Drizzle was definitely in the air when folks started arriving for the second TT event of the weekend, but there was the promise, or at least hope, for more breeze and clearer skies as the day progressed. With the wind, what there was of it, was from a few points west of North, which meant a course the full length of the lake could be used, albeit it with a starboard biased beat to the windward mark. The leeward gate was moved closer to the clubhouse shore to make the most of the wind direction.
As luck would have it the drizzle had dissipated when the ten boat fleet made a clean start bang on 9:30. As with the Saturday event the usual suspects of Tobias Laux and Alan Bennett were out of the blocks quickly, this time joined by Graham Elliott who had entered for the day. Paul Middleton was also in the mix from the off and these four kept trading places, with Tobias eventually taking the win followed by Graham and then Paul who edged out Alan B.
After the first race it became clear that tacking over to the far bank too early could cost you dearly and most played it safe by staying on the left of the course upwind in the next few races at least. Tobias was clearly determined to make amends for just missing out on winning on the Saturday by winning the next two races, although Alan B was never far behind banking two 2nds followed by a win in race 4 in the steadier breeze. Chris Elliott was also showing some good boat speed nudging his brother, Graham, down to 4th in the second race, followed by another 3rd place in race four. Alan Watkinson, after a slow start with some minor gremlins with his boat set up sailed well in the third race to pick up a 4th place.
After a short coffee and cake pit stop nine of the ten boats got away cleanly in the lake wide breeze. Unfortunately Chris Elliott was a tad too early at the off and he struggled to get back in touch with the fleet that was off at pace up the lake. Tobias, Alan B and Graham again hogged the top spots, but not far behind was young George Bennett who made claim to 4th spot at the top mark and, despite constant pressure from Vernon Appleton, sailed a great race to cross the line holding that position.
In the next three races Alan B scored two 1sts followed by a 2nd and he was perhaps a little hard done to when leading he sailed into a dead patch at the final leeward gate. Tobias managed to sail up from behind and around him taking the win on the line. John Berry had his best spell of the day in both races six and seven with a 4th in each race.
In race nine the wind had started to drop and Tobias followed by Paul M got away. Paul almost made it to the finish first, but was pipped by a quicker tacking Tobias just a few boat lengths from the line. Still a good result to go with 3rd Paul got in race nine. Alan W also had his best race so far picking up the 3rd spot.
After a lunch break the helms were greeted with an almost mirror like lake with just the odd zephyr on the water. Despite this the fleet got away without incident and by the first mark Alan W, John B, Bob Conner and Paul were in a leading group ahead of the usual front runners. Alan B managed to claw his way back in to contention, but Alan W took a well deserved win followed by Paul taking another 2nd in what was a good spell of races for him. Alan B took 3rd followed by Bob in 4th.
In race eleven Graham got back in the groove and lead virtually from start to finish, with Tobias taking 2nd followed by Alan B. Chris managed to keep his boat gliding well in the fickle breeze to take 4th with George picking up another good result with a 5th.
With race eleven taking around thirty minutes and no prospect of any breeze filling in, at 2:40 the Race Officer pulled plug on events much to the relief of the competitors. After the numbers were crunched it was a well deserved win for Tobias Laux on 13 points, with Alan Bennett having to settle for second this time with 17 points. Graham Elliott came in third with 24 points followed by Paul Middleton who had had a great spell late on finishing fourth overall with 36 points.Thanks must go to Paul and Sharon Plested, supported by Neil Westbooke for running the racing in what were testing conditions. Thanks also go to Joss Watkinson and Christine Westbrooke for keeping both competitors and volunteers fed and watered all day. Pictures courtesy of Paul Plested.
The forecast for the day suggested that it could be a very challenging event for the Race Officer and competitors alike with negligible wind expected from the SE moving around to the North by mid afternoon. However, for the 12 skippers who turned up to race there was breeze, albeit it light, blowing straight down the lake from the clubhouse end.
