Wednesday 28 December 2011

Streaker Ramblings - Freeman Iceberg Race 8 26.12.2011



The drive to Piddinghoe Boxing Day  morning was grey overcast, a light drizzle and just a whisp of breeze. Windguru for Seaford had been forcasting a force 4 westerly for the day but it did not develop. The breeze was certainly westerly but with a good bit of southerly in it too.
Thirteen boats took to the water on an unusual figure of eight course starting with a tiny windward leg in front of the clubhouse and then off on a very broad reach across to the east side of the pond. A gybe or a hardening up – depending upon which tack one approached from – led to a very close reach across behind the island to the south east corner. From there it was a beat up to the mark off the flag pole and then a reach to North east corner before turning westwards to beat back to the club house and start mark. The  breeze was somewhere between force 2 and 3 with occasional gusts just about in the force 4 area – the occasional plane was possible.

At the start gun, of the thirteen strong fleet,  three Lasers were first away - Matt Springhall (Laser full rig, NSSC) then Paul Ryan (Laser full rig, Hardway SC) and last of the set Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial, NSSC). Just behind them were Alice Smith (Topper, NSSC), Alan Simmons (Streaker, Lancing SC) and then Tim Cox (Laser full rig) with Ed Thorburn (Finn, NSSC) trailing him.

By the end of the first lap Matt.S on his first outing of the year led Ed.T with Paul.R in third position just 2 seconds behind. In fourth spot Jonty.F was in front of Alan.S  who, in turn, was one second ahead of Rupert Smith (Laser full rig, NSSC). Alan and Rupert had a battle throughout the first half of the race changing places regularly and rarely more than 10 seconds apart at the end of a lap. It was lap six before Rupert really began to pull away.

By the finish of  lap 2 the order had settled to Ed.T , Paul.R,  Matt.S and Jonty.F.


During lap 4 Steve and Penelope Duncan (Fireball, NSSC) who were coming up behind Alan.S – then in 6th place – but suddenly dropped well back. It was afterwards discovered that the Jib had been incorrectly rigged and words with the crew resulted in near mutiny. It was a long and slow recovery to get up to 10th on the water by the end of lap 7. Also in this lap Matt.S having just gone on to the reach across to the north east corner had a sudden falling out with his boat an equally sudden falling in to the water. This slowed him down rather as First Jonty, then Rupert and then Alan all passed him and he was unable to recover to better than 6th place on the water.

Another  event occurred at one of the turning marks when a Laser loudly called for water, to which allegedly, he was not entitled. The was quite a bit of returning loud calls and the threat of protest but as far as the writer is concerned had not happened by the time of the prize giving.

One boat was afloat in a very curious garb, namely a Laser II (Hull) with a sail bearing a Scorpion insignia and a dubiously high sail number. Mike Rosier and crew Chris (NSSC) had sailed in a number  of craft in this series but this was the strangest to date. They did manage to stay ahead of Jack Turner and James Bovington (Laser II, NSSC) in their conventionally rigged boat, who had had a bit of an up and a down race in the light breeze and just about able to stay ahead of Alice.S in her Topper.

Tim.C was consistant in the full rig Laser, he had borrowed from Bill Wates, only dropping from 7th (on the water) in lap 3 when Steve.D – who had been tied with him at the end of lap 2 – briefly got ahead. Steve’s problems, mentioned above, then allowed him back into 7th spot.

Bill Wates, having loaned his boat to Tim.C went on to crew for Michael Veale  (in his RS 200, NSSC). They did manage to fly the spinnaker but it did them no good in the light conditions. Dan Ford and Becca Gibson (Magno, NSSC) fought their way gamely around the course with, as far as was seen , just one capsize – the reason for this is unknown but it could be that Becca is not getting her weight onto the side deck at exactly the correct moment.

At the finish of this final race of the series, after some nine laps, the order was Ed.T, Paul.R, Jonty, F, Rupert.S Alan. S, Matt.S and Tim.C the remainder of the fleet finishing at least on the previous lap. With the handicaps calculated the winner was Alan with Jonty 2nd and Ed in third spot.



Results – Race 8 (unofficial/unchecked) :-

1st.Alan Simmons,  2nd Jonty Freeman, 3rd. Ed Thorburn, 4th. Paul Ryan, 5th Rupert Smith, 6th. Matt Springhall, 7th. Tim Cox, 8th Alice Smith, 9th. Mike Rosier, 10th Dan Ford and Jack Turner, 12th. Michael Veale, 13th Steve Duncan.



The series this year has had more strong wind than in the previous couple of years meaning that the younger, fitter helms have benefitted more than some of the old-uns (the writer included in that group) but the turnouts have been good and a few new faces have turned up. As always the Race Officer, Kay Young , has done sterling work – setting up the courses and recording the lap times – in all kinds of weather, although fortunately no snow this time round and was given a small token of appreciation at the prizgiving. Some 29 boats entered the series and completed at least one race – some helms used a variety of boats which did not necessarily help their overall results.

