Thursday 27 December 2012

Streaker Ramblings - Freeman Iceberg - Race 17 - 26/12/2012


 
Blue Skies with the odd patch of brownish cloud, a tickle of breeze from the west, greeted our drive to Piddinghoe on Boxing Day morning. Part way through Kingston village there was a flood half way across the road but it was easily passable.
Laurence Venus (NSSC Recorder) came across to say that he had set up the discard numbers on Sailwave forgetting that there would be more races in this series. As a result instead of the two point separation at the top of the leader board (as reported in the previous blog) both Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial – NSSC) and Alan Simmons (Streaker – Lancing SC) were on equal points going into this last race of the Iceberg series, so it was all to play for!
The course that Laurence Venus set – yes he was acting as RO yet again – was identical with that on the 23rd December. The start was between two marks set adjacent to the middle slipway on the south side of the pond. From there it was a beat to the double mark off the clubhouse and then a run/very broad reach along the western shore to a mark off the fisherman’s basin. After a gybe it was back to the middle of the pond (the outer mark of the start line) and another gybe. A close reach to the middle of the eastern side of the pond with yet another gybe and off along the east side, behind the island to a buoy in the south eastern corner. Finally there was a long beat up, through the gate to the twin buoys, with the lap finishes at the gate.
There was only a single race programmed for the day and sixteen boats were on the water for the start. Chris Turner (Laser Radial – NSSC) was first across the line with Jonty Freeman next up but a bit higher. Close up but again to windward of Jonty was Mike Rosier (Laser Radial - NSSC) with Alan Simmons tucked in behind but yet further to windward close to the limit mark. Chris. T had to tack as he closed the south bank and whilst doing so he capsized.
Meanwhile Jonty.F revelling in the now top end force 3 breeze pulled ahead to round the top mark in the lead hotly pursued by Alan.S who had found clear air away from the pack. Behind these two Matt Springhall (Laser Radial- NSSC) had come from nowhere to slip into third place only to lose out in a notable capsize at the first gybe at the end of the run.
This allowed Tom Taylor (Megabyte-NSSC) up to third spot on the water. With the breeze increasing all the while this first lap saw the demise of all the youngsters – bar Josh Smith - in the Toppers – at one point (including Matt or was it Chas Humphries (Laser full rig-NSSC) in his Tigger suit -

there were five capsized boat keeping the safety boat somewhat busy. Fortunately with the westerly wind direction the young ones, largely ended up on the eastern bank in complete safety but a couple did get blown away from their craft and had to be scooped up.
By the end of the first lap Jonty.F had pulled well away from Alan.S who stayed ahead of Tom.T and the by then recovered Chris.T. Behind them Michael Veale (RS200-NSSC) and Mike.R were having their own battle but with Darren Field (Byte CII-NSSC) and, the now recovered, Matt.S. The second half of the fleet was led by John Smith (Pico-NSSC) in ninth place in front of David and Aiden Murley (Pico-NSSC) then Josh Smith (the only surviving Topper-NSSC). Behind this group was Dan Ford single handed in the Magno (NSSC) then Chas.H and lastly Zoe McCaig (Gull-NSSC).
In lap 2 Both Josh.S and Zoe.M succumbed to the increasingly strong wind – gusts well into the mid force 5 range under completely grey skies by then – and either capsized or had gear failure. Zoe was later heard to mention something along the lines of ‘sinking’ so presumably somehow filled with pond water. Jonty.F revelled in the conditions – the best wind he had been able to sail throughout the series – and continued to extend his lead with Alan.S just managing to stay ahead of Chris.T who had just overtaken Tom.T whilst Matt.S had pulled up behind Mike.R having passed Darren.F on the way.. With three gybes per lap in the strong gusts it made the course somewhat interesting and even on the upwind legs there were a few near knockdowns.
Lap 3 saw Jonty.F extend his lead and Alan.S was overtaken by Chris.T on the close reach behind the Island. Elsewhere in the rest of the fleet there were no place changes but the list was now down to eleven boats. Lap 4 was a similar story with Jonty.F continuing to pull away as did Chris.T from Alan.S  with Tom.T also closing in. Similarly Matt.S decreased the gap behind Michael.V. Lap 5 saw the only remaining change when Matt.S finally passed Michael.Vto get into 5th place whilst Alan.S just managed to hold off a last minute challenge from Tom.T and stay two seconds ahead. Jonty.F having been so far ahead had to complete yet another lap after he had passed through the gate before the RO decided to shorten course.
Once all were ashore the wind dropped almost completely although by the time of the prizgiving it had re-surfaced somewhat.
With the lead that he had established it was obvious that Jonty,.F was the well deserved winner of the race and after the calculations second place went to Alan.S with Chris.T third and Tom.T fourth.
Not only had Jonty Freeman  won this last and final race of the series but he won the overall prize, the Freeman Iceberg.

