Sailing Week, Newhaven & Seaford SC - August 2015 - Part 2

NSSC Sailing Week (Pm) Races 5, 6 & 7 – August 2015

(See part one of this report for Adult Pm Races 1, 2, 3 & 4)

With Thursday sea sailing cancelled (and Piddinghoe the venue for sailing and Wave boarding) It was arranged that two ‘extra’ races would be held on Friday morning and Matt Springall agreed to act as RO for the races which were combined with the Cadet races 3 & 4 – their results being extracted from the overall results.

With a shoreline start in a westerly direction and a force 2 to 3 breeze there were some 24 boats on the line. There were 4 Toppers, 3 Oppies and a Taz in the Cadet as well as Jaz in her Fireball, Bea in a Laser 4.7 and Nick in the Laser II. The adult fleet was joined by Ed Thorburn in his Dynastar Cruiser and Simon Suter crewed by Johnathon Vernon in an RS 200. With an outer lane for the Cats and the Keelboat they were quickly away up the initial beat, paced by the two Fireballs, Rupert Smith and Jazz Sayed with Laurence Venus (Streaker) quickly ahead of Alan Simmons (Streaker). With a long windward leg the Fireballs soon out-paced the Cats and Alan and John Nash were hazarded near the windward mark by Ed.T in the cruiser. Laurence continued to find clear air and at the end of the lap was a minute and a half behind Rupert but fifty seconds ahead of Alan. In turn Alan was right up with John.N – just four seconds separating them - wth Ed.T thirty five seconds astern of Alan.By the end of the second lap John and Andrew Cornish (RS 400) had climbed from eigth place to lie fourth behind third placed Laurence. Ed.T had dropped back to 9^th having been overtaken by James Clapham (Dart 18) and Dave Robertson (Hobbie). Terry Jones (Sprint 15) had also picked up a couple of places to lie tenth ahead of Penelope Duncan (Laser Radial) whilst Lizi Herne (Topper) dropped from eleventh to thirteenth behind Simon.Lap 3, the penultimate lap, saw no change among the three leaders but Alan passed John Cornish and John.N – who dropped back to 9^th and 10^th with a rigging problems. James.C and Dave.R thus moved up the fleet to lie fifth and sixth. Terry also moved into seventh place ahead of Ed.T as Simon went ahead of Penelope. Apart from Rupert and Jazz the rest of the fleet finished at the end of this lap. Jazz was almost a minute and a half behind Rupert at the end of their final lap.
With handicaps applied Laurence came out on top with Alan second, Rupert third, Jazz fourth and Lizi in fifth place.

Race 6 was held back to back with race 5 over the same course with the same culprits, Rupert and Jazz, hot off the line. By the end of the first lap John.C. crossed in third place with Dave.R fourth. Alan and Laurence had a close batlle with Laurence crossing the line fifth, just eight seconds ahead by the end of the lap.Next up, in seventh, was James.C with Ed.T behind him. John.N was not having a good race and was lying tenth, ahead of Penelope with Terry behind her.

Into lap 2 and Rupert held his lead from Jazz and John.C whilst James C moved up from seventh to lie4th ahead of Laurence and Dave.R passed Alan. Ian Johnson (Laser full rig) also climbed up the table to eigth in front of Ed.T as Terry passed Penelope as did Ed Hall (Laser Radial). Bea Cameron (Laser 4.7) finished the lap in fifteenth place ahead of Flynn Hall (Laser 4.7) and Simon.
Lap 3 had the first three places unchanged but with Laurence improving as he overtook James C to lie fourth.  Both Dave.R and Alan also overtook James.C as did Ian. John.N managed to stay ahead of Terry to finish tenth.
Handicaps were applied and the winner was found to be Laurence with Alan second, Rupert third, Jazz fourth and Ian fifth.

 After Lunch it was time for Race 7 and Laurence stayed ashore as RO - as recorder he had thereafter to dash home to sort out the week’s overall results, separate the Cadets, Fast and Slow Fleets, Pond races and Adult Morning Fun Race. The course was the same but with the sea breeze having by now picked up to a good middle force 4.