When the overall positions in the series were calculated both Ed and Jonty had 11 points (subsequently resolved via the last race result making Jonty the winner) whilst Alan had 13 and was thus 3rd overall. Paul Ryan was 4th, Rupert Smith 5th, Darren Smith 6th, Michael Veale 7th, Dan Ford 8th,  Laurence Venus 9th, Tom Taylor 10th, Jack Turner 11th, Alice Smith 12th & 13th (Topper and Laser II), Graham Hardy 14th and Bill Wates 15th

Alan.S 1700

PS. The New Year’s day race starts at 2.00pm on Sunday 1st Jan and the Elford Numbum series commences on Sunday 8th Jan at 11.00am – we hope to see you there, if only spectating from the bankside.

Wednesday 21 December 2011

Streakerramblings -Freeman Iceberg Race 7 - 18th December2011

What a change, blue almost cloudless skies this morning on our way to Piddinghoe with just a hint of breeze. On arrival it was still bright and sunny but with a deep frost on the boat cover and a cool breeze from the west, perhaps a force 3.
Fourteen boats entered this race and all were on the water for the start. By then the breeze had dropped to a force 1 to 2 and it stayed thus throughout – the sun stayed out too.
The course was an old familiar, start near the flagpole and a short beat to the corner near the clubhouse followed by a reach along the north side. Thereafter it was a close reach back towards the flag pole and a gybe round the former start mark and off to the east side and another gybe. The final two legs were a reach behind the island and then a long beat up the west side to the clubhouse but inside the start line limit mark.

At the gun there were a couple of boats, Laurence Venus (Streaker, NSSC) and Darren Field (Byte CII, NSSC) close to the bank and off on a port tack flyer whilst the rest of the fleet were coming up the line on starboard. At the pin end Alan Simmons (Streaker, Lancing SC) tried to get in by the limit mark but was prevented by Michael Veale and Andy Walker (RS 200, NSSC). Alan had just enough speed however to tack away on port and then return on starboard at the mark to turn in third place.

By the time Laurence.V had reached the north east gybe mark Alan was 2nd and Ed Thorburn (Finn, NSSC) third with Darren 4th. Laurence immediately began to draw away on the reach whilst Ed overtook Alan before the end of the leg. At the end of lap one the order was Laurence.V, Ed. T, Alan.S, Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial, NSSC) and then Rupert Smith (Laser full rig, NSSC). The following group were led by Steve and Penelope Duncan (Fireball, NSSC) then Paul Ryan (Laser full rig, Hardway SC), Darren.F and Bill Wates (Laser full rig, NSSC).


In the second lap Steve.D blitzed his way past Rupert.S, Jonty.F and Alan.S. Paul.S using a borrowed bottom mast section (after last week’s breakage) also climbed up past Rupert and Alan to be fourth on the water and Ed.T scraped past Laurence.V to take the lead by ten seconds. By the end of lap 4 the top order was established as Ed.T, Laurence.V, Paul.R, Steve.D, Rupert.S Jonty.F, Alan.S and then Darren.F.
Slightly further back Graham Hardy (Laser full rig, NSSC) and Bill. W were having their own private battle with Chas Humphries (Laser full rig, NSSC) and Michael – who found their boat somewhat sticky in the light wind. Bringing up the tail were Mike Rosier with crew Chris Rosier (Topper Magno, NSSC) ahead of Alice Smith (Topper, NSSC). In the light breeze Alice was suffering from lack of momentum and unable to repeat her performance as last week.
Ed.T was first across the line ahead of Laurence.V, but well behind on handicap although holding an adequate margin on Alan.S who came home in third spot.
This week Dan Ford volunteered to crew the safety boat – hence his apparent absence from the race.

Results (Unofficial, Unconfirmed) :-
1st. Laurence Venus, 2nd. Ed Thorburn, 3rd. Alan Simmons, 4th Paul Ryan, 5th.Darren Field, 6th. Jonty Freeman, 7th. Rupert Smith, 8th. Graham Hardy, 9th. Chas Humphries, 10th. Bill Wates, 11th. Steve Duncan, 12th. Mike Rosier, 13th. Michael Veale, 14th. Alice Smith.

Alan.S 1700
PS. I repeat my message from last week - for those of my readers who missed it - I wish you all the seaons greetings for a Happy Christmas and Prosperous,Eventfull and Interesting New Year in 2012.
PPS. The next - and final - Race of the 2011 Freeman Iceberg will take place on Boxing day , Monday 26th December and hopefully I will be there to take part and/or report.

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Streakerramblings -Freeman Iceberg Race 6 - 11th December2011



Grey, totally overcast and breezy as we set off to Piddinghoe. As we got closer the sky did seem to be brightening up to the south and whilst above the cloud the sun may well have had his hat on he did not come out to play.
Kay set the same course as last week, except that with a south westerly wind, we went round in the opposite direction. The start was by the clubhouse with just a few yards to the first mark and then a hairy reach down the long southerly side of the pond. At the end there was a gybe and another reach behind the Island thence onto a beat to a mark just off the shore by the flagpole. From there it was another very broad reach back to the north east corner and a final beat back to the start mark.

