Streaker Ramblings-Streaker Open at Broxbourne - 16th September 2017

We left Hove at about 7.00 am for the nearly 2 hour drive around the M25 to reach Broxbourne. The sky was blue and almost cloudless and there was barely a hint of breeze.
Upon arrival the breeze was somewhat less than force 2 from the west side of the pond. The RO set a complex course within the main water - leaving the small lagoon out of the running. A small (six strong) class of Lightnings were racing in the joint meeting with the twelve Streakers.
Starting first the Streakers were away from the transit/limit marked line initially towards mark 2 as shown on the diagram below:-

 

Due to the fact that we left the camera at home, and could not copy the lap charts,the following report is written by Veronica Falat (Streaker Class Secretary) and reproduced here with her kind permission.

The final event in the 2017 Pinnell & Bax Streaker Southern Paddle series took place at Broxbourne SC on Saturday 16th September in light and very variable wind. 12 boats took part from as far afield as Somerset and Suffolk.

In the first race Ben Harris, Peter Selway and Veronica Falat were the early leaders but Howard Frear got an overlap at the 2nd mark and took the lead along the next reaching leg. Once on the beat again Veronica managed to pick some good shifts and gradually pulled ahead leaving a tight bunch of boats to fight for second place. The breeze was very fitful and it was easy to get stuck in calm spots but eventually it was Mark Langston who finished behind Veronica with Howard in third place.

After lunch the breeze was just the same but slightly shifted and the RO adjusted the course to round mark 8 in place of mark 5. 

Race 2 saw Alex Reindorp, Mark and Howard get away well. Veronica was near the back of the fleet at the first mark but gradually overtook people and on the second lap she and Alan Simmons caught a big port lift to take them to the front. From there, Veronica pulled away and Alan held off the bunch behind to finish 2nd and Alex Reindorp was 3rd.

Veronica could now afford to sit out the third and final race and so could watch from the clubhouse as a big black cloud delivered a very heavy rainstorm on the rest of the fleet. Howard Frear took the lead early on and took the win while Alex Reindorp beat Mark Langston to second place.

Overall Veronica was 1st, Howard 2nd and Alex and Mark tied on points, the 3rd place going to Alex on tie-break.

Overall Results:

Pos	Sail No	Helm	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	1972	Veronica Falat	Waveney & Oulton Broad YC	1	1	(DNC 13)	2
2	1777	Howard Frear	Sutton Bingham SC	3	‑7	1	4
3	1953	Alex Reindorp	Chipstead SC	(DNF 13)	3	2	5
4	1920	Mark Langston	Beccles Amateur SC	2	‑6	3	5
5	1700	Alan Simmons	Lancing SC	‑8	2	6	8
6	1929	Peter Withrington	Burghfield SC	4	‑9	4	8
7	1767	Ben Harris	Up River SC	6	4	‑7	10
8	1707	Peter Selway	Broxbourne SC	5	‑10	5	10
9	1844	Chris Smith	Island Barn Reservoir SC	‑10	5	8	13
10	1850	Gerry Ledger	Up River SC	7	8	(DNF 13)	15
11	1681	Rupert Smith	Newhaven & Seaford SC	9	(DNF 13)	DNC 13	22
12	1940	Doug Horner	Swanage SC	(DNF 13)	DNF 13	DNC 13	26

Overall Southern Paddle Series

Veronica, Mark, Alex and Howard were the top 4 in the overall Southern Paddle series with Veronica the overall winner. During the prize-giving, the draw was held to find the winner of the Pinnell and Bax sail; every Streaker association member competing in the series gets tickets for the draw according to the number of races they sail in and this year the lucky winner was Chris Smith who finished 8th overall in the series.

Alan.S 1700

PS Appologies for the complete lack of Photos in this blog. Hopefully if we make it to Redoubt Saturday week (30th Sept) we can 'repair' the situation.

 

 

 

 

Streaker Ramblings - Streaker Open at Island Barn - 08.07.2017

Blue Cloudless skies, and an almost flat calm greeted the six entrants for this the first Streaker Open (P & B Sponsored Sothern Area Series) to be held at Island Barn Sailing Club. A further eight Solos arrived for the joint meeting. An Olympic style course was set with the Streakers having the first start.

 

 A whisper of breeze left the small, elite, fleet struggling to get across the line until Rupert Smith (Newhaven & Seaford) found the route and shot away from the rest.

By the end of the first triangle Rupert had a good leg lead over Peter Withrington (Burghfield) and Alex Reindorp (Chipstead) lying third.

 

After the sausage Rupert was still in the lead but Chris Smith (Island Barn) had moved up to second place with Alan Simmons (Lancing) lying third – the latter two gaining as Alex and Peter went off on a second (wrong) triangle. Alan and Chris continued to vie for second place with Alan taking the gun at the end of the race as he closed up the gap slightly on Rupert. Peter also caught up with Chris and got ahead to take third place. Fifth place went to Phil Hadron (Downs) and sixth to Alex.

The second race was held (B to B) over the same basic course, with only minor adjustment and although there was a little more breeze there was still a crush at the committee boat end of the line but it was Alex who got away first and holding on for the first lap. Alan also got a reasonable start and held second place with Peter taking third spot. Chris crossed the line in fourth place with Rupert fifth and Phil sixth. There were no place changes at the end of each subsequent lap but the fleet was fairly tightly bunched throughout the race – only 20 seconds between first and second place and a further 32 seconds to third spot.

After a lunch break the breeze was still rather fitful but the direction it was coming from had changed by 180 degrees and so a new course had to be set with the committee boat nearer to the clubhouse shore.

This time at the start it was Alex who got away cleanly into first position with Peter hard on his heels and Chris holding third place at the end of the beat. Alan who had started eventually in last place had pulled through the fleet to lead at the end of the lap with Chris lying second and Phil third. Peter was fourth after a lap with Rupert  fifth and Alex sixth.

By the end of the second lap Alan was still ahead with Peter lying second and Alex lying third. At the end of the next windward leg Peter and Alex had overtaken Alan but headed off on the downwind leg instead of the reach. Alan, spotting Rupert going on the correct route, was able to recover and gain water on him at the gybe mark and then pull away ahead once more.

 Alex also passed Rupert to lie second with Peter fourth. On the last lap and up the windward leg the breeze was extremely fickle with lots of big holes but Alan managed to hang on to his lead and win the race ahead of Alex with Peter third, Rupert fourth, Phil fifth and Chris sixth.

 

The overall Meeting win went to Alan, on equal points with Alex, but with the better last race position. Rupert was awarded third place with Peter fourth, Chris fifth and Phil sixth.

On thanking the club, RO, Safety boat and Galley crews for their effort Alan also thanked his competitors for letting him win his first ever Streaker Open Meeting

Overall Results:-
  

Posn	Sail No	Helm	Club	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Points
1	1700	Alan Simmons	Lancing	2	(2)	1	3
2	1953	Alex Reindorp	Chipstead	(6)	1	2	3
3	1681	Rupert Smith	Newhaven	1	(6)	4	5
4	1929	Peter Withrington	Burghfield	(4)	3	3	6
5	1844	Chris Smith	Island Barn	3	4	(6)	7
6	1905	Phil Haldron	Downs	5	(6)	6	10