Streaker Ramblings - Newhaven & Seaford SC - 20/06/2015

Cloudy and with some drizzle in the air as I set off for NSSC from Hove – thankfully just over 25 minutes away. On arrival it turned out that apart from myself there was only one other visitior and with the one local boat the fleet was to be three strong (or weak in real terms). Luckily there were two other fleets, 10 Lasers and 9 Toppers in the joint event, otherwise it could have been a total non-event.

The Race Officer, Rupert Smith, had set a ‘P’ course, from a Committee boat anchored in Seaford Bay with the windward leg heading almost dead offshore (South West) fairly close inshore and well clear of the Cross Channel Ferries out of the harbour. The breeze was initially  light, force 2 to 3 and increased slightly over the day. 

Three races were planned, one before lunch and two back to back afterwards with the Streakers first away.

At the gun it was James Dawes (Redditch SC) who was first across the line with Laurence Veunus (Newhaven & Seaford SC) next and lastly Alan Simmons (Lancing SC) bringing up the rear by a couple of seconds. Up the first beat Laurence slipped into the lead and was first to round the windward mark and set off down the first reach. James was next to round closely followed by Alan but Laurence commenced to pull away from the trailing pair. James continued to lead Alan who stayed not far behind but unable to catch up and the order stayed the same for the rest of the race with Laurence taking the gun with a substantial lead.

After lunch Race2 got underway in a slightly stronger breeze, middle force 3, from the same direction but with a bit more chop on the sea. Once again it was James first off the blocks with Alan next and then Laurence. James was first to the windward mark and off along the reach with Alan in pursuit and Laurence just behind. Down the next reach all three boats were but a couple of lengths apart and on the following run Laurence squeezed past Alan.

 On the subsequent upwind leg Laurence was unable to pass James before going through the gate for the start of the second lap. Alan made a hash of his tack for the line and went into irons and by the time he got back in control had dropped well back. James continued to pull away ahead and Laurence was unable to catch him before the end of the fourth and final lap.

Race 3, back to back with race 2, saw Laurence away first just ahead of James with Alan still last man to go but all three boats in close company all round the first lap until James suffered a capsize on the run towards the shore letting Alan through to second place. Yet again Laurence began to establish a good lead which he held to the finish and James was unable to catch up with Alan.

 

At the prize giving it was Laurence who took first place with two wins under his belt, James was second and Alan brought up the rear.

Results (c/o NSSC):-

Streaker.Open 2015

Overall

Sailed: 3, Discards: 1, To count: 2, Entries: 3, Scoring system: Appendix A

Rank	Boat	Class	SailNo	Club	HelmName	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Total	Nett
						20.6.15	20.6.15	20.6.15
1st	Mistyblue	Streaker	1706	N S S C	Laurence Venus	1.0	(2.0)	1.0	4.0	2.0
2nd		Streaker	1892	Redditch S C	James Dawes	2.0	1.0	(3.0)	6.0	3.0
3rd	Last Bash	Streaker	1700	L S C	Alan Simmons	(3.0)	3.0	2.0	8.0	5.0

A good day’s sailing for all three competitors, shame that more visitors did not turn up, with ideal wind and sea conditions.

Alan.S 1700

Streaker Ramblings - Redoubt S C - 17th May 2015

We took the long route (shortest timewise) from Hove to Redoubt SC near Hythe in Kent. It was an easy and un-eventful trip with blue skies, the odd white cloud and a light breeze on the way. With just one comfort break on the M20 near Maidstone we arrived in plenty of time to rig the boat with plenty of space as we were the only visitors to the club.

The RO for the day, Jack Turnbull set a complex course, given the slightly north westerly light breeze (force 2) for the first race as shown below:-

 

Three club boats, two Miracles and a Laser radial, were due to have club racing so the RO combined their race with that of the seven Streakers with a simultaneous start. With the start line off mark 6 there was a windward leg towards Mark 1 and the first three boats off the line were Keith Macey (Redoubt), Hilary Pittock (Redoubt), Alan Simmons (Lancing) and Peter Brocker (Redoubt). After a short tack to the left hand side Alan tacked onto port and went into the lead.

Second to round the No 1 mark was Keith with Peter close behind and these two continued to battle it out for the next three laps as Alan pulled out ahead of them. At the end of the first lap Alan was in front with Peter next up and then Keith. Behind them Ian Hodge (Redoubt) held 4^th with John Bashford (Redoubt) 5^th, Mike Smales (Redoubt) 6^th and Hilary 7^th.

By the end of the second lap the order for the fleet was settled and apart from the contest between Keith and Peter which lasted until the end of the third lap. In the final lap, as the breeze began to pick up, Keith began to pull out ahead of Peter and to reel in Alan but remained three or four lengths behind at the gun.