Some fourteen boats took to the water in a good ‘top end’ force 4 – the gust were, as usual at Piddinghoe, horrendous and close on mid force 6. At the start it was Paul Ryan (Laser full rig, Hardway SC) tight on the line with Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial, NSSC) tucked in behind and Rupert Smith (Laser full rig, NSSC) a little to windward. The next group of four were Nathan Bloss (Laser Radial, NSSC), Edward Thorburn (Finn, NSSC), Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS 200, NSSC) and Alan Simmons (Streaker, Lancing SC).
  The long reach, with the occasional violent gust, sorted out the order at the gybe into Ed.T as leader then Jonty.F followed by Rupert.S , Alan.S and  then Nathan Bloss Paul.R had dropped back a touch as had Michael.V who had problems lowering his spinnaker for the next leg. The next beat, back towards the Pole, allowed these two to pull back through ahead of Alan. At the ‘Pole’ mark it was either a tack or bearing off – depending upon which tack the mark had been approached – but gusts caught out the unwary. Also at the North east mark the gusts were coming fast and furious giving some competitors a dip.

By the end of the first lap Ed.T was in front, ahead of Jonty.F by 10 seconds, then came Rupert.S  just ahead of Paul.R. Next up was Michael.V then Alan.S followed by Jack Turner and James Bovington (Laser II, NSSC).
  Next up was Alice Smith sailing a Topper(NSSC) ahead of Nathan.B and then Darren Field (Byte CII, NSSC). Bringing up the tail were Alex Stonard in a Topper (NSSC), John Smith (Pico, single sail, NSSC) Dan Ford and Becca Gibson (Magno, NSSC) and finally Josh Smith (Topper, small sail, NSSC) - this group had all been well off the start line at the intial gun. Josh.s  having capsized fairly early on in lap 1 got rather cold and retired to the bank side.
In lap 2 Jonty.F got ahead of Ed.T on the long reach – and stayed there until overtaken in lap 4. Paul.R also overtook Rupert.S whilst Alan.S, having nearly been forced into the bank by an out of control RS200 on the long reach, just escaped to move  into 5th spot with Jack.T behind him.  Michael V having finally regained control dropped back to 7th.
In lap 4 Alan.S capsized just after leaving the ‘Pole’ mark and had his mast stick in the bottom mud. After the Safety boat had had a couple of attempts to right the boat Alan floated off – or the boat did  and was ‘cornered’ by Rupert.S who had himself been upside down for quite a time. When eventually aboard the Safety boat the Streaker was righted but Alan had lost best part of a lap in time.  The Pond Rules allow for assistance by the safety boat and then continuation of racing. This lap also saw Nathan.B retire having spent a good time in the water and Jack.T and James.B also retired when one of their trapeze wires broke  - shades of Steve Duncan last week.

Lap 5 saw Paul .R, who had been in third position, suffer a broken mast and had to be towed ashore. This time Ed.T and Jonty.F crossed the line at exactly the same time but then Ed went back in front to finally finish some 16 seconds ahead.

Few but the two leaders and  Alice Smith – who sailed a blistering race - stayed upright throughout  the event. Most of those spoken to afterwards could not recall how many times they upended but mostly sem to have enjoyed their outing.


Results (Unofficial, Unchecked) :-
1st. Jonty Freeman, 2nd. Ed Thorburn, 3rd. Alice Smith, 4th John Smith, 5th. Darren Field, 6th. Rupert Smith, 7th. Alan Simmons, 8th Michael Veale, 9th Alex Stanard, 10th Dan Ford,
DNF. Paul Ryan, Nathan Bloss, Josh Smith and Jack Turner.

Alan S 1700

PS. To my reader(s?) I wish you a very Happy Christmas and Prosperous/Joyous New Year

Monday 5 December 2011

Streakerramblings -Freeman Iceberg Race 5 - 4th December2011



As last week it was a grey overcast sky, very high cloud but without a break and just a gentle breeze as we left home.
On arrival at Piddinghoe and whilst rigging the boat there was another westerly breeze of about force 2 – Windguru was forcasting force 4 initial building to force 5 later in the day - this faded to almost nothing until just before the racing started.
The course Kay set was practically as last week with an initial very short beat, to the clubhouse corner, along the northern side followed by a close reach back to the start pole end. A broad reach across to the eastern side then down behind the island before a final beat back up the western side.

Sixteen boats were afloat for the start and Darren Field (Byte CII, NSSC) made off at the shore end ahead of everybody else – just a little too early – and was called back to start properly. At the pin end it was Alan Simmons (Streaker, Lancing SC) who was legitimately first away and tacked off to get what he thought was clear air in the light – force 1 - breeze. At the shore end it was Tom Taylor (Megabyte, NSSC) closely followed by Laurence Venus (Streaker, NSSC) who made it to the turning mark first with Alan.S through next and then Ed Thorburn (Finn, NSSC).

Whilst Laurence, Alan and Ed were scrapping along the northern side of the pond Tom broke away and established a goodly lead on the next reach. By the end of the lap Ed was up to second with Laurence still ahead of Alan and beginning to edge away. Behind this group were Paul Ryan (Laser full rig, Hardway SC), Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial, NSSC)  then Darren.F (having re-started) with Rupert Smith (Laser full rig, NSSC) behind him.

