The Spring series at Rollesby started with the first “Eels Foot Race” of the year. Fourteen boat set out but, as the wind died after the start, the short beat across the Broad turned into a torturous affair. Mike McNamara in his Harrier with Ian and Sharon Ayres in their Leader came round the windward mark ahead of the rest. After a slow broad reach down the Broad the wind picked up and once through the cut, the fleet had a good sail in the bigger Broad. McNamara lead the fleet home. The Leader and the Hansons in their Wayfarer were not far behind having made good use of spinnakers. Handicap results gave the Ayres a win with McNamara second and Val and Chris Hanson third. The second race with a figure of eight course saw a clear win for McNamara with Ian Hanson in a solo second and the Leader third.
Three Lasers and a Wayfarer stayed for the afternoon race. Keith Sykes Laser took the win two second infront of Bob Sparrow and Steve in the Wayfarer.
Don’t forget its Mike Macs – Rules talk this Wednesday
To kick off the season, and at the request of several Wednesday Sailors, Mike McNamara has agreed to give a talk on the racing rules on the previous Wednesday evening i.e. 17thApril.
We would intend this kick off at 7 and Mike has promised to aim it at those who have done a little racing but would benefit from knowing more than just the port / starboard rule!
Rollesby held their Spring Regatta on Sunday. In the pouring rain, at the start of the morning, it did not feel like spring but eleven single handers turned out. As the rain stopped a fresh breeze developed from the north blowing down the Broad and the fleet was treated to some good sailing conditions. In race one John Saddington in a solo and Matt Boreham in his laser got clear of the rest. Boreham crossed the line first but Saddington took the win on handicap with Steve Whitby in his mini sail second. In race two Boreham gained a substantial lead on the first lap and was not to be caught. The solo of Ian Hanson made second with the mini sail third. With mixed results and a discard available the regatta win was up for grabs in the third race. With an increasing wind the lasers lead the way with a win by Boreham, the mini sail second. The results reconciled gave Boreham the trophy with the mini sail second and Ian Hanson in the solo third. Results Spring Regatta.
Laser Matt Boreham
Mini Sail Steve Whitby
Solo Ian Hanson
FYI — Car Number Plate – AU14 HKN, Found on floor now in Club house
An inconsistent westerly breeze meant short beats, long reaches
and increased the importance of a good start at Rollebsy on Sunday 24th
March. With the mutlisail series already sorting themselves out the tighter competition
is with the single-handers , where the winners are still open to several
sailors with only one more week to go.
Close Racing
The Solos were again to the fore, but not exclusively so. Roger
Wilson and Ian Ayres led at the first mark with Daniel Bull in his Laser for
company. On the first reach Mike McNamara took his rightful place in front in
his Harrier, eventually being joined by Dave Frary in his Finn. Neither they or
Bull could pull out enough from the two Solos who appeared to be tied together,
they were generally so close to each other; with Wilson taking the win. Steve
Whitby kept his Minisail in touch with the pack to take fourth on handicap.
Twenty seconds before the start of race 2 Clive Girling (Laser) managed
to capsize and lasso the windward line marker causing complete mayhem at that
end of the line. Wilson was the only boat with a clear run and led by around 10
lengths at the first mark from Ayres, Matt Boreham and Bull. Bull charged down
the first full reach and as the fleet tried to sort itself out, Chris Codling
showed a good turn of speed to bring his Laser into fourth with Phil
Highfield’s Streaker in close pursuit. Bull gained just enough to win by 3
seconds from Wilson and Ayres who finished over lapped.
Multisail Race 1 Start
Dave Houghton & Jon Symonds won both multisail races from Pete
& Rachel Smith. These two sailed well clear of the six Wayfarers in race 1,
but had to get past Bob Sparrow & Steve Gibbons who started late but in the
right place and tacked off first to lead round the first mark and the first lap
in race 2.
The bright conditions encouraged 13 craft back out after lunch though the wind direction altered slightly making the race somewhat processional with Wilson and Keith Sykes (Laser) splitting the Wayfarers of Houghton & Sparrow from the Terry Palmer led (7 strong) Solo pack.
A strong westerly breeze coming over the trees on the west bank
meant conditions were tricky at Rollesby Broad on Sunday 18th March,
indeed given the number of capsizes it was impressive that there were only two
retirements amongst the 15 starters.
The Solos were dominant in the single handed fleet; Roger Wilson
started fast in race 1 having shut out Daniel Bull in his Laser; to round the
first mark on a lifting wind-shift and gain an already good lead from Ian
Ayres. Bull worked hard to catch up but capsized both times that he looked like
putting in a serious challenge; meanwhile Tamsin Highfield in her Streaker was
leading the pack with Terry Palmer in close attendance. Palmer was close enough
at the finish to give the Solos a clean sweep of the podium places.