This Trophy was originally presented to the club by his father John Freeman in 1973. The Trophy is now complete with a plaque recording the winners from 2010 to 2011 as re-discovered following research by Anna Freeman. If anyone has records of earlier years - past or present NSSC members - John and Anna would be most gratefull to receive any data. Alan Simmons was second in the Iceberg just one point adrift of Jonty after the fifteen possible races. Third in the series was Paul Ryan fourth Tom Taylor and fifth Chris Turner.

It should be noted that Louis Gorringe not only won the Cadet series but was 6th overall in the Iceberg. Dan Ford was 2nd Cadet and Aiden Murley was third. As noted at the prizegiving this year the number of competitors (and the standard ) was very high and consistent for recent years.for the official overall Series results (and Cadet results) follow this link to the NSSC web site :-
 

Alan.S  1700.

Note :- Next race (one off - not series) on New Year’s Day at 2.00pm at Piddinghoe.

Monday 24 December 2012

Streaker Ramblings - Freeman Iceberg - Race 15 & 16 - 23/12/.2012


Grey,overcast skies and cool light breeze from the west as we left Sunday morning for Piddinghoe for the last races before Christmas. Overnight there had been a lot of rain but apart from a couple of large puddles through Kingston Village there was no significant surface water visible on the journey.
 
Laurence Venus, RO for the day, set a course which was effectively as last week but traversed in the opposite direction. The start line was between two buoys of the south side of the pond, adjacent to the middle slipway, giving a beat into the west corner and the twin buoys off the clubhouse. The next leg was a broad reach along the west side turning just off the fisherman's basin followed by a turn back to the centre of the pond. The next heading was easterly towards the shore with a gybe onto a leg behind the island and the final leg a beat up the south side to the clubhouse mark passing inside the ‘gate’ on the way. The breeze had settled into the west at about the top end of force 3.
Although close to the holiday there was still a good turn-out of seventeen boats for the start of the first race. The fleet headed towards the southern end of the line with Paul Ryan (Laser full rig - Hardway SC) in the lead but with Alan Simmons (Streaker – Lancing SC) well placed  above Tom Taylor (Megabyte – NSSC)  but with Rupert Smith (Laser full rig –NSSC) just astern and Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial – NSSC) behind him. After a short stretch the leaders had to tack to clear the bank and hope that they were sufficiently ahead of the rest of the pack and that this port hand leg would make the mark in one go. Rupert.S did make it, as did Paul.R and Jonty.F. Alan.S however got caught up and overtaken by Julian Dobson (Laser full rig – NSSC) but stayed ahead of Michael Veale and Bill Waites (RS 200 – NSSC) and Mike  and Chris Rosier (Laser II – NSSC).
By the end of the first lap Rupert.S was in the lead followed by Jonty.F, Paul.R, Alan.S, Tom.T and Chris Turner (Laser Radial – NSSC).The second  half of the fleet was led by Julian.F, having dropped off a bit, with Michael.V in 8th then Mike.R, Chas Humphries (Laser full rig – NSSC), Terry Jones (Laser full rig - NSSC)and Louis Gorringe (Topper – NSSC). Dan Ford and Rebecca Gibson (Magno- NSSC). Next up at 14th was John Smith (Pico – NSSC) with David and Aiden Murley (Pico – NSSC) ahead of Colin Cryer (Slipper – NSSC) and finally Quentin and Jasper Thorp (Mirror – NSSC).
In lap 2 There was no change in the positions of the  top three but Tom.T just squeezed past Alan.S (by 1 second on the line) , Julian.D found his way past Chris.T and Michael.V with rooky crew Bill. W, dropped behind Mike .R to cross the line at the same time as Chas.H. Further back Dan and Rebecca went ahead of Louis.G. 
Lap three saw Alan.S overtake Tom.T again and Michael V drop further back behind Chas.H and Terry.J. There were no changes in this lap at the back of the fleet.
In lap 4 Tom.T yet again overtook Alan.S whilst Chris.T won his battle with Julian.D but there were no changes at either end of the fleet.and there were no changes at all in lap 5. The final lap was sailed only by the top three with Rupert. S retaining his lead to the line – just one second ahead of Jonty.F with Paul about a minute behind them.
After correcting the times, and applying the handicaps, Jonty.F was first, Rupert.S second, Alan.S third,Paul.R 4th and  Chris.T fifth.