By the end of lap 4 Tom. T was still ahead of Ed .T but Jonty.F  had climbed up to 3rd place ahead of Laurence whilst Alan.S was down in 7th having been overtaken by Jonty, Paul and Rupert, the breeze by then having increased to a good force 4 – planing was possible on some of the reaches. Laurence had a slight collision with Jonty’s stern on one of the reaches when he lost control of his boat and ended up doing a 720 degree penalty.
In lap 6 Tom.T suffered a broken (Carbon) mast – at the site of a previous repair – and had to be towed home, his moments of glory dashed and so Ed.T went into the lead with Jonty.F hard on his heels. This was also the final lap for Dan Ford and crew (the girl) Becca Gibson in their Magno (NSSC) who had embarked on a capsize whilst both were on the wrong side of the boat. Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS 200, NSSC) had been using their spinnaker on all the reaches and runs in the course and were closing on Alan.S and finally passed him on the final reach of the next lap. Rupert .S had been climbing up the fleet and finally got ahead of Paul.R in lap 6, the most eventfull of the total nine laps sailed.

Alice Smith and Alex Stanard (Laser II, NSSC) also slowly climbed up the fleet from 13th in lap one to 8th in lap 8, one spot in front of Darren.F.
Josh Smith (Topper, NSSC) only completed one full lap before retiring whilst his dad John ( Pico, NSSC) spent a long while with his mast stuck in the mud before the safety boat eventually freed him. Steve and Penelope Duncan (Fireball, NSSC) in their first venture out this year – but not racing, Steve said – followed the fleet round, keeping out of everybody’s way (mostly) and also spent a goodly amount of time on their side when Penelope’s trapeze wire snapped during the main windward leg.
Throughout the race the two full rig Lasers of Bill Wates and Graham Hardy (both NSSC ) had a good tussel half way down the fleet, Bill coming out on top at the finish. The lead held by Ed.T and Jonty.F at the finish was still not enough to beat Laurence.V time on application of the handicap correction.

Results (Unofficial, unchecked) :-

1st .Laurence Venus, 2nd. Jonty Freeman, 3rd .Alan Simmons, 4th .Ed Thorburn, 5th. Rupert Smith, 6th .Paul Ryan, 7th. Darren Field, 8th.Michael Veale, 9th.Alice Smith,10th.Bill Wates, 11th.Graham Hardy, 12th.Steve Duncan, 13th. Dan Ford, 14th.John Smith, 15th. Tom Taylor and Josh Smith.

The series table after 4 races now stands as 1st.Jonty Freeman, 2nd. Ed Thorburn, 3rd. Alan Simmons, 4th.Paul Ryan, 5th. Michael Veale, 6th. Darren Field, 7th. Tom Taylor, 8th. Laurence Venus, 9th. Alice Smith, 10th. Rupert Smith, 11th Dan Ford, 12th Graham Hardy, 13th Bill Wates, John and Josh Smith come in at 18th and 19th place as they keep changing boat class.

Alan.S 1700

PS. The sun finally began to break through as we were half way home.

Monday 28 November 2011

Streakerramblings -Freeman Iceberg Race 4 - 27th November 2011

A grey sky, wall to wall, a very strong breeze and rain coming down in sheets. That was just on the journey down to Piddinghoe this Sunday. On arrival Alan.S was in two minds as whether or not to sail in the westerly wind but decided to rig anyway. Huge gusts were coming across the water and the wind was howling in the rigging of boats on the bankside – suggesting at least force 5 to 6.
There was a fair amount of interest with finally eleven boats getting onto the pond, with one boat left on the bank, its helm unsure of the sense of going afloat ( having seen Alan.S in his Streaker, one of the first afloat, capsize and have to await the safety boat to free his mast from the mud) finally deciding against venturing out.
Kay, the RO set a course with an initial short beat up the long (west) side of the pond, turning in front of the clubhouse and followed by a close reach along the northern bank. Turning there led off on a broad reach back to the start mark and after another gybe another reach across to the east bank and thence behind the island on a run to the Southern corner and finally the main beat up the west side.

At the off there was a good bit of shouting as Paul Ryan (Laser, Hardway SC) coming up fast below Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial, NSSC) forced him up towards the pin mark. A little to leeward Rupert Smith (NSSC) sailing a Laser full Rig this week - instead of the Mirror he has used for the previous races – came off the line with good speed with Darren Field (Byte CII, NSSC) tucked in close behind. Alan Simmons (Streaker, Lancing SC) was close to the pin but just astern of Paul.R and right down to leeward Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS200, NSSC) started off on port tack.
By the end of lap one the order was Paul.R followed by Rupert.S with Jonty.F in third spot. Next up was Michael.V with Alan.S in 5th spot – these two remained in the same relative postion throughout the race with the gap between them opening and closing constantly. Tom Taylor (Megabyte, NSSC) was labouring in sixth on the water having been nowhere near the line at the start – probably not hearing the guns due to the wind and not seeing the visual signals, somewhat hidden in the reeds. In seventh place was Darren.F, then came Jack Turner and James Bovington (Laser II, NSSC) with D.Ford and girl crew in the Magno (NSSC) bringing up the tail.
Nathan Bloss (NSSC) sailing a Laser Radial suffered a broken Kicking strap in the first lap, after an early capsize, leading to a skying boom which eventually came off and he ended up on the east bank until towed home. Josh Smith sailing a Topper with the reduced rig found the breeze still too much for him and also capsized in lap one and then retired to the bank.
A battle royal was happening in the front of the fleet with Rupert.S passing Jonty.F in lap 2, losing the place back in lap 3. By lap 4 Jonty.F had also overtaken Paul.R as has Rupert.S. The top order then stayed Jonty, Rupert and Paul to the finish.
A bit further back down the fleet Jack.T had a capsize in lap 4 and retired whilst Tom.T suffered a dip in lap 5 but recovered and although he passed Alan.S before the finish he was still a lap behind.
Whilst the skies cleared and the sun shone out the breeze dropped slowly throughout the racing until it fizzled out almost entirely once everyone was ashore and packed up.
Once the handicaps had been calculated Alan.S had overtaken Michael.V but made no impression on the three front running Lasers.

