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)
If you’ve got a Laser in the dinghy park why not come down and join us this winter. With 11 Lasers already in the Winter already fleet we are all enjoying some close racing. You can even check out Daniels new MK2 sail if you can catch him!!.
No LASER, No Problem, Come and take out the Club laser, with updated controls and a new main sheet this coming weekend.
The Risk Assessment and Emergency Response Procedure have now been up dated on the web page and Clubhouse notice boards. The one significant change to the RA is that there is now a “single use” first aid kit for the safety boat. This first aid kit is only intended for minor injuries such as a cut on the finger (also included is a survival blanket for a sailor suffering from the cold). For a more serious injuries (racing days & organised Club events) the safety boat to contact the OOD/Individual in-charge and return to the Clubhouse, racing/event to be postponed if necessary. On other days, individuals will need to take responsibility for themselves.
This safety boat first aid kit,when not is use is to be kept in the starter box along with the radios.
If there are any comment, suggestions or questions on safety, please feel free to contact me.
A number of you will have seen the tablet next to the sign-on sheets on a Sunday, here are a couple of videos to show it in action. This version of APP is currently in final stages of testing just checking for bugs. I have also included the instant results from last Sunday Race 2. Any questions just give Keith a shout.
First one shows a demo race with 2 starts shortened to a minute, sorry about some of the sound quality. (YOU WILL NEED TO TURN SOUND ON BOTTOM RIGHT OF VIDEO) for my dodgy commentary 😉
The app is Free and you can run it on any Android device. The new and improved DSRC V1.0 is now available for download from Get is here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details…
Perhaps encouraged by the relatively mild weather; and certainly
by the excellent catering; an impressive fleet of 30 dinghies, including 5
visitors, came to the line for the annual New Year’s Day open meeting at
Rollesby Broad SC.
With the wind direction not quite cooperating, a long opening
fetch was set with the start line at the far end of the broad. Daniel Bull put
his Laser somewhat riskily at the more sheltered windward end of the line, with
Paul Wren (Phantom) and Ian Ayres (Solo) starting mid line but above the main
pack of boats that ended up losing out by covering each other. Wren led round
the first lap from Bull and Ayres. Only Mike McNamara in his Harrier managed
catch them on the water to finish second with Ayres taking a big handicap win.
Veronica Falat (Steaker) led Ben Falat in his Phantom for much of the race to
take third at the front of a close knit pack.
The wind increased for a shorter race 2 giving the faster craft a
chance to stretch out in front.
Veronica sailed really well to hold on to the transoms of the
faster boats and take the narrowest of wins (3 seconds) from Ben with Wren 3rd,
McNamara 4th and Ayres 5th, just 27 seconds covering
these five on handicap…
The sun came out in the afternoon as the wind rose a little more. Daniel Harvey and Andy Smith nailed the start in Wayfarer 1804 to be third behind Richard Fryer (RS300) and McNamara round the first two marks. Ben Falat worked his way through well as the faster three craft took out a big lead on the water. McNamara won with Dave Houghton enjoying the heavier breeze to bring his Wayfarer home second ahead of the Falat family; Ben followed by Veronica in third and fourth.