Race 16 followed with a start at 11.50 over the same course but in a slightly stiffer breeze – among the Laser sailors there were to be several capsizes, one helm reporting six in this race alone, all leading to lost places.
 
First away at the start were Rupert.S and close behind Alan.S  both getting clear of the chasing pack headed by Tom.T and Jonty.F. Paul.R 6th to get round the windward mark just outside Mike.R with Chris.T tailing them. By the end of the lap Rupert.S was still out in front but both Tom.T and Paul.R had passed Alan.S. Next up (at 5th) was Jonty.F then Chris.T,  Mike.R, Chas.H and then Julian.D. The after guard was led by Dan.F at 11th , Louis.G, John.S and Terry.J. The tail was this time led by David.M  (Single hand in this race) Colin.C, Quentin.T with Michael.V at the back but having problems with his spinnaker and losing his crew overboard. – he retired before completing a second lap.
 In lap 2 Rupert.S and Tom.T stayed out in front whilst both Jonty.F and Alan.S passed Paul.R and tied across the line some 25 seconds behind Rupert.S.There was a bit of place changing further back  as Terry.J climbed up to 12th behind Louis.G and David.M also passed John.S.
In lap 3, whilst tacking round the twin marks, off the clubhouse, Jonty F ‘lost it’ and capsized letting Alan.S and Tom.T pass him whilst recovering. Just before this Terry.J had fallen in on the beat towards this mark – having had to negotiate around him may have upset Jonty’s concentration. 
Finishing position at the end of laps 3 and lap 4 saw no changes at the front of the fleet but Alan.S closed up on Rupert.S,  a little, to a gap of 30 seconds. The mid fleet order settled to Julian.D at 9th, then Dan.f, Terrry.J Louis.G, David.M, John.S ,Quentin.T and Colin.C at 16th. In lap 4 Julian.D managed to pass Mike.R and close in on Chas.H. Lap five saw Rupert.S still out in front of Paul.R, Alan.S and Jonty.F who had managed to re-pass Tom.T. Chas.H had a few more dips allowing both Julian.D and Mike.R to overtake him with the order of the second part of the fleet staying unchanged.
The only change in lap 6 was when the final lap (lap 7)  There was a battle for 3rd place on the water when Tom.T got himself 1 second ahead of Alan.S  having also overhauled Jonty.F. With the times worked out and handicaps applied the winner of this race was Alan.S with Rupert.S in 2nd place, Jonty.F 3rd and Paul.R 4th with Louis.G in 5th spot.

For full details of the Main Results go to this link :-
http://www.nssc.org.uk/results/2012/freemanicebergcadets.htm
 
 For the Cadet results click this link :- 
http://www.nssc.org.uk/results/2012/freemanicebergcadets.htm
 

As this will be posted just in time on this Christmas Eve I wish all my fellow competitors and Blog readers a ‘Very Happy Christmas and an enjoyable and Prosperous New Year in 2013.