Results (Unofficial, Unapproved) :-
1st. Jonty Freeman, 2nd Rupert Smith, 3rd. Paul Ryan, 4th.Alan Simmons, 5th.Michael Veale, 6th. Darren Field, 7th. Tom Taylor, 8th, D.Ford, 9th (Retired), Jack Turner, Josh Smith and Nathan Bloss.
Alan.S 1700

Monday 21 November 2011

Streakerramblings – Freeman Iceberg Race 3 – 20/11/2011

With the pond open again for sailing – after the Algae problem – Sunday dawned misty but bright with just a hint of breeze. The journey down to Piddinghoe necessitated the use of dipped headlights and upon arrival at the pond any sailing looked rather unlikely. Vision across the water was limited to little more than 30 metres, the nearest mark or two to the clubhouse. A waft of breeze was felt, well under a force 1, from the northern side of the pond.
After getting the boat off its trailer, down near to the slip way and rigging it, the visibility had only marginally improved and after launching it was little better. Finally the mist lifted enough for the RO, Chris Turner, to set a course, and allow the safety boat to reposition a couple of marks for the fleet to go round the outside of the pond.

Amazingly there was an enormous turnout – for Piddinghoe – with nineteen boats going afloat, only one of which although starting did not complete the course. There was one capsize, Paul Ryan (Laser, Hardway SC) managed to tip it in when launching.

At the start it was the aforementioned Paul Ryan who shot out in front on starboard tack and then managed to tack across in front of the pursuing pack. Next up was the Laser II of Jack Turner and James Bovington (NSSC) followed by Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial, NSSC), Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS 200, NSSC) and then Darren Field in his Byte CII (NSSC). Ed Thorburn (Finn, NSSC) – Race 1 winner – was behind these and the two Streakers – Alan Simmons, Lancing SC and Laurence Venus, NSSC – where well behind this gaggle.
At the end of the first lap the order was sorted out with Paul.R in top spot, Ed.T next, Jonty.F third and Laurence.V fourth. Lying fifth was Julian Dobson (Laser full rig, NSSC) and Alan.S in sixth spot. By the end of the second lap, in the still light breeze, Ed.T had moved into the lead with Paul.R behind him and Laurence.V up a place to third. Further back in the fleet Darren.F was up from 9th to 7th with Michael.V down to 9th. By the end of lap 4 the order was Ed.T in front with Laurence.V next then Paul.R and Alan.S in fourth, a sequence that was to remain until the finish although Alan did give Paul a few shocks when he almost got ahead on a few occasions. Back down the fleet it was Jack.T in the Laser II who lost out most, apparently getting his centreboard stuck in the mud on three occasions in almost exactly the same place at the end of the short windward leg, close to the clubhouse (and Dad Chris), dropping from 7th at the end of lap 1 to 14th in lap 7. Alice Smith and Alex Stonard (Laser II, NSSC) were slightly better off ending up at 12th in lap 7 from 14th in lap 1 – it really was not breezy enough for this class of dinghy.













The other Lasers, Graham Hardy, Bill Wates, and Chas Humphries (all NSSC members) had their own little race, within a race, with Graham.H leading the field into 9th spot, on the water at the finish, ahead of Chas.H and then Bill.W. Michael.V in the RS 200, although using his spinnaker on several occasions, dropped slowly down th ranks from 8th in lap 1 to12th at the close.

Amongst the tail enders, Rupert Smith (Mirror single handed, NSSC) stayed constant in 15th position for 5 laps he managed to complete, once again not really enough breeze to move him round. Terry Jones (Pico, NSSC) just dropped one place in the race from 16th in laps 1 to 4 to 17th at his finish. Similarly Josh Smith (Topper, NSSC) dropped from 17th in lap 4 to 18th in lap 5, whilst John Smith (Pico, NSSC) went from 18th to 19th in lap 4.The Magno sailed by D Ford (NSSC) started the race in 19th, last, position and clawed up to 16th by the end of lap 5 but then retired.
By the time all the boats were ashore and packed up for the day the mist rolled in over the water once more. With the results calculated it was a clean sweep for the two Streakers with Laurence 1st and Alan 2nd.