 

 

Race 2, after lunch, was held over a revised course – the wind having increased to a mid force 4 and swung much further to the west (see course below which is my best memory of its arrangement – lots of gybes anyway) :-

 

The fleet now comprised just six boats with Tracy Amos (Redoubt) taking out

John Bashford’s Streaker and Neil Gibson sailing Mike Smales boat. Peter made the best start close under the committee boat south of mark 3 with Neil away next and then Tracy, with Alan the most inshore starter.

Rounding mark 1 Peter was in front of Neil with Tracy third and Alan fourth., who had made a late start, to bring up the rear. By the end of the ensuing reach Tracy was leading Peter.

Alan was next up but very wide of the mark having had his Kicker attachment on the boom pull a good six inches forward. This allowed Neil to gybe inside him and on the ensuing reach to mark 2 also pass Peter. After another gybe, on the way back to mark 5, Ian succumbed to a capsize and decided it was too breezy and retired ashore. On the long run back to mark 3 (from mark 9) Alan managed to pass Peter to get back into third place behind Ian and hang on until the final lap where Peter was able to out sail him upwind. Tracy had pulled out a substantial lead and Neil was unable to catch her.

For race 3 the RO changed the course yet again – with less gybes – as the breeze grew even stronger (mid force 5 at times) and shifted yet again towards the south west, as shown below:-

 

Alan, having borrowed a large screwdriver whilst ashore, had now fixed his Kicker. Peter spent quite a while in the reeds in the start area, before the final race, when his sail broke loose from the end of the boom. With aid from the safety boat he finally got it fixed in time for the five minute signal.

First away (in the now five boat fleet) from the line set close to mark 3 again was Keith, followed by Peter and then Neil. Tracy started at the pin end and Alan was nowhere to be seen but ended up on the far left of the course. After tacking onto port he had to duck the sterns of Keith and Peter and shortly after to do the same to Neil and Tracy. At the windward mark a twee hole opened up and he slipped past Keith and Peter to lie third down the reach to mark 1. On the following beat , to mark 8, both Peter and Keith passed Alan whilst Neil pulled out ahead. At the gybe  (mark 9) the gusts came thick and fast. Tracy was the first to suffer a capsize here but she quickly recovered however Keith and Peter got past her at this point and even Alan closed the gap a bit.

There were no places changing on the broad reach back across to mark 6 but Neil, in the lead, made the mistake of going off to mark 5 in error and although he did not lose the lead it was considerably reduced. On the second lap and the ensuing beat Alan managed to pass Keith but he was still a good way behind Peter and Tracy. He caught up a bit on the broad reach back from mark 9 to mark 6 and then even more on the subsequent leg.

 

 

 

At mark 3 both Peter and Tracy were hit by big gusts and Alan popped through them but on the way down to mark 1 Tracy powered back ahead of him. At the gybe (mark 9) Peter nearly came a cropper once more but recovered although he lost some distance.

After the reach back to mark 6 and the gybe there both Tracy and Alan suffered capsizes form which Tracy was unable, even with the assistance of the safety boat, to recovered and she retired. Alan did recover but by that time Peter had passed him  and was unable to catch him in the final lap. Neil was the winner with Peter 2^nd, Alan 3^rd and Keith 4^th.

At the prize giving afterwards Neil took the winners spot with Alan second and Peter 3^rd.

The conditions during the day went from very light to very strong and the wind moved through 45 degrees between each race. As a result everyone had their chance with a different winner in each race.

Overall Results:-

 

Redoubt Streaker Open Meeting 17th May 2015

Sailed: 3, Discards: 1, To count: 2, Entries: 9, Scoring system: Appendix A

Rank	SailNo	Club	HelmName	R1	R2	R3	Total	Nett
1st	1476	Redoubt	Niel Gibson	(10.00 DNC)	2.00	0.75	12.75	2.75
2nd	1700	Lancing	Alan Simmons	0.75	(4.00)	3.00	7.75	3.75
3rd	1384	Redoubt	Peter Brooker	(3.00)	3.00	2.00	8.00	5.00
4th	1433	Redoubt	Keith Macey	2.00	(5.00)	4.00	11.00	6.00
5th	1610	Redoubt	Tracy Amos	(10.00 DNC)	0.75	10.00 DNF	20.75	10.75
6th	1476	Redoubt	Mike Smales	4.00	(10.00 DNC)	10.00 DNC	24.00	14.00
7th	1409	Redoubt	Ian Hodge	5.00	(10.00 DNC)	10.00 DNC	25.00	15.00
8th	1610	Redoubt	John Bashford	6.00	(10.00 DNC)	10.00 DNC	26.00	16.00
9th	1435	Redoubt	Hilary Pittock	7.00	(10.00 DNC)	10.00 DNC	27.00	17.00

 

Alan.S 1700

Streaker Ramblings - Burghfield - 25th April 2015

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A bit soggy as we left Hove for Burghfiled, near Reading, for the Streaker Southern area Championships. The forecast was for it to dry up and for there to be north easterly breeze of up to 12 knots. The meeting was to be a joint venture with Solos and Comets and some 13 Streakers had entered although one failed to make it onto the water.