After a short briefing by Paul Plested, RO for the day, the fleet got away on time at 10am racing a typical 2 lap windward/leeward course with a short final beat to finish. In the first session of four races before a coffee break Alan Bennett, Tobias Laux and Peter Baldwin managed a degree of consistency in the light and shifty winds, each picking up at least three podium positions. Tobias managed two bullets, Peter one with Alan B having to make do with three 2nds. Chris Elliott had a good third race also picking up a 1st.
After a short refreshment break the fleet got away to continue the snakes and ladders racing, with positions constantly changing depending on whether you managed to steer clear of the holes in the wind. Alan B kept the pressure on his competitors scoring two firsts, with Tobias remaining consistent with another bullet and two 2nds in this four race session. Chris bagged another podium position picking a 2nd in race 6 and Paul Middleton took top spot in race eight. Bob Conner also picked up a 3rd place to go with a couple of 4ths earlier in the day, one achieved after being over the line at the start.
During the lunch break the wind, as per the forecast, switched 180degrees, which lead to a course change. As with the morning’s racing, there were still holes to catch folks out, but the breeze was a tad stronger and made for better racing across the fleet. Five races were sailed back to back and it was the usual suspects hogging the top three spots with Peter adding two more bullets to his scoreline, Tobias adding two and Alan B picking up another. Alan B also achieved a 2nd in race thirteen after what looked like a potential discard when he managed to pick up a nice little breeze down the shore to sail around several becalmed boats further out. Peter also looked at risk of losing 1st place, but he just managed to get around the last leeward mark to pick up the breeze to the finish. Bob picked up another two 3rd places and Paul added another 3rd place to his scorecard in this session. Alan Watkinson, who had been searching for boat speed all day, got his boat going in race eleven picking up a well earned 3rd place. Vernon Appleton, who was also in the mix in various races, picked up a 4th in race ten.
After a final break for a quick cuppa, it was clear that it was very close at the top. Tobias was in the driving seat with Alan B only a point or two behind. Peter also had it all to play for, especially as getting to sixteen races would mean he could ditch a counting sixth.
In race fourteen Alan B turned the screw by taking the win, with Tobias picking up 2nd and Peter 3rd. In race fourteen Tobias put more pressure on himself with a penalty close to the start, which he didn’t recover from, with Alan B taking his 2nd bullet of this session. Peter picked up 2nd. So, it was all down to the last race, with Tobias one point ahead of Alan B before a third discard came into play. Alan B got a good start but Tobias was even quicker off the start line, with perfect timing and speed at the pin end. For the first lap Tobias was a few boat lengths ahead at the leeward gate, but by the top of the beat, after splitting tacks, Alan B had managed to cross Tobias, only to just get nudged out by Tobias rounding just inside him at the windward mark. At the spreader mark Tobias, in the lead by a boat length, misjudged the rounding and touched the mark, which put him a boat length or two behind Alan B after taking a penalty turn. Alan B managed to stay ahead and took the race win, and, when the final results were compiled, the overall win over Tobias by just one point. Peter Baldwin was third overall with Chris Elliott fourth.
Despite the challenging conditions it proved to be a good of racing throughout the fleet.
Thanks go to Joss and Christine for keeping all competitors supplied with coffee, tea and cakes throughout the day and all of the members who came to help out during the day. Finally, thanks also to Paul and Sharon Plested for managing the racing, and also to Paul for taking the photos.
A decent fleet of seven RG65’s turned out for racing today on a sunny afternoon with a breeze that was nominally straight down the lake. With a single Ivy sailed by Alan Bennett and six Uno’s, it became an Uno shoot out for second place overall.
Alan Bennett dominated the day with a masterclass taking a win from all 12 races sailed. Other than a couple of races where Peter picked the right start and got an initial leg up, Alan was usually first to the windward mark and then off downwind, leaving the rest playing an impossible task of catch-up.