Results (unofficial, unchecked):-
1st. Laurence Venus, 2nd. Alan Simmons, 3rd Ed Thorburn, 4th. Paul Ryan, 5th Jonty Freeman, 6th. Julian Dobson, 7th.Darren Field, 8th.Tom Taylor, 9th.Graham Hardy, 10th. Chas Humphries, 11th. Bill Wates, 12th Michael Veale, 13th Alice Smith, 14th Jack Turner, 15th. Rupert Smith, 16th. Terry Jones, 17th. Josh Smith, 18th John Smith,19th D.Ford


Alan.S 1700

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Streakerramblings -Freeman Iceberg Race 2 - 13th November 2011

Well another week and no sailing for me - or anyone else as it happens. The NSSC web site reveals all:-


NEWS

Winter Series Race Sunday 13th November - Cancelled

racing is cancelled this week, but should take place from 20th onwards

the temporary oxygenation pumps (see below) whilst in use

create a hazard for sailors and windsurfers

.

What is Hapening at Piddinghoe Pond ?

An Algae ‘bloom‘ has died with the colder weather and in decomposing

has taken the oxygen levels down to a point where the fish were dying.

.

The Environmental Agency have responded with pumps to provide

temporary areas of oxygenation until the pond recovers its natural balance

.

The algae was not toxic and there was and is no danger to people, dogs etc

This action by EA is funded through the UK fishing licences – not through local rates or club funds

.

It is a naturally occuring phenomena, however we are working closely with

Seaford Angling club who rent the angling rights,

together with the EA specialists to understand if we can,

over time, improve the habitat to reduce the risk of the algae blooms.
So there you are, all is revealed and hopefully we will be able to sail next Sunday.
Alan.S 1700

Thursday 10 November 2011

Streakerramblings -Freeman Iceberg Race 1 - 6th November 2011


This account is going to be third hand as I was not present, on or off the water, at the initial race of this winter’s pre-Xmas series so have to rely on the annotated lap sheet provided by Kay Young the RO.
Bett and I had been invited to lunch at Sussex YC by our friend Clare to celebrate the purchase of her Wayfarer Dinghy ‘Daggers’ – splendid Turkey and trimmings.
Back to the racing however, the morning’s Windguru had forecast at least force 5 but the reported white caps on waves would seem to indicate something a bit stronger although it did apparently reduce a little as the race progressed. Six boats came to the line and at the gun it was Rupert Smith (NSSC) single handed in a Mirror who was first away. Tailing him were Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (NSSC) in their RS200.
Within a few yards Ed Thorburn (NSSC) in his Finn had jumped into the lead and was to remain there unchallenged to the finish. By the end of the first lap the order was Ed.T followed by Paul Ryan (Hardway SC) in a full rig Laser with Tom Taylor (NSSC) next in a Megabyte – having by then overtaken Michael.V. In fifth spot were Alice Smith and Alex Stanard (NSSC) in their Laser II (Fun) and a goodly way ahead of dad Rupert.S. who had already managed to capsize at least once.
Lap two saw a bit more rotation when Alice and Alex capsized and Tom.T lowered his sail and was towed home with, it transpired, a broken gooseneck fitting.
In lap 3 Rupert.S managed to lose control and capsized again only also to lose his mainsheet as he righted the boat and being unable to recover that he sailed home under jib alone.
Whilst all on different laps all four remaining boats crossed the line within seconds of one another, in the 39 to 40 minute period, having all been on the planing leg simultaneously.
In lap 7 it was Paul.R’s turn to take a swim allowing Michael.V to get ahead of him, and stay there until the finish however once the handicaps were applied Paul.R pulled the position back. In the same lap Alice.S and Alex.S also took another swim but recovered and continued to the finish in 4th place.

It was certainly a fast and furious event with plenty of spills, thrills and retirements but unfortunately no pictures to display with these notes.

Results:-
1st. Ed Thorburn, 2nd. Paul Ryan, 3rd. Michael Veale and Mike Rosier, 4th. Alice Smith and Alex Stanard, 5th (Retired) Tom Taylor, 5th (Retired) Rupert Smith.
Alan.S 1700
PS Alan intends to be present next Sunday (remembrance Sunday) 13th November.

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Streaker Ramblings - Alton Water 08/10/2011

Up at 6.00am and on the road for the 2.1/2 hours drive up to Alton Water for the final Open Meeting of this year. The skies were grey all the way up to just south of Ipswich and then there was just the chance of some blue peeping through – it did not last. The breeze, on arrival, was not as forcast on Windguru – force 4 – it was more like top end force 5 to 6. I was a bit dubious as to whether to go or not but rigged the boat anyway. There was a Topper function/ training day going on with the area in front of the clubhouse covered with the perishers. Fortunately they used the northern, dam, end of the lake.