 

The RO set a course for the first race as a simple trapezoid with the committee boat start up in the far north west end of the lake with the Streakers having the first start followed by the solos and finally the comets.

At the gun Veronica Falat (Waveney & Oulton Broad) was first away, in mid line, with Matt Whitield (Tamworth) just to windward and Ian Bradley (Ouse Ameteur) a bit closer to the committee boat. With a long beat ahead the fleet split to pass either side of the closest Island, and then reformed to the west, with multiple tacks to reach the windward mark (mark 4). First to get there was Graham Bulter (Frensham Pond) followed by Mark Langston (Beccles), then Ian Bradley, Howard Frear (Sutton Bingham), Veronica Falat, Alan Simmons (Lancing), Matt Whitfield and Chris Abela (West Oxfordshire).

There was then a gap before Ian Whifield (Tamworth) rounded followed by Peter Withrington (Burghfield), Peter Russell (Burghfield) and lastly Nick Carter (Burghfiled).

There was then a short reach to mark 2 followed by a long run back north to mark 10 where again the fleet split on port and starboard tacks. After mark 10 there was a short close reach to mark 9 before the long windward leg began again. In the following lap Veronica decided to take a dip on the downwind leg when there was a large gust as she gybed and fell out of the boat. She recovered without losing too much to the competition and finished the race in fifth place.

The racing amongst the leading half of the fleet was always close but it was Howard who took first place ahead of Graham with Ian Bradley third and Ian Whitfield fourth.





Because of the start line was at the top of the lake, even Bett’s 45 time zoom lens could not pick up all the detail, especially with the Islands obscuring the start area and following the course change for the second race after lunch.

It seems, from the photographic evidence, that Veronica was first away at the gun for the second race with Ian Whitfield next and then Ian Bradley. With the line a bit further east the fleet stayed largely on the east side of the main Island on the windward leg to mark 4. Howard was once again in control leading Ian Bradley and Veronica by the end of the beat after a good bit of close tacking.

By the end of the race this order was maintained with Howard taking the gun. Graham took fourth place from Mark in fifth. Sixth place went to Ian Whitfield withChris seventh, Matt eighth and Alan 9th. Peter Russell10th, Peter Withrington 11th and Nick 12th.

The final race was sailed over yet another course starting between marks 9 and 8. With the view from the Clubhouse once again obscured by the Island it appears that the port hand end of the line was preferred with Ian Whitfield first away and Howard not far behind but to windward. Next off were Matt Whitfield and Veronica (also to windward) with Ian Bradley just behind. Alan had been contemplating a port hand start but gave it best as the fleet got too close to the pin end of the line.

 By the end of the windward leg to mark 5, Ian Bradley was in the lead from Veronica with Howard lying third, Ian Whitfield fourth and Graham fifth. After the reach across to mark 13 Graham pulled through ahead of his group to lie fourth behind Veronica with Matt (on Port tack) just ahead of Howard and with Mark close behind the pair.
After another beat back from mark 8 Ian Bradley was still ahead but Mark was second ahead of Howard and Veronica. At the finish the leader was Ian Bradley with Veronica second, Matt third and Howard fourth. With all the racing finished for the day it was left only for the prize giving, the meeting and Southern Area Championship trophy going to Howard Frear, Ian Bradley (on equal points)took second place and Veronica third. A day of not too excessive wind, mostly top end force three, but with some stronger gusts (and complete lulls near the Islands), mostly blue skies with a bit of cloud and the rain holding off until all were packed up and going home. The racing for the most part was very close at the front of the fleet and even further back there was some tight competition. We had to stop on the way home, at Reading services, to get some air in a nearly flat trailer tyre – cost £1.00 - b…y cheek ! but to be expected on a Motorway I suppose.

Results:-

 

Alan.S 1700

PS. to see the 'Official Report' go to :- http://www.streaker-class.org.uk/Articles/25 (Best done using Firefox or alternative browser to IE - the updatedStreaker web site is not fully readable with IE 11)