In race 2 Wilson was again away first but infringed Steve Whitby
in his Minisail and had to do turns. Phil Highfield, having taken over the
Streaker, led up the second beat pursued closely by Ayres; however a large
shift coming through the trees turned the top six upside down and it was the
lasers of Keith Sykes and Stuart Highfield who led the rapid charge back down
the broad with Kevin Postlethwaite leading the Solos. Alas the Lasers could not
cope so well upwind and Ayres spotted an early wind-shift to take the lead up
the next beat; Phil slowly closed in, especially downwind, but despite
splitting the Solos on the water could not beat Wilson on handicap.
Despite a capsize in race 1 Dave Houghton & Jon Symonds
(Wayfarer) won both multi-sail races. John Saddington & Dennis Manning
retired after suffering the same fate, whilst Bob Sparrow & Steve Gibbons sacrificed
speed for safety flying their jib rather than genoa and took (an albeit
distant) second in both races.
It was definitely a game of two halves; to mix sporting metaphors;
at Rollesby Broad this Sunday (3rd March). Race officer Matt Boreham
chose to set 4 gybes on a downwind slalom as opposed to the three previous
weeks of long runs.
Race one was bit of a damp squib (literally) as the gentle force 2
the race started in came down the broad in varying puffs accompanied by
occasional drizzle. Dave Houghton & John Symonds won the Wayfarer race by a
margin from Bob Sparrow & Steve Gibbons who only just pipped John
Saddington & Dennis Manning for second. In the single-handers David Frary in
his Finn, slowly pulled away from the fleet of 14 led by the Solos of Robert
Hawkins and Ian Ayres to take the win.
As the noon start time for the second race approached the
postponement flag was raised and hung limply from its hoist as the sailors
wandered around ashore quaffing coffee and pondering whether or not to give-up
and go home! At 12.15 a few ripples appeared on the water, the flag was lowered
and launching commenced. The first capsize (Keith Sykes in his Laser) was less
than 5 minutes away as the anticipated storm Freya arrived with aplomb.
Only three Wayfarers started; Houghton wobbled down the first short run with Saddington in pursuit; Sparrow already on third, decided to wear round at the first gybe, only to end up in the reeds. Houghton took a somewhat cautious approach from there on but was able to hold on for a narrow win from Saddington.
Race 2 Start, Ian gets away on port.
Meanwhile the single-handers were either relishing the breeze or stretching the rescue services. More than one sailor was seen to head ashore even before the start. Ayres went for the port start in a cloud of spray, he had to duck a couple of transoms, but only the Laser of Daniel Bull went with him to the right. Thomas suffered the indignity of his mast coming down recovering from a capsize after only 100yds. Bull led round the windward mark, but then put in a double capsize at the first gybe mark. Phil Highfield took the lead in his Streaker only to lose his mainsheet at the last (fourth) gybe of the lap; yes they were all still in the course. Ayres took the lead as a charging James Letts (Laser) flew into second before a wipeout broach at the leeward mark. The next beat proved less eventful but as the fleet turned downwind on lap two the wind was rising; Ayres capsized briefly at the first gybe this time, giving the lead back to Bull and Phil with Stuart Highfield bringing his Laser into contention. By lap 3 the hardy few left racing hard were starting to manage the conditions; but they were still glad to hear the shorten course signal! Bull led Phil across the line but not by far enough; Ayres was third with Stuart fourth on the water, but with Hawkins – the first finisher to stay upright close enough to take him on handicap.
Two things happened with the fleets at Rollesby this week; that
were almost as rare as the un-February like weather. Firstly the multis-sails
outnumbered the single-handers an event no-one can recall in recent years, and
secondly the singlehanded fleet was entirely a Solo fleet in race 2 after the
single Phantom who joined them in race 1 stayed ashore, the Lasers had already
decided there was insufficient wind; which may have been true at 10.30 but
there was a comfortable breeze by midday!
And so whilst Gareth Thomas (Phantom) did for a while lead the
single-handers round in race 1, it was winter member Terry Palmer who took the
win for the Solos from John Saddington and Steve Leigh. In race 2 Kevin
Postlethwaite had a good lead at the first leeward mark with the remainder of
the fleet rounding four abreast. However unable to defend both sides of the
beat Saddington and Palmer were both able to get close to Postlethwaite and
take full advantage of a perfectly timed (for them) gust at the windward mark
to catch and pass him on the run back down the broad.