Alan.S 1700

Monday 17 December 2012

Streaker Ramblings - Freeman Iceberg - Races 13 & 14 - 16/12/2012


Grey skies, with the occasional break to blue, and a light breeze from the west greeted us on our trip to Piddinghoe Sunday Morning. On arrival the sky had cleared to all blue but the breeze was still very light.



Ian Lambert, RO for the day, set up a course with a committee boat start in the middle of the pond – just north of the island. The first leg was a beat to the double buoy mark just off the clubhouse which then turned onto a run down the southern side . Rounding a mark just south of the island the leg was a reach to a mark half way up the eastern side and then a beat to a mark in the centre of the pond. From there there was a reach to a mark just off the fisherman’s basin in the north west corner and a final beat back to the club house buoys.


By the time the fleet assembled on the water adjacent to the starting line there were 22 assorted craft – for which it has to be said the line was a little short. Among the first away were Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial- NSSC), Terry Jones (Laser full rig – NSSC), John Smith (Pico – NSSC) and David and Aiden Murley (Pico – NSSC). In the second row, so to speak, were Darren Field and Rupert Smith ( Vago – NSSC), Michael Veale and Mike Rosier ( RS200 – NSSC) , Tim Cox (Laser Radial – NSSC) and Chris Turner (Laser Radial – NSSC). By the end of the first beat Jonty.F was out in front followed by Tim.C and Tom Taylor (Megabyte – NSSC). By the time Alan Simmons (Streaker – Lancing SC) arrived at the windward mark he had eight boats ahead of him but managed to overtake a couple on the first long run to make up to 5th position by the end of the lap whilst Tom.T had , briefly, overtaken Jonty.F and Michael.V held third spot having used his spinnaker well on the downwind leg.
By the end of the 2nd lap Jonty.F was back in front  of Tom.T with Michael.V  lying third and Paul Ryan (Laser full rig – Hardway SC) – having had a miserable start – pulling through to 4th ahead of Tim.C and Alan.S. .A little further back Chris.T was having a battle with Julian Dobson (Laser full rig – NSSC)  crossing the line at the same time and Darren.F was in close contention with Chas Humphries  and Bill Waite (both Laser full rigs – NSSC). Jessica Cox (Topper – NSSC)  was doing extremely well in the light breeze – which had freshened a little to a good force 3 – in 13th place on the water ahead of Dan Ford and Declan Davies ( Magno – NSSC) Louis Gorringe (Topper – NSSC) and Terry Jones (Laser full rig – NSSC).In the slower boat part of the fleet Zoe McCaig (Gull – NSSC) stayed ahead of Alex Dodwell (Topper – BLYM), Josh Smith (Topper – NSSC), Colin Cryer ( Slipper – NSSC) and Melissa Dodwell (Topper – BLYM). In lap 4 Tim Cox managed to lose one of his contact lenses and capsized on the first beat of the lap – not sure which came first – allowing Alan.S to pass him and take 5th place. Meanwhile  Jonty.F continued to stretch out his lead from Tom.T who was passed by Michael .V in the final lap. With the handicaps worked out Jonty.F was the convincing winner with Alan.S in second place and Paul.R in third spot.
The second race of the day – Race 14 – set off on the same course, albeit with a somewhat longer line, at 12.05.  At the pin end Chris.T was off up the line on port hoping to tack in front of the rest of the fleet. Unfortunately during his manoeuvers his tiller extension got stuck and he sat there, a sitting duck – warranting having to subsequently do 720 degree turns. Up at the front was the Topper of Jessica Cox – but she seems to have disappeared in the first lap and is seen no more. Also near the front were Jonty.F, Tim.C, Tom.T and this time Alan.S - tucked in near the start boat.
At the end of the first lap the order was Jonty.F  in front of Tom.T with Alan.S in third place just ahead of Paul.R. Behind this group were Julian.D, Darren.F Michael.V  and Tim.C. Next up, and lying  9th on the water, was Chris.T ahead of Bill.W, Chas.H and Louis G.. Leading the afterguard was Terry.J, Dan.F, David.M, Josh.S and John.S. The tail end group was headed by Colin,.C, Alex.D, Zoe. M and Mellissa.D
In lap two Tom.T went to the front overtaking Jonty.F and Michael.V also passed Darren.F. There was also a bit of a change a bit further down the field – as the breeze dropped off a trifle – with Terry.J pulling up past Louis.G and Dan.F also passing Louis. In lap 3 there was another change at the top when Alan.S pulled ahead of Jonty for 2nd spot and a bit further back Julian.D picked up 8th place as Chris.T dropped to 11th. In the 4th and final lap Tom.T was the clear winner, on the water with Alan.S just pipped, by one second, by Paul.R who found a tiny puff right on the line. Darren.F managed to regain a place ahead of Michael.V but was unable to catch Jonty.F. With the handicaps worked out the winner was Alan.S , 2nd. Tom.T, 3rd went to Jonty.F and 4th to Paul.R
For full detail of the results click this link :-
See also the separate page for the cadet series results to date :-
Alan.S 1700