In the end some 14 Streakers went afloat for the first of two back to back morning races. Starting from a committee boat in mid lake we were off on a windward leg almost to the south end of the lake, followed by a run back northand then a short reachbefor starting the windward leg again leading throught the gate at the committee boat. First away were Alan Gillard (Sheffield Vikings) and Mike Hanes (Deben YC) hotly pursued by Veronica Falat (Waveney & Oulton Broad YC), Ian and Mathew Whitfield (Tamworth SC), Nick Lovell (Ouse Ameteur SC) and Alan Robinson (Blakeney SC).
Alan. G and Mike.H were having a great battle, both pulling out well ahead of the pusuing bunch. Mike eventually got in front only to receive no signal as he crossed the finish line having been over at the start. Matthew.W was next home ahead of Veronica.F and then Nick. L Alan Simmons (Lancing SC) despite being fairly well up in the early stages of the race found the going rather too much and dropped back to 9th place behind Gary Hogan (Haversham SC) and Paul Cooper Alton Water SC). Chris Sear (Royal Harwich SC) in his rather elderly boat ( with original Holt allen Round section mast and boom) came in tenth with Steve Long (Alton Water SC) in an even older boat bringing up the rear.

Ian Mansfield (Alton Water SC) suffered a lost or broken mainsheet block meaning that he had to go ashore and miss the first race Whilst Roger Smith (Deben YC) did not start in the first race.
Race two started on a slightly modified course with the windward mark a wee bit north and east of the previous position. Again it was Alan.G taking the lead almost at the start with Nick. M in second spot with Matthew.W again ahead of his dad. Veronica. F was up in the leading pack until the penultimate lap when she lost her rudder just after the jybe onto the reach. It did not come right off but in a jamed position made it almos impossible for her to right the boat, even with eventually the help of the safety boat and she then failed to finish. Mike. H did not have such a good start and could do no better than 4th this time. Alan.S could only manage 8th place behind Ian.M but ahead of Gary.H this time and with a further three behind him.

The third race, after lunch was held in slightly less strong breezes, over the same course as previuosly, the direction had not altered. Yet once more Alan.G led from the front but having won the meeting quit the ‘field’ early leaving Mike.H to go in front with Veronica.F hard on his heels and Nick.L behind her. Yet again Matthew.W led his dad home. Alan.S had a lenghthy battle with Ian.M only to lose out in the last lap but still with four boats behind. Alan.R and Roger.S did not sail in this race.
Whilst Alan Gillard had convincingly won the event there were three helms on equal points vying for second place overall and is was down to the postions in the final race to sort out the order.

Reusults:-
1st. Alan Gillard, 2nd. Mike Hanes, 3rd. Veronica Falat, 4th Nick Lovel, 5th. Matthew Whitfield, 6th.Ian Whitfield, 7th. Alan Robinson, 8th. Ian Mansfield, 9th. Alan Simmons, 10th. Gary Hogan, 11th. Paul Cooper, 12th. Chris Sear, 13th. Steve Long, 14th Roger Smith.
As this was the last race in the Southern Area Paddle Series there were prizes to be awarded to those competitors who had sufficient race to qualify. Top spot went to the class Secretary Veronica Falat with Nick Lovell in second place, Alan Simmons in third and Gary Hogan in fourth.
This is my last Streaker Open Meeting blog for the year but starting on 6th November ( which I will prbably miss) is the Freeman Iceberg at Piddinghoe – a Menagerie Fleet Open Series which runs up to and including Boxing Day, After that a New Years Day race and then the Numbum Series in January and February, all or nearly all of which I hope to report on at this blog site.
Alan.S 1700

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Streaker Ramblings – Broxbourne 04/09/2011

With still no Towbar – it arrived Friday but Alan.S did not feel competent to fit it – it was a case of down to the club and put the boat up on the roof rack. With help from Steve Lynch that is what we did, including the two part Carbon mast (more of that later), on Saturday evening.
The first few miles of the drive up in the morning were horrendous with all sorts of strange’ creaking’ noise – not heard on the trip back home from the club the previous evening. It was not until we stopped at Clackett’s Lane Services that the cause was discovered to be the straps holding the boat to the roof rack flapping on the car roof. Using another short strap these were lifted clear of the roof and the noise was gone.
Apart from that the journey up was in bright, if not clear blue, skies with but a gentle force 2 breeze. On arrival at Nazeing the wind was similar and coming from the direction of the clubhouse – south westerly. With the help of Chris Seear (Royal Harwich SC) the boat was unloaded and rigged – the mast set up was a bit of a guess not having been used since last year.
The initial course was a bit of knitting, with two beats and a run in the main lake followed by a divertion into the small easterly section – with major areas of no wind in there – then returning to the main lake. It got a bit dizzying with all the tacks and gybes.

After the 17 Lasers started, in the joint meeting, the Streakers got away on a close Starboard direction – no room for Port tack starts on that line. Before the starts Alan.S (Lancing SC) had checked out the right hand side of the beat only to discover that the breeze vanished just short of the windward mark when tacking back across in front of the club. Consequently at the start he headed off left, just behind Steve Garrett (Bough Beech SC) and ahead of the rest of the fleet. In the fitfull and shifty breeze their lead vanished almost immediately with almost everybody else passing them by.
On the next leg, a run back to close to the starting pin, Alan.S pulled a few place back by sailing well left. Soon however Peter Selway (Broxbourne SC) and Veronica Falat (Waveney & Oulton Broad YC) pulled out in front until in the smaller section of the lake he fell foul of a substantial wind shift allowing Amy Robinson (Blakeney SC) to slip into second spot. Steve.G came home in 4th position, Martin Wayland (Broxbourne SC) was 5th whilst Alan.S dropped to 7th. There was a fair bit of position changing in the lower orders but in this race it was Chris.S who brought up the rear.
After lunch the RO reset the course, omitting the smaller section of the lake but with still plenty of knitting in the main part with a beat, then run, then a further beat, a reach and a another run finishing with another reach. The breeze had increased a trifle – to force 3 – but the skies opened.