In the Multisails it was spinnakers to the fore in race 1; the
three boats with, coming out on top. Ian & Sharon Ayres in their Leader
were able to use their greater tacking agility to keep in touch with the faster
straight line speed of Dave Houghton & John Symonds and Peter and Eileen
Dearnley in their Wayfarers. However as the wind slowly rotated to the east
giving less options upwind, the Wayfarers took the spoils. In race 2 Val &
Chris Hanson along with Pete & Rachel Smith both started at the less
obvious but breezier leeward end of the line and as those at the windward end
succumbed to a hole, were able to sail out underneath them and create a tight
top four at the windward mark. As the wind had shifted to stop ‘goose-winging’
the spinnakers of Dearnley and Houghton paid even more and they slowly pulled
away with the Smiths leading home the rest of the pack.
In the afternoon it looked like Saddington and Leigh might hold on the Wayfarers and for a lap they were certainly close enough to challenge, but once again the lopsided upwind leg saw the Houghton and Dearnley pull away to take the top two spots.
A delightlyfully bright sunny morning and a forecast force 4
straight along the Broad, saw 32 boats take to the water for the first race at Rollesby on Sunday 17th February.
With a slightly lighter breeze in reality, the 9 multi-sails were first away; it took a little while for the fleet to settle into an order, but Steve Grey quite rightly led after a lap in his D-One. With a long run it looked like Dave Houghton & Jon Symonds and John Saddington & Dennis Manning flying their spinnakers would have a big advantage, but it was Ian & Sharon Ayres taking a wider route in their Leader who led the main pack at this point. The Wayfarers showed their pace upwind with Houghton eventually winning from Ayres and Saddington. Those spinnakers paid more as the wind rose in race two however Peter and Eileen Dearnley sailing without a kite were flying up the beats and split the other Wayfarers to take second from Houghton this time around.
In the single-handers with 23 boats on the line a clean start was
clearly in order; David Frary (Finn) and Mike McNamara (Harrier) were able to
use their additional boatspeed to establish a small lead on the first beat,
however the midfleet were ignoring handicaps and swapping places regularly.
Richard Brown and James Letts represented the Laser push early on with Daniel
Bull catching them on the second lap, however as the race progressed they were
losing out to the Solos of Robert Hawkins and Terry Palme, indeed had Palmer
not misread the finish they would have been 1 & 2 but instead they were
split by McNamara. The increased breeze in race 2 saw Frary put the hammer down
and establish a good lead, however Phil Highfield in the ‘family’ Streaker had
other ideas downwind as he came back at the leaders on every lap to eventually
tie with Frary for the win, with McNamara 3rd and Brown 4th.
The good weather encouraged 16 starters for the mixed afternoon race and there were two distinct bunches, the Wayfarers, with three boats less than a minute apart and the Solos whose first three finished within 15 seconds of each other! But who would come out on top; it looked like a Houghton win and indeed it was but Dearnley and Saddington had to wait for the calculated results to confirm they had indeed beaten the Solos by a very narrow margin.
The air temperature had certainly seen the day’s title as ice was cracked off of covers and decks for Rollesby’s Frostbite Regatta on Sunday 3rd February; fortunately the sun was out and the wind relatively light so everyone felt much warmer than the 4 degrees air temperature. Unusually, only 2 Wayfarers joined the 18 mixed single-handers; so it was decided to run the racing as all in, rather than in separate fleets.
Phil Highfield (Streaker) and Ian Ayres (Solo) took the furthest
left and right hand routes up the initial beat before rounding the first mark
overlapped, with Mike McNamara (Harrier) in closest pursuit. McNamara rolled
over the two slower boats on the first reach and rapidly built a lead. Dave
Houghton & Jon Symonds (Wayfarer) recovered well from having been a long
way over at the start! dragging David Frary in his Finn up to the top group
with them. On the last lap some large gaps opened with McNamara taking a 15
second handicap win from Ayres; compared to the 3 minute gap back Highfield and
Frary who almost dead-heated in third and fourth.
A change of wind direction and course saw Steve Leigh (Solo) with
an almost perfect start; however he and Ayres were quickly sandwiched by the
faster travelling McNamara and Frary and by the time they could take remedial
action were back in the pack led by Daniel Bull and James Letts in their
Lasers. Highfield had taken full advantage of the bunching behind to sail along
the bank and lead round the first two marks. The wind increased as the race
progressed benefitting the faster craft most and McNamara took another narrow
win, this time with Frary second and Houghton third.
A slightly reduced but still substantial fleet of 13 took to the water after lunch; McNamara and Highfield were best away with Houghton close behind, however the wind had swung a little further and Ayres and the second Wayfarer of John Saddington & Dennis Manning were the first to spot this, closing in at the first windward mark, this pack all finished within 25 seconds on handicap! McNamara rightly led on the water, but a better spinnaker course gave the win to Houghton. Highfield and Ayres had a bit of an epic cat and mouse race with Ayres close enough behind on the water to just take second place on handicap and for the day overall.