Thursday 13 December 2012

Streaker Ramblings - Freeman Iceberg Races 11 & 12 - 09/12/2012


Grey skies, cool, and a goodly breeze on leaving Hove for Piddinghoe on Sunday Morning. The wind forecasts were a bit variable, anything from a force 3 to force five but as always it is best left until one arrives at the Pond. Once there there was a whistling in the rigging – the parked boats – but it did not feel too strong so the boats were readied. There will be no pictures with this report as Bett Simmons spent the morning in bed suffering from a heavy head cold – now thankfully much better.

Rupert Smith, RO for the day, set the course to go right round the pond, outside all of the marks and starting from the south bank close to the eastern slipway. Some seventeen dinghies came to the line for the off in what turned out to be a top end force 3 with gusts I the high force 4 area.  At the start signal two or three of the faster, keener boats - Paul Ryan (Laser full rig – Hardway SC) and Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS200 – NSSC) to note but two and who were close to the bank -were already over the line and had to return to start correctly. This gave Alan Simmons (Streaker – Lancing SC), close to the pin end of the line, clear air for a direct line to and around the windward mark. Before he had gone too far the faster Megabyte of Tom Taylor (NSSC) and then Paul.R had both passed him. By the end of the first lap the order at the front had settled, briefly to Tom.T in front, next was Paul.R, then Alan.S  with Jonty Freeman (Radial – NSSC) 4th and Darren Field and Nathan Bloss (Vago – NSSC) behind him.. In sixth position, on the water, was Graham Hardy (Laser – NSSC) followed by Michael.V then the Magno of David  and Adrian Murley. The lower half of the fleet was led by Louis Gorringe (Topper- NSSC) at 9th, then Bill Waites (Laser – NSSC), Quentin and Justin Thorp (Mirror – NSSC), Zoe McCaig (Gull - NSSC), Josh Smith (Topper – NSSC) and Alex Dodwell (Topper – BLYM). Three boats, John Smith  (Pico – NSSC), Jazz Sayed (Topper – NSSC) and the  Laser of S Clenyn (NSSC) all failed to go through the ‘gate’ on the southern side of the pond – the RO had to adjust positions based on the number of actually completed laps as others also subsequently missed out the gate in this and the second race.
By the end of the second lap the leader was Paul.R having passed Alan.S  and Tom.T with Jonty.F also pulling up a place to 3rd in front of Tom.T.  Darren. Field had been overtaken by Michael.V and Bill.W was up to 7th ahead of Louis.G. It was all change in the second half of the fleet, now being led by John.S followed by Jazz.S, with Zoe.M and Josh.S crossing the line together. The tail ender was SC in his Laser and this time Quentin.T, David.M, Graham.H all missed out passing through the gate on the long beat up the south side.
Lap 3 saw Jonty.F pass Alan.S into second place behind Paul.R with Bill.W missing the gate this time along with Quentin.T Alex.D and Graham.H. The Laser of S.C and
Alex.D both retired. Lap 4 saw no change at the front although Alan.S was but 5 seconds behind Jonty.F and Quentin.T, John.S and Graham.H all missed the gate.
In Lap 5 it was Alan.S who overtook Jonty F to get back into second spot , well behind the leader Paul.R.  Darren.F – 6th in the previous lap – had problems with his spinnaker and dropped back to 8th on the water . This time round nobody missed the gate but some of the tail enders had already been finished or had retired. Lap 6 saw Jonty.F get ahead of Alan.S once again, by 24 seconds, with Tom.T still behind in 4th place. In the 7th and final lap there were no place changes though Jonty F pulled out a little more ahead of Alan.S. Once the handicaps had been worked out the order was 1st.Paul.R, 2nd. Alan.S, 3rd. Jonty.F, 4th.Louis.G, 5th. Tom.T and 6th. David.M