The regular bunch were first away, Rupert and Jazz in their Fireball and the Cats of Terry and James. A choice had to be made however, to keep going west or head straight out into the tide. For the Cats it was a westward heading but the dinghies were split into two groups. Rupert was first to find the windward mark and held on to the lead from Terry. By the end of the first lap James.C was lying third ahead of fourth placed Jazz, next came Dave.R and then Tim Cox (Firebll) with John.N behind him. Alan crossed the line back in tenth place behind both Ed Hall (Laser Radial)  and John.C. After this group Jo West (Laser Radial) led Bea, Penelope. John Morrison (Stealth) was in 14^th place,, Fynn Hall (Laser 4.7) was 15^th, Ricky Smith (Hunter Europa) was lying 16^th, Andy Beck (Mirror) 17^th, Trevor Quinell (Laser Full Rig) 18^th and Jo Whitehead (Laser Radial) 19^th.  Kingsly Cox (Laser Radial) retired after missing a mark and a Laser II did not finish the first lap..
Lap 2 and James.C took over the lead from Rupert who was also passed by Terry and Dave passed Jazz to lie fourth. Tim stayed 6^th ahead of John.N as Alan made ground and passed Ed.H and John.C.to lie 8^th. John.M moved up to11th passing Bea Jo West and Penelope on the way. Bea also passed Jo.West to lie 12^th. Fynn retained his 15^th place as Jo Whitehead passed Ricky. Any was next in 18^th ahead of Trevor who promptly retired.
Lap 3 and James.C still led Terry whilst Dave.R overtook Rupert. Jazz, Tim, John.N and Alan retained their relative 5th to 8^th positions as John.C and James.C  move ahead of Ed.H. Jo West gained the advantage back from Bea both ahead of Penelope and Andy gained a place ahead of Ricky to lie 17^th.

Lap 4 and the leading eight places remained as for the previous lap. John.C passed Ed.H  only to be passed himself by John.M at the back of the fleet the order also stayed the same as in the previous lap and Jo West, Bea, Penelope and Finn all ended their race
Lap 5, the penultimate Lap and although James.C still held the lead Dave.R got past Terry to cross the line in second place. Fourth home was Rupert with Jazz 5^th, Tim 6^th and John.N 7^th. Alan and John.M tied on time across the line in 8^th place with John.C10^th and Ed.H 11^th bringing up the rear.
Lap 6 was contested by only the leading four boats but the order did not change from lap 5.
With the handicaps applied it was a win for Rupert and Chris in the Fireball, Terry took second place with Alan 3^rd, John Nash 4^th, Ed Hall 5^th and Bea Cameron 6^th.

 

At the Prize Giving the overall winner of the week was Laurence Venus with Rupert Smith second and Alan Simmons third.
The Fast fleet was won by Rupert Smith with Jazz Sayed second and Terry Jones third.
Laurence took the Slow fleet Trophy with Alan Second and John Nash third
The Cadet Series was won by Jazz Sayed with Bea Cameron second and James Cuxson third.
The Pond races in the morning were won by Jazz Sayed and the afternoon ones by Bea Cameron and Alan won the only AM Adult Fun Race.

For the full detailed results follow the link to:-         http://www.nssc.org.uk/cms/index.php/sailing/club-series-results

In the end, due to the two extra races on Friday almost the complete programme was fulfilled – seven out of nine – and the conditions for these as near ideal as one can get for good sailing. There was still fun to be had on the two windy days and the campers did not have to brave too much rain during the week. It seems the evening entertainment went down well with all the participants too.

Alan.S 1700

Sailing Week, Newhaven & Seaford SC - August 2015 - Part 1

This year Sailing week at Newhaven & Seaford SC took place from Monday 3^rd August to Friday 7^th August. The programme was for Cadet races and Adult Fun Races each morning and then two races, B to B, in the afternoons Monday to Thursday with a single PM Race on the Friday, always assuming that the weather would play fair. Inevitably it did not with no racing on the sea possible on the Tuesday or Thursday due to strong’ish winds and resultant heavy swells on the beach. Cadets and Adults, as a result. de-camped to Piddinghoe where the School Toppers, Oppis etc were brought into play. There is not enough space here to report fully on the Cadet, Adult Fun and Pond racing but as with all the results these can be found on the NSSC web site (about halfway down the page) on the following link :- http://www.nssc.org.uk/cms/index.php/sailing/club-series-results.