Alan.S got another good start but within seconds had lost it all. Ian Mansfield (Alton Water)
got the flier and was first around the top mark ahead of Veronica.F with Steve.G in third place. Half way through the 2nd lap Alan.S managed to capsize at a gybe mark and stayed in 11th place until the final lap when he pulled one place back. Veronica pulled into the lead in lap 2 and stayed out in front of Steve.G and Amy.R both of whom passed Ian.M. In this race Peter.S stayed in 5th place throughout whilst Gary Hogan (Haversham SC) made the most progress from 11th at the end of lap one up to 7th at the finish. It was not Geoff Town’s (Broxbourne SC) day either when, laying ahead of Alan.S, he went round the windward mark on the wrong side, lost the wind and then had to unwind himself.
Going into the final race – back to back with race 2 – Veronica.F had already won the meeting with two gongs, next in line was Amy.R. From the start it was Peter.S however who was in control and Veronica had to make do with 2nd spot. Laying initially in third place Steve.G finally lost out to Amy.R with Ian.M taking 5th. Alan.S having reduced the purchase on his centre main system, to suit the again decreasing breeze, gradually dropped down the fleet from 6th to 7th and finally to 8th in the last lap when he saw the sheet running out of the last block on the final run and letting Gary.H pass him.
Ian Nash (Broxbourne SC) - in the oddly numbered 2030 – had a couple of 9th placings whilst Richard Dean (Broxbourne SC) stayed glued almost permanently at the tail end of the Streaker Fleet.

Results :- 1st Veronica Falat, 2nd. Peter Selway, 3rd. Amy Robinson, 4th Steve Garrett,
5th. Ian Mansfield, 6th Martin Wayland, 7th. Gary Hogan, 8th. Alan Simmons,
9th. Chris Seear, 10th Ian Nash, 11th. Geoff Town, 12th Richard Dean.

Everyone who entered the meeting sailed in all three races and Alan.S’s was the sole capsize. Veronica.F was, apart from overall winner, the 1st Lady helm, Steve.G was awarded a trophy for perseverance and Alan.S was, surprisingly, awarded 1st Master.
A word of thanks goes, not only to the club for a great meeting and an excellent (free) tea, but to Gary.H for helping to get Alan’s boat back onto the roof rack for the journey home.
Alan.S 1700.
PS. The Towbar was finally fitted by 7.15 pm on Monday

Wednesday 24 August 2011

Streaker Ramblings - Deben YC July 16th 2011

As I advised in an earlier Blog I did not go to the Streaker Open Meeting at Deben this year - as far as I was concerned the forcast was for too strong a breeze for my liking. From the verbal reports I had I was right in my choice, certainly two of the entrants did not complete all three races.
The meeting was won by Mike Hanes (Deben YC) from Chris Woodard (Deben YC) with Pierre
Naude (Deben YC) in third spot. According to the usual procedure the 'winner' should have written a report which should have been sent to Yachts and Yachting and together with the full list of results should have been sent to the SCOA web site. It is also usual to pur a version of the report on the host club web site. Regretably none of these actions occured and the SCOA only received the results.
It is a shame as the report can be written (and Posted) in little more than an hour, the class fails to get any publicity as does the club and the other partipants fail to get recognition for their efforts. If I attend I endeavour to get hold of the relevant data - lap sheets (where completed) and overall result sheets - and endeavour to mention all envolved (where the numbers concerned are manageable) and then blog the event. Perhaps my efforts reach a wider audience than the Class web site but perhaps not more than a Y & Y  web site entry.
Results :-

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Helm
Club
Sail No
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
Points
Net Points
Position
Michael Hanes
Deben YC
1655
1
1
1
3
2
1st
Pierre Naude
Ðeben YC
1620
2
3
3
8
5
3rd
Chris Woodard
Deben YC
1608
3
2
2
7
4
2nd
Amy Robinson
Blakeney SC
1686
4
5
6
15
9
5th
Dave Shuster
Deben YC
1660
5
4
5
14
9
4th
Hugh Ambery
Blakeney
1711
6
6
4
16
10
6th
Robin Parsons
Deben YC
1664
7
DNF
DNS
26
16
8th
Gary Hogan
Haversham SC
1757
8
7
7
22
14
7th
Peter Wyld
Blackwater SC
1564
DNF
DNS
8
2
18
9th
Concerning my  blog for the Bosham SC Streaker Open Meeting (July 23rd), after publishing, I was advised that the 'encroaching' keelboats were not Sunbeams but were in fact Swallows. I acknowledge my error in wrongly naming them but re-iterate my comments about their poor behaviour in charging through our start.
Alan.S 1700