeman (Radial - NSSC) with Paul Ryan (Laser full rig – Hardway SC) close behind and then Alan Simmons (Streaker – Lancing SC) and Rupert Smith (Radial –NSSC) equally close behind him. The rest of the fleet were straggling some way behind.

By the end of the first lap (of the 11 laps the leading boats were to complete) the order was Jonty.F, Paul.R,  Rupert.S,  Alan.S and Lauernce Venus (Streaker) with just 23 seconds separating the first three and just 2 seconds between the Streakers.
Both of these situations were to stay much the same throughout the entire race with the leading Laser and Radials and the two streakers nip and tuck all the way. The leader of each of these two groups pulling out a few yards only to have his chaser catch right up on the subsequent lap.

Further back in the fleet the order in that first lap was Juilan Dobson (Laser full rig - NSSC) – 6^th place – then Bill Giles (Solo - NSSC), Chas Humphries (Laser full rig – NSSC) followed by David Hitchens  (Laser full Rig – NSSC)with Mike Rosier (Mango – NSSC) bringing up the rear – Steve Duncan (Laser full rig – NSSC) was still ashore after a late arrival and launching problems.

The only changes in lap 2 were when Mike.R briefly got ahead of David.H however the gusty breeze soon saw him take his first swim of therace and finally Steve.D took to the water. By the end of lap 4 Steve.D had also gained a place ahead of Mike.R whilst the first five boat places remained
unchanged.

Halfway through lap 7 Laurence.V managed to catch a good gust on the second reaching leg, achieve an inside and then pull out a nice little advantage up the following beat sneaking into fourth place. This advantage he held until the beginning of the last lap – the 11^th. On the beat along the north side of the pond he tacked towards the shore to make the mark more easily but when tacking back got himself stuck in irons thus allowing Alan.S to get ahead again by sufficient margin to make it in front across the line.

In the leading group Paul.R  finanally got ahead of Jonty.F in the last lap but he too had a problem and ended up letting Jonty.F get back ahead  and letting Rupert.S through as well. The RO did not have her lap top with her so the results were only calculated later. It was a close run thing with Alan.S as joint winner along with Jonty.F and Laurence.V in third spot.

Results (Provisional):-
         1^st (joint) Jonty.F, 1^st(joint)  Alan.S, 3^rd.Laurence.V, 4^th Rupert.S, 5^th Paul.R,  6^th Julian.D,          7^th Bill.G, 8^th David.H, 9^th Chas.H,10^th Steve.D, 11^th Mike.R.

Alan.S 1700

Broxbourne SC Streaker Open - 12th September 2010

A cloudless blue sky and a light breeze were present for our 7.00am start on our trip to Broxbourne Sailing Club near Nazeing in the Lea Valley. Two hours later, including our usual comfort stop, we were among the first to arrive for the joint Laser and Streaker Open event.

The breeze had risen to a reasonable force 4 for the first race for the 15 Lasers and 11 Streakers. The course, with a shore start, had been set to include two beats, two runs and a reach. Hot off the line and into an almost unassailable lead was Frank Catt (Downs SC) with Steve Garrett (Bough Beech SC) in hot pursuit and John Wolsoncroft (Broxbourne) also having a cracking start. Alan Simmons (Lancing SC) had been tipped over the line early and had to restart in next but last place. By the end of lap one Alan had pulled through to 3rd place and was joining Steve G in battle whilst the pair were both making ground on Frank.C. By the end of the second lap Martin Wayland (Broxbourne) appeared from lower down the fleet (having, he said later, not had a good start) to close up on this pair. At the finish it was Frank, then Alan followed by Martin and Steve in fourth place. Bill Steven (Broxbourne ) thought the wind too much for his liking so stayed ashore for this race. The breeze throughout had been  variable in strength and direction under the large black clouds that began to appear. Under the clouds there were quite a few hefty gusts. It was a condition that was to last for the rest of the day frequently dropping away to a force 3.

Race two, after lunch, saw Frank.C first off the line once more with John.W having yet another good start. Alan.S had a better placing over the line and Steve.G was nowhere to be seen. It transpired that in hoisting his sail he had damaged the gooseneck fitting and had had to stay ashore to fix it for the final race. Taking his place it was Martin.W who got engaged with Alan and later on Frank and came home in third place again. At one point Alan caught and passed Frank only to lose out again on the next beat in the prevailing shifty conditions but these three had some very close competition. Not far behind these three Gary Hogan (Haversham SC) came home in fourth place. John.W capsized during this race and got his mast head stuck in the mud. The rescue boat had to help him recover so that was the end of his race. Bill.S ventured out in this race, after a somewhat shaky launching, but gave it best half way through. At the finish it was Frank.C in first position, Alan.S second, Martin.W third and Gary.H fourth.

After another short break race 3 started on a new (figure of eight) course and with a fleet reduced to nine boats. Yet again it was Frank.C who had the best and lead start, hotly pursued by Steve.G - now back on the water again. Alan.S was nearly there but a little further down the line, however he set off to catch the other two. With the new course came new pitfalls, a short reach at the northen end of the water was in the wind shadow caused by the ‘forest’ at that point and the leading group eventually got caught up by Geoff Town (Broxbourne SC) and Gary.H. By the final lap these two passed both Alan and Steve but Frank managed to escape the carnage. It was only on the penultimate leg that first Alan and then Steve managed to salvage an inside berth on the gaggle of boats (including the leading Laser) at the final turning mark. Alan just pulled out ahead on the last stretch to the line but suffered a heading gust whilst Steve had a freeing one and just pipped him over the line by a second. This meant that Frank.C fished first, Steve.G second and Alan.S third with Geoff.T in fourth.