With around 8 to 10mph wind, there were a selction of different rigs to start with from full sized swing through to low aspect swing and conventional rigs. It soon became obvious that boats with a full sized swing rig were coping well with the conditions and so a few changed up after a couple of races, although others left it until half-time to make the change up to a full size swing rig. John Berry was going well in the first session using a full sized low aspect conventional and seemed to have more power going upwind and only at a slight disadvantage downwind. Alan W also had a decent first session picking up a number of seconds and thirds, but seemed to struggle with boat speed after the break. This allowed John to overhaul him in the overall standings by the end.
We were joined this week by Phil Davies from Etherow, who by the time he had sailed 9 races was starting to get to grips with the nuances of a swing rig and ended up with a good consistent day. Dave had some good results as well showing good speed at times, but unfortunately was unable to capitalise on this for the whole afternoon.
By the time we had sailed 12 races, Alan B stood out as clear winner, discarding two firsts, with Peter clear second and John Berry getting a well deserved third. Thanks go to Neil Westbrook for acting as RO for the afternoon and Dave for taking the photos (dropping out for at least one race to do so) and producing the final scores below.
The breeze was forecast to be SW and so it was always going to be a tricky day for deciding on a course and getting around the race track. During the early practice period the wind would swing back and forth between a fetch to the clubhouse followed by one the opposite way. Peter tried to keep our options open as to which way to start by setting some form of start line at both ends, along with a pair of Windward marks for each class and a single leeward rounding mark.
In the end, there was more West than South in it and so we started at the clubhouse, up to the finish mark and then a reach/fetch (and an occasional run!) to the far end. Then it was nearly a run back to to the clubhouse end and beat back to the finish. This was sailed for a couple of races, before the breeze picked up and straightened from the far end. This allowed us to sail a course without using the finish as a Windward mark and did involve quite a bit of tacking as the gusts swung the breeze back and forth. Oh and the sun was out at the start making for a very pleasant sail in the first session.
Knowing that there was rain forecast for later, Dave suggested that we sail seven races before a break, although with the wind being light at times we only sailed a single lap and finish leg, so race duration was about seven or eight minutes. We sailed and scored as a single fleet, with the DF fleet using a nearer mark, the fleet were closely matched, with the edge going to the RG’s (although Clive would prefer a bit more separation between the Windward marks for another week).
The first session belonged to Peter, with seven straight wins, although the chasing pack were often not far behind. A good number in the fleet posted seconds and thirds, with Alan and Clive posting similar results by the break. Dave had a difficult first race, but then posted a second and two thirds later on. It all depended on where you were positioned on the water and whether you saw the gust or not. Overall, we saw some very close finishes, with only inches separating boats in many races.
Alan Bennett decided this was going to be his day and aced the ten races. He didn’t have it his own way up to the windward mark but then downwind he just vanished. The UNO sailors were then left with trying to get the better of Gary sailing the other Ivy but ultimately felt short.
This was the last of this years Summer Series for the DF and RG65 fleets, although in common with just about every other week, there were only six RG65’s out and no DF65’s. The wind continued where it left off after the morning session with the DF95’s. The direction remained pretty well down the lake on average with some big shifts to exploit along with some holes to find. Expecting the breeze to build rather than die, most people sailed the first session with B rigs, although some were on low aspect A, with amix of both swing and conventional rigs.
The afternoon belonged to Alan’s Ivy with twelve straight wins. Peter worked hard to try and keep up and occasionally did hold the lead for a while, but Alan soon seemed to overhaul him. This was especially so in the first session of six races when Peter had a smaller/lower B rig compared to the other boats. The wind failed to build leaving him struggling for speed at times.
George and Dave were closely matched in this first session, so much so that after six races they were tied on points for the third/fourth places. Duncan sailing a new to him Goth, was struggling for boat speed as the B swing rig was definitely underpowered. The A rig was thought to be too big for the conditions in the first session, but did trade up for the second one, but was then over pressed in the gusts!
