Author: Ian Ayres

Solo Open – 26th June

We are pleased to announce a new Date for the Solo Open that was postponed in April,

The New date will be Saturday 26th June

First race 10.45 approx;

4 races
2 back to back am
2 back to back pm

More info nearer the time.

Spring Regatta

You will be very pleased to know that the club Spring Regatta is still going ahead this coming Sunday as scheduled.2 races, both to count, as we haven’t sailed for a while there will be a briefing just before 10.30! The forecast is looking chilly but with a bit less wind than last Sunday!


Unfortunately the clubhouse (other than access to toilets) remains closed and there will be no catering. Please as far as possible maintain social distancing rules. 


General sailing on Rolesby Broad is now allowed (from April 1st) please be sensible and remember the water is still very cold. No access to Eels Foot at present and all scheduled Eels Foot races will be just a normal club race until further notice.
See you on the water.

Ian

New Year’s Day Open (Closed!)

Sadly, due to the current restrictions the club is operating under we have taken the decision that this year’sNew Year Open will not take place. We know there are a handful of regular visitors who look forward to this event, but are sure you understand the current situation and we look forward to welcoming you to Rollesby on January 1st 2022, or earlier if our other opens are able to proceed.


For club members there will be a one off regatta – 2 races, both to count – this year, weather permitting!

There is also a pursuit race format on Sun 27th, pay attention to the briefing!


Have a safe and happy festive season.

Start procedure Alteration

Hello All

We have been blessed with some really good turnouts this summer, we have had an influx of new members, plus the lack of holiday opportunities; the competition has been strong, but unfortunately the wind hasn’t been helpful in direction!
General opinion seems to be that we should not split the fleets, which distinguishes summer series sailing from the winter series, however with the larger turnouts we have had issues with too many boats arriving at the first windward mark together.

We already have within our sailing instructions the ability to use any mark of the course and a committee boat as a start line for example to use mark number 5 to create a beat to number 6 in the event of an easterly breeze (see attached). In order to create a longer first beat if the wind is from a northerly direct we are adding the following sentence.

11.4 b Alteration to start procedure (11.4 – see below)
In addition to using any mark of the course, mark 2 or 4 can be used to create the end of a start line when the windward mark is either mark 5 or 6.

Signals will still be made from the box and the rescue officer will need to have the radio to hand to feedback on anyone OCS (over the line). For this period, the REAR of the rescue boat will act as the end of the line so that the rescue officer can see anyone OCS from their normal seating position. If rescue officers prefer they may put one of the existing line marks in the water to secure the rear of the rescue boat.

Race officers please try out his procedure when we have northerly winds – I’m sure I will get feedback!
Any comments to my email below please rather than replying to the duty officer mail directly.

It may slightly affect our ability to use average laps for slower boats, but given the current nature of the fleet which has coalesced around boats of similar handicaps this should not be an issue – we will address it if it becomes so. This is more of an issue if we use 5 as a start mark where a whole beat plus is added to the first lap.

The finish line should be set as normal in front of the clubhouse where the race officer can have a good view of it!

Can I take this opportunity to remind everyone that mark 1 can be set anywhere within / near the area of marks 2,4,5,6, (some people use this very effectively). It might be useful in certain conditions to use it as a spreader to take boats away from mark 5 or 6 before they turn back toward boats still sailing up the beat – feel free to ask if you need further explanation.

Given the current covid restrictions; please take this email as notice of the alteration, as we don’t have access to the normal noticeboards!

I will try to ensure there is a short briefing on the first occasion we use this procedure.

See you on Sunday?
Ian

sailing@rbsc.org.uk
ᐧ

Summer Regatta – 9th Aug

19 boats started at least one of the two races for Rollesby’s Summer regatta held on Sunday 9th August. Having been pursuit racing fro the last few weeks, some of the fleet were a little cautious at the first start, but 15 out of 16 crossed the second start in under 8 seconds, so they were back up to speed by then!