Overall Results (20 entries)
(& 1st Singlehander) Mike McNamara (Harrier) – 2 pts
Ian Ayres (Solo) – 4
(& 1st Multisail) Dave Houghton & Jon Symonds (Wayfarer) – 4
This week was the final week of winter series and in the singlehanders fleet the points situation was extremely close with any one of four helms in with a shout for overall honours. After a few weeks of full off or full on conditions the forecast looked to be following the same old pattern with 20 -30 mph winds from the NW predicted. This presumably deterred some from attending but despite the occasional gust the wind appeared quite manageable and with bonus of the sun making an appearance conditions looked quite good! Despite this a few still opted to enjoy tea and freshly baked cakes in the clubhouse but 8 intrepid helms ventured out for an all singlehander race. With the wind coming from the NW the race team set a simple triangle course comprising of marks 5, 3 & 6.
Race 1 Ian Get a great start
Ian Ayres (Solo) nailed the first start to lead up the beat to mark 5, opting to go to left. Tamsin Highfield (Streaker) opted for the right hand side hooking up on a nice lift to round the windward mark first, closely followed by Mike McNamara (Harrier), Ian and Roger Wilson (Solo). Tamsin and Mike gradually extended their lead crossing the line in that order. Ian and Roger continued their battle for the rest of the race with Ian holding on to cross the line third. On corrected time Tamsin took the win by 38 seconds, with Ian and Roger taking the next two places.
Tamsin Leads the pack in Race 1
Race 1: 1 Streaker 1493 (Tamsin Highfield), 2 Solo 5232 (Ian Ayres), 3 Solo 5259 (Roger Wilson)
Race 2
Race 2 Mike’s away first.
Mikes Away First Race 2
In race two Mike crossed the line with speed to lead up the beat. However, despite being last to cross the line Stuart Highfield (Laser) worked the shifts well to lead at the mark unfortunately rounding a bit too close and touching it resulting in a penalty turn. Mike took over the lead with the rest of the fleet just a few metres behind as they headed for mark 3. Roger opted to run low to avoid the wind shadow of the bank and looked to be leading as the fleet approached the mark but Mike held on to round first but hot on his heels was Roger and Phil Highfield (Streaker). Mike extended his lead on the reach to mark 6 and the next beat. Unfortunately on approaching mark 3 he caught probably the biggest gust of the day and shipped some water allowing a charging Phil to take the lead which he held to the finish line followed by Roger. On corrected time just 34 seconds separated the first four boats, Phil making it a family double finishing seven seconds ahead of Roger with Ian third.
Race 2: 1 Streaker 1493 (Phil Highfield), 2 Solo 5259 (Roger Wilson), 3 Solo 5232 (Ian Ayres)
Winter Series Results
Once the day’s results were added to the overall series the positions were very close. Race 1 honours went to Ian Ayres with Mike McNamara second and Kevin Postlethwaite third.
The situation was even tighter in race 2 with two points separating the first three boats, Phil Highfield finishing on five, Roger Wilson on six and Mike McNamara on seven.
It was a Wayfarer 1,2,3 in the Multisail Winter series with David Houghton & John Symonds taking first, John Saddington & Dennis Manning second and Bob Sparrow & Chris Gibbons third.
Single handers (26)
Race 1: 1 Solo 5232 (Ian Ayres), 2 Harrier 70 (Mike McNamara), 2 Solo 4896 (Kevin Postlethwaite)
After a short delay for some deliberation a small fleet of seven boats set out for the one and only race in definitely top end racing conditions at Rollesby Broad on Sunday January 13 th .
Several competitors were so keen they decided to start racing 5 minutes early; with only two starting at the proper time Race Officer Chris Mann felt sympathetic to the others and abandoned for a proper restart. With a wipe-out squall taking out the entire four strong Laser contingent in the last minute before the restart – led in performance by Daniel ‘I can stand my Laser on its bow!’ Bull – none of them made it to the windward mark …..
Ian Ayres (Solo) and Tamsin Highfield (Streaker) started overlapped on starboard but mid-beat had to duck Matt Boreham (Solo) who had taken the opposite route. Ayres reached the windward mark a couple of boat lengths in front; Highfield tried to pinch the mark and on a lighter day would probably not have got rolled in to windward as the wind backed on her! Boreham had to take a rapid avoidance action and the race looked decided. Ayres slowly extended away but Boreham had a brief ‘wet moment’ allowing Highfield to catch up before her second capsize left her narrowly in third.
Having spent nearly an hour on the water to get in a 30 minute race the fleet retired for an early and well needed lunch!…..
Single Handers Race 1 (7 entries) Ian Ayres (Solo) Matt Boreham (Solo) Tamsin Highfield (Streaker)