Race 2 of the day (Race 12 in the Iceberg Series) was held over the same course as before with Jonty.F getting the best of the (rather more disciplined) start and setting off at a cracking pace -  and to remain unchallenged throughout the race.. By the end of the first lap the top of the fleet order was Jonty.F, Paul.R, Tom.T, Darren.F, Alan.S and Michael.V. Mid fleet the order was Bill.W (7th), Louis.G, John.S, David.M and S.C. In the lower echelons Josh.S (12th) led Quentin.T, Zoe.M, Alex.D, Jazz.S and Mel.D. whilst Graham.H retired. In lap 2 Jonty.F remained out in front pursued by Paul.R, then Tom.T with Alan.S – having overhauled Darren.F – close on his tail. On this lap both the Laser of SC and Topper of Alex.D failed to go through the gate. There were no other place changes down the fleet and it was not until lap 5 when Tom.T, in attempting to gybe in a heavy gust on the east side of the pond - just before the Island - had a spectacular capsize allowed Alan.S up into third place. Tom.T recovered with enough margin to stay ahead of Michael.V who was  in turn in front of Bill.W, Darren.F and Louis.G. Jonty.F extended his lead until at the finish, lap 7, he was over a minute ahead of Paul.R who in turn was two minutes ahead of Alan.S.
After calculating the results/handicaps the winner was Jonty.F with Alan.S in 2nd place  and Paul.R in 3rd. 4th place went to Loius.G with Tom.T 5th and David.M at 6th.

For full results follow this link - http://www.nssc.org.uk/results/2012/freemaniceberg.htm
Alan.S 1700



Monday 3 December 2012

Streaker Ramblings Freeeman Iceberg - Races 9 & 10 -02/12/2012

Sunday morning , before we left for Piddinghoe, was bright and sunny, freezing cold and frosty with a bit of breeze. On arrival it was a case of removing  the boat cover stiff with frost and when rigging trying to thread a frozen control line through thye Cunningham pulley on the sail.
The sunny weather had brought the boats out in hoards – well twenty two took to the water – in what turned out to be a solid force 3 to 4  north westerly breeze which although gradually turning slightly westwards remained fairly constant in strength.
Rupert Smith, the RO for the day laid a course, starting from a committee boat in the centre of the pond with a beat to a mark in the north west corner followed by a run back along the west side to the double buoys off the clubhouse. From there there was reach along the south bank to a mark south of the island with next leg a beat to the east of the island itself to a mark midway along the eastern shore. Finally it was back south west to the start mark in the centre of the pond.
 
At the first start, Race No 9, Chris Turner (Radial – NSSC) was first across the line with Jonty Freeman (Radial – NSSC) just behind but slightly further upwind. Next was John Smith Pico – NSSC) then Alan Simmons (Streaker- Lancing SC). A length or so back was Tom Taylor (Megabyte – NSSC) and close behind him Paul Ryan (Laser- Hardway SC). Tom.T  powered through and turned the windward mark in the lead and then stretched out in front of the fleet.
 