A northerly wind meant a short first beat in the first race. Chris Toothill (Phantom) led round in amongst a group of Solos; Roger Wilson, Mike Horwitz and John Saddington with Stuart Highfield in his Laser. These five took full advantage of the short spreader leg, to avoid the pile up behind caused by a port tack Wayfarer tryng to squeeze in where the was clearly no room!

Wilson and Toothill sailed fastest downwind and pulled out a good lead over the fleet, Daniel Bull (Laser) and Howard Astley-Jones (Vareo) took some different routes to the fleet and did well to pull through and away from the pack, but it was those good starts that gave the first two places to Roger and John with Dan third and Howard 4th.

A small change in direction and a steadier breeze allowed a slightly longer first beat, though this time it was the Laser fleet that were doing circles at the first mark! Roger and Howard led early on with Daniel Harvey (Laser) in closest proximity. Dan B was enjoying the stronger breeze again recovering from a poor start to catch Dan H late on.

Howard slowly pulled out a gap, as Wilson practised doing penalty turns (more than once), and won on the water, only to produce a dead heat on handicap. Dan B was third with Ellie Edwards holding on to the faster boats well in her Splash to finish 4th. Some commiseration to Chris Toothill who finished second on the water only to drop to 16th (last) on handicap as the whole fleet finished within 4 minutes on corrected time – tight racing folks……..

16 Entries Both races to count.

1. Roger (Solo)– 2 pts
2. Howard (Vareo) – 5
3. Daniel B (Laser) – 6
4. John (Solo) – 9
5. Mike (Solo) – 11
6. Daniel H (Laser) 14
7. Clive (Laser) – 18
8. Ellie (Splash) – 19
9. Dave M (Solo) – 19
10. Val & Chris (Wayfarer) – 21
11. Chris T (Phantom) – 23
12. Bob & Steve (Wayfarer) – 23
13. Stuart (Laser) – 23
14. Dave & Dianne (Ent) – 26
15. Chris F & crew (Laser 2) – 27
16. Steve & Heather (Wayfarer ) – 32

Report – 16th March

Survival Mode in full operation!

Given the wind strength it was impressive to see 16 boats come to the line for racing at Rollesby on Sunday 16th March. Needless to say there were not 16 who reached the finish line.

A squall just the race started allowed Howard Astley-Jones in his Vareo to port start the fleet as everyone else struggled to reach the inner distance end of the line. Daniel Bull in his Laser was first round the very distant windward mark with Chris Foster in closest pursuit and Matt Boreham, Terry Palmer (Solos), Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer) and Astley-Jones completing an early but clear front group.

Further back the two Richards, Foster and Brown along with Keith Sykes were actually blown downwind from the start line. Foster took the decision to simply go for a blast whilst the others recovered to chase Stuart Highfield and Steve Leigh up the first beat.

There were capsizes a plenty, on the second lap Highfield and Leigh spent long enough upside down to retire, Clive Girling got back down the broad successfully bit decided on discretion along with Brown, Palmer and Bob Sparrow! With the fleet now down to nine, the rescue service were busy catching up……. Sykes retired too as the leaders were about to lap him.

By lap 3 Boreham, having stayed up right had worked his way past the Lasers and seemed to enjoy the last lap as he led all the way round. Astley-Jones was getting the hang of the run, in absolute turbo mode flying his kite! And worked his way through to second on the water. Bull looked set for third before a capsize at the last gybe, Foster looked like gaining but produced an exact carbon copy a few seconds later! This let the Wayfarer through to third.

Special mention should go to the other survivors, Phil Alison (Solo) sailed a lonely, but always upright, race alone in the gap between the front group and ‘the rest’ whilst Ellie Edwards battled her Splash round and John Saddington sporting the clubs B-plan sail on his Solo brought up the rear.

Only four boats ventured out for race two, Houghton and Boreham the only survivors to take the wins in their respective fleets.