Overall results:-

1st. Frank Catt, 2nd. Alan Simmons, 3rd. Steve Garrett, 4th.Martin Wayland, 5th.Geoff Town, 6th. Gary Hogan, 7th. Ian Nash (Broxbourne), 8th. Nick Hayes (Broxbourne) 9th. John Wolsoncroft, 10th. Reg Mulley (Broxbourne), 11th Bill Steven.

My most successful results (excluding Weston) this year and as an added bonus to the second place I also was awarded the Masters Trophy for the meeting plus two lovely bottles of wine. Congratulations are due to Frank Catt on a clean sweep with the unusailable three first places and to Steve Garrett for a fine recovery from his fittings problem. I will unfortunately miss the last Open of the season at Alton Water due to other engagements.

Our journey home was however a nightmare, having left Broxbourne at about 5.15pm, when we came back across the Thames at Dartford on the M25 and the turned off onto the M23. Apparently there had been a serious accident, at 4.00pm,  between junction 11 and Junction 9. The Motorway was closed and as we approached junction 11 we ran into the first of the major traffic jams the closure had ensured. We had little choice but to crawl along at never more than 8mph until finally all the traffic was diverted off at Crawley (junction 10). We got through the town OK but once back on the A23 out the town there was yet another hold up stretching all the way up the hill to Pease Pottage and that was moving at about 1mph! We finally got home at about 9.15pm.

Alan.S 1700

Deben YC - August 29th 2010

It was not a very 'august' start to the day, arrising at 5am for a 6am get away I checked with theDeben site to discover that the first race was not scheduled until 12.30pm. The site link to the weather Guru showed at least a middle force five was due by that start time and increasing later.
It was a bright enough day although heavy black clouds hovered overhead and we had a good swift journey up – just over three hours to Deben YC , just south of Woodbridge and north east of Ipswich, including a leisurely coffee break. We were first at the club, which was not yet open when we arrived.
One has to park some distance away from the club area then go across a manually controlled (Bett) railway level crossing before traversing a foot path to the rigging area adjacent to the club house. What we did not know was that the local council had introduced parking fees but we paid up in the end – hitherto parking had been free on Sundays so we were nearly caught out.
We rigged the boat in excessively boisterous conditions above the launching ramps and I was in two minds whether or not to bother to sail. In the end I decided to give it a go and come back from the sailing area, some half a mile from the club, if I was unhappy.

The meeting was held jointly with some Enterprises, eight of them and six Streakers. Once at the starting area things began to go wrong. I along with a couple of Ents got stuck in the riverside mud. Fortunately for me I was able to turn the boat and sail out of the pudding. The Ents were not so lucky with at least one breaking his rudder in the process. It was certainly windy with extremely vicious gusts seemingly from all directions.
Eventually race one got underway, heading back up river in the direction of the club, and whilst I was close to the line I was about fourth to the windward mark with one boat behind me and, so I subsequently discovered, at least two of the three behind me inverted. Mike Hanes (Deben) was first to round the mark followed by Pierre Naude (Deben) and David Shuster (Deben). Gary Hogan (Haversham) even passed me up that first leg and the lot stretched away on the reach across the river.
Near the far bank it was a case of either a gybe or up the cut to wear round onto the third leg which was almost a run, certainly it was tippy enough. I think it was down this leg that David S took his first (of many) dips. I made it in one piece and then had to fight up the next beat slowly closing in on Gary. H. Half way up the next running leg my boat came out from beneath me and came over the top of me as I tried to right it and I reluctantly called for the rescue boat to use my rigging to get it vertical again whilst scooping me up inside in the process. I then high tailed it back up the cut to the club having decided to call it a day. When I got back to the recovery ramp there were at least two Ents there already so I did not feel quite so bad about my decision to quit.
As a consequence of my retirement from the fray I have to rely on third person reports (none of which have surfaced so far) of the rest of the racing, all of which was curtailed in some way. I believe the second race lasted only one lap and the final race saw all but one competitor taking a dip in reported forty mph gusts. Even the committee boat had to leave station to assist the boat recovery. I believe it was about this time that Dave Shuster suffered a halyard breakage, one way or another he ended up being towed home to the club. As the fleet returned none were sure whether they had finished or not or if the last race had been abandoned – it had not.
A disappointingly small entry, probably due to the forecast but the conditions at Deben, over the past few years, have been generally blustery to say the least – not something that the club can do much about except perhaps to choose a different month for the meeting and then hope!

Results:-

1st Mike Hanes, 2 points. 2nd Pierre Naude, 4 points. 3rd Peter Cogill (Rotherham SC), 6 points. 4th David Shuster, 7 points. 5th Gary Hogan, 8 points. 6th Alan Simmons (Lancing SC), 14 points.



Alan.S 1700

PS. If I do get some more detail I will edit this blog later on.

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