So to the Afternoon Races and Monday was a nice little breeze, force 2 to 3 with a bit of a delayed start for Race 1 as they safety boats (and marks) could not get off the mud in Newhaven Harbour. A course was eventually laid and the race started from the committee boat moored in Seaford Bay. The line was quite busy, with an eighteen strong fleet, but among the first away was the Fireball helmed by Rupert Smith, crewed by Chris Turner. Up  there with them was John Nash in his full rigged Laser and second Fireball helmed by Tiger Cox with Kingsly Cox crewing. Alan Simmons in his Streaker was also amongst the leading bunch with Jazz Sayed crewed by Zoe McCaig in yet another Fireball just astern. For a change Alan was ahead of Laurence Venus, also in a Streaker. Rupert led the fleet and finished his first lap in some 10 minutes, followed by Tiger with John.N rounding third and Alan fourth. Lap 2 saw Rupert pulling away from the rest of the fleet to lead Tiger by some 2 minutes. Both John.N and Jazz passed Alan, whilst he remained ahead of Laurence. Lap 3 had Rupert and Tiger still in front of Jazz but Alan passed John.N leaving Laurence behind him. By the end of Lap 4 the three Fireballs will still out ahead  with Alan behind them. Dave Robertson sailing a Hobbie 16 Catamaran, with Commodore Ian Johnson crewing had climbed up to 5^th place and crossed the line simultaneously with Laurence and John.N. Lap 5 saw Jazz pass Tiger to lie second with Alan third. Laurence’s time was not recorded but he must have been close behind Dave.R and possibly ahead of John.N..In the final lap 6, Rupert led Jazz and then Tiger over the finish line. Dave.R managed to pull ahead of Alan who was pursued by Laurence and lastly John.N.

With the handicaps applied it was a win for Rupert with Alan second (would have been first if the race had ended a lap earlier), Laurence third and Ed Hall (Laser full rig) fourth.

Race 2 (back to back with Race 1) saw the Fireballs of Rupert and Jazz sprint off the line, hotly pursued by Laurence, with Noel West (Laser full rig) pulling out ahead of Alan. By the end of the lap the order was as at the start with Laurence already a quarter of a minute ahead of Alan.  In lap2 the breeze was, if anything, a trifle lighter but Rupert continued to pull out ahead of Jazz and Laurence surged away from Alan whilst Noel was passed by Alan. Terry, in the Dart, went ahead of John.N who dropped back to seventh in the now twelve strong fleet, with Ed behind him.

Positions at the front remained unchanged in lap 3 with Laurence now a minute in front of
fourth placed Alan. Ed and Tim Cox (Laser Radial) crossed the line at the same time in 8^th place.

Lap 4 (the ultimate lap) had Rupert finishing first ahead of Jazz, then Laurence and fourthly Alan.

With the Handicaps applied the winner was Laurence with Alan second, Rupert third and Noel fourth.

With no sea racing possible on Tuesday, due to high surf and strong wind Race 3 commenced on Wednesday. Once again there was an eighteen strong fleet including  Ricky Smith in his Hunter Europa Sarah Gribble crewed by Carolyn Turner in a Squib, Andy and Thomas Beck in their Mirror and Kathy and roger Thomas in their Miracle.

With a start line from the shore, Rupert was first away with the Cats in the outer lane. By the end of the lap Rupert was ahead of John Morrison in his Stealth Cat with Jazz behind Laurence held fourth place with John.Clapham (Dart 18) fifth and Alan sixth.

By the end of Lap 2 John.M was leading Rupert and John.C had passed Laurence, whilst Terry had passed Jo West (Laser Radial), and Kingsly Cox (Laser Radial) to lie 8^th. Dave.R had also climbed up the fleet from 3th to lie 10^th passing Kingsly and Kathy on the way.

Lap 3 (the final lap) saw Rupert regain the lead from John.M with Jazz next home in third place. John.C took fourth place ahead of Laurence and then Alan.

With the handicaps applied Laurence was again the winner with Alan in second place ahead of Rupert.

Race 4 over the same course but with slightly more breeze (and also Back to back with Race 3) set off with fifteen entrants..For the umpteenth time Rupert and Jazz in their Firballs were soon in the lead with Dave in his Hobbie behind them. Laurence who rounded the windward mark ahead of Alan and John.N.

With the breeze dieing away the above order remained for the second lap there were no place changes among the first six boats but Jo.W lost a  place to John.C with Kathy behind her and Kingsly in his Laser full rig bringing up the rear.
With the Handicaps applied Rupert was the winner with Laurence second and Alan third, Jazz fourth and John.N fifth.

As  stated above I offer no detailed reporting of the Cadet races except to state that the first of these finished with Jazz winning the first in her Fireball with Bea Cameron in a Laser 4.7 second and a Topper (unknown helm) third and Jamie smith in a Laser Radial fourth.

Race 2 of the cadet series, on Wednesday was won by James Cuxon in a Topper with Nick Panzera and T Wright in a Lase II second, Joel third in a Topper and Jazz fourth.

The only Adult race, Wednesday morning, was won by Alan from Jack Turner (Laser Radial) with Ed Hall (Laser full rig) third and Sarah gribble and Carolyn Turner in their Squib in fourth place.

Part two of this report (Races 5,6 & 7) will appear separately – giving you time to absorb this missive – with the overall week’s results

Alan.S 1700

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