Multisails

Race 1 (3 entries)

1. Howard Astley-Jones (Vareo)
2. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)

Race 2 (2)
1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)

SingleHanders

Race 1 (12 entries)

1. Matt Boreham (Solo)
2. Daniel Bull (Laser)
3. Chris Foster (Laser)
4. Ellie Edwards (Splash)
5. Phil Alison (Solo)
6. John Saddington (Solo)

Race 2 (2)
1. Matt Boreham (Solo)

Report 8th Dec

It was a day for bending burgees and washing sails with probably more sailors getting a close up of their centreboard than those that didn’t at Rollesby on Sun 8th Dec.

Just four multi-sailed boats took to the water. Dave Hougton & John Symonds, revelling that there was a long run, flew their Wayfarers kite to good effect leaving their competitors long in their wake. Howard Astley-Jones having made a cautious start to his first race at the club soon got his Vareo up to speed to take second. Mike McNamara & Andy Smith joined the fleet for race 2 but conditions were a bit lively for Albacore sailing and they had to settle for second on handicap behind Houghton.

In the single-handers anyone who could stay upright looked likely to do very well, though it didn’t guarantee success if you weren’t going fast, and despite a fair few swims there were ten finishers! Roger Wilson (Solo) & Tamsin Highfield (Streaker) made the best starts, with Stuart Highfield (Laser) and Ian Ayres (Solo) completing a tight top 4 at the windward end of the broad. Stuart was the first casualty at the front of the fleet and with Tamsin finding the shifting winds under the trees not doing her any favours it looked like Wilson and Ayres would be battling it out. On the penultimate beat Ayres capsized and whilst waiting for the wind to ease slightly Tamsin slipped by. As these two flew down the last run Wilson managed to throw away a commanding lead with a double roll less than 100 yds from the line; Tamsin won on the water but Ayres took the race on handicap.

A couple of competitors were led slightly astray by Oscar Norris (Radial) as they mis-judged (or possibly forgot about) the new windward mark for race 2. Stuart led round but was immediately in trouble and Ayres and Wilson had to take dramatic avoiding action to avoid a synchronised triple ducking! This allowed Phil Highfield now taking over Streaker duties and Steve Whitby (Europe) to join the Solos in a front group. Ayres decided one lap was enough and Wilson rolled in on the next beat to allow Phil, who looked very much under control, to establish a lead he would hold until the finish. Wilson was second and Whitby held off a late challenge by Matt Boreham (Solo) to take third by 4 seconds.

Needless to say there were no takers for a third race after a warming club lunch !

Multisails

Race 1 (4 entries)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Howard Astley-Jones (Vareo)
3. Bob Sparrow & Steve Gibbons (Wayfarer)

Race 2 (3)

1. Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer)
2. Mike McNamara & Andy Smith (Albacore)

SingleHanders

Race 1 (12 entries)

1. Ian Ayres (Solo)
2. Tamsin Highfield (Streaker)
3. Roger Wilson (Solo)
4. Steve Whitby (MiniSail)

Race 2 (10)

1. Phil Highfield (Streaker)
2. Roger Wilson (Solo)
2. Steve Whitby (Europe)
4. Matt Breham (Solo)

Rbsc 8th Dec 19

Last Eel’s Foot of 2018

Rollesby Broad SC – Sunday 4th November

The arrival en masse of our friends from Gorleston and the last Eel’s Foot race of the year indicate the start real start of winter sailing at Rollesby Broad; only the unseasonably warm weather indicated anything else!

A rare outing in their Tasar saw the Sallis’ rightly lead pretty much from start to finish, with Mike McNamara’s Harrier in closest pursuit. With 20 boats on the start line, it was a good job the southerly wind spread the pack on the 1km beat to the cut. Ian Ayres in his Solo led the main pack with Dave Houghton & John Symonds (Wayfarer) recovering from a mid-fleet start and slowly working their way through to the front group. Good spinnaker conditions meant the Wayfarer slowly pulled clear enough of the single-handers to take the win from Ayres with Roger Wilson (Solo) leading home the next group to take third.

A short split fleet second race saw Houghton again win in his Wayfarer from the Sallis. The single handers had a very close finish with boats from 4th to 11th finishing nose to tail but Ayres and McNamara had started sufficiently well to once again escape the melee behind.

The perfect conditions saw nine boats race in the afternoon and though the dying breeze meant a shorten course, with McNamara this time taking the win from Houghton.

Eels Foot Race (Mixed) 20 entries

  1. Dave Houghton & John Symmonds (Wayfarer)
  2. Ian Ayres (Solo)
  3. Roger Wilson (Solo)
  4. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
  5. Chris & Angela Sallis (Tasar)

Multisails

Race 2 (7 entries)

  1. Dave Houghton & John Symmonds (Wayfarer)
  2. Chris & Angela Sallis (Tasar)
  3. Bob Sparrow & Steve (Wayfarer)

SingleHanders

Race 2 (14 entries)

  1. Ian Ayres (Solo)
  2. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
  3. Matt Boreham (Solo)

Mixed PM Race (9)

  1. Mike McNamara (Harrier)
  2. Dave Houghton & John Symmonds (Wayfarer)
  3. Roger Wilson (Solo)

Duty Rota 2017 July to December – Updated 26th June

All members

Due to other commitments and swaps to fill gaps we are now desperately short of
race officers during August. If anyone can help out, even by running just the first
race ofthe day and coaching one of the assistants to run the rest I would be very grateful.
I may be able to cover one of the later August dates myself to coach someone but very
unlikely to be there on the 6th.
Ian

Those who chose their date are shown in blue on emailed / club noticeboard copies.

2017 (B) July to December Duties (P1)

 

Date Event Race Officer Asst 1 Rescue Boat Asst 2
July 2 John Saddington Jon Ayres Brin Ward Jackie Ward
July 9 Eels Foot Barry Graver Daniel Harvey Mark Porter Nigel Trevellyan
July 16 Ian Ayres Sharon Ayres Steven Lloyd Gary Bircham
July 23 David Bull Letitia Davis Antony Barnes Tracy Barnes
July 30 Auriel Gibson Suzanne Thompson Tony Ashford Rob Galloway
Aug 6 Summer Regatta TBC Daniel Bull Andrew Turner Colin Sapsford
Aug 13 Eels Foot Jeff Jordan Davina Balls Phil Holt Alison Holt
Aug 20 TBC TBC Simon Strode Peter Dodds
Aug 27 TBC Ben Lowe Mike Horwitz Craig Morris
Sept 3 Martin Cornwell Vince Steele Dave Murphy Michael Pywell
Sept 10 Eels Foot Bernard O’Donnell Hilary O’Donnell Clive Wells Mike Cubitt
Sept 17 Gill Stevenson Jon Burnell Malcolm Page Derek Page
Sept 24 Daren Pike Luke Henderson Richard Mackirdy Margaret Shearing
Winter Race Format Starts
Oct 1 Autumn Regatta Ian Hanson Amy Ross Paul Warnes Darius Schubert
Oct 8 Eels Foot Liz Phillips Geoff Phillips Ian Curtis Alan Cox
Oct 15 AM only

PM AGM

 Val Hanson Chris Hanson Jo Sapsford Bob Brown
Oct 22 Roger Wilson Sarah Hipperson Chris Toothill Sarah Toothill
Oct 29 Hugh Rout Julie Johnson Mike Broadbent Ken Johnson
Saturday 4th November – Work Day – Everybody!
Nov 5 Pete Smith Rachel Smith Richard Foster Tony Ingram
Nov 12 Eels Foot

Remembrance Sunday

 Chris Sallis Ang Sallis Steve Gray Terry Seegar
Nov 19 Dave Goodwin Diane Goodwin Tom Russell-Grant Jason Elmar
Nov 26 Anna Zmura Keith Sykes Stuart Highfield Phil / Tamsin
Dec 3 Winter Regatta Dave Houghton Cliff Smith Richard Brown Jon Symonds
Dec 10 Bob Sparrow Gareth Thomas Tony Gibbs Nick Whittle
Dec 17 Chris Mann Heather Vaughan Phil Harlow Lorna Pierce
Dec24 AM only Richard Vaughan Chris Codling Steve Leigh Phil Alison

* Members shown in Blue chose their own duty date.