By the end of the first lap the order at the front was Tom.T then Jonty.F followed by Paul.R, Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS200 – NSSC) were up to fourth after a nifty bit of
spinnaker work on the off-wind legs and Alan.S was next up in 5th having overtaken Chris.T. In mid fleet were Darren Field (Byte CII – NSSC) then Steve Duncan (Laser – NSCC) followed by the laser of Julian Dobson, Bill Waites, Graham Hardy and Chas Humphries (all of NSSC).
Behind them was, in the vanguard of the fleet were Ian Lambert (Radial – NSSC) , Dan Ford and Becca Gibson (Magno – NSSC) , John.S, David Murley and Aiden Murley (Pico – NSSC) Josh Smith (Topper – NSSC) Melissa Dodwell and Alexander Dodwell (Topper – BLYM) with QuentinThorp (Mirror – NSSC) and Zoe McCraig (Gull – NSSC) bringing up the rear.
In lap 2  both Paul.R and Jonty.F reined in and  passed Tom.T with Paul out in front -just. Bill. W overtook Julian.D both having passed Darren.F. At the back of the fleet Melissa.D and Alexander.D  gained a place overtaking Quentin.T
 
Lap 3 saw Paul and Jonty out in front still but Michael.V went ahead of Tom.T,
whilst a little further down the order saw Julian.D and Bill.W fighting it out and Julian.D coming out the winner. Below them Josh.S pulled up two places to overtake dad John.S. At the finish there was no change in the order of the 11 faster boats with Paul.R crossing 10 seconds ahead of Jonty.F and giving Jonty first place on handicap. Next up were Michael.V, Tom.T and then Alan.S ,at  1½ minutes behind Paul.R, was 2nd on handicap.
Race 10 starting at 11.45 on the same course as before saw Jonty F and Tom.T first
off across the line and by the end of the first lap the order was Jonty.F, Tom, Paul.R, Michael.V, Chris.T and Alan.S. Behind, these first six, Julian.D led Steve.D and Darren.F with Graham.H ahead of Bill.W and Ian.L. next up, 12th on the water , were Dan.F and Becca.G ahead of Chas H then David.M and Aiden.M, John S, Louis G and John S In the final group Terry.J led Quentin T Josh S, Zoe.M and Meliissa and Alexander.D.
 
Lap two saw Paul.R overtake Tom.T for second spot whilst Steve.D overtook both Chris.T and Alan.S with Julian.D and Darren.F not far behind. A bit further down the fleet Louis.G  climbed past David.M to cross the line at the same time as Dan.F  and Becca.G whilst John.S also passed David and Aiden.M. Terry.J in his Wayfarer retired – the cause of which action is unknown. In lap three the top pair stayed the same with Jonty.F .ahead of Paul.R, but only by some 3 seconds (and a bit of on the water vocalisation) whilst Michael.V and Mike.R passed Tom.T.In mid fleet Dan.F and Becca.G went back ahead of Louis G and Mellissa and Alexander.D passed Zoe.M. In lap 4 the only change was when Julian.D overtook Alan.S as they got caught up with some back markers at one of the marks. In the final lap Michael.V and Mike.R had some problems with their spinnaker which led them to drop from 3rd to 6th on the water. The winner on the water and on handicap was Jonty.F with Paul.R in  second place and Alan.S, although 8th on the water, taking 3rd place on handicap. As a matter of interest had Alan.S been sailing on his Portsmouth Yardstick he would not have improved his position in either race. There was a capsize in this race when one of the Lasers fell over while attempting to come ashore - the helm shall be nameless here.
For full details of the results see the NSSC web Site (follow this link):-
 
Alan.S 1700


 
 
 
 
 
 

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Streaker Ramblings - Freeman Iceberg Races 7 & 8 - 25/11/2012


It had rained in the night and the wind was still whistling around our ‘Penthouse’  bedroom in Hangleton and Windguru was forecasting force 6 to 7 for the day. The journey to Piddinghoe was therefore more in hope than anger. On arrival, although there were streaks of wind across the Pond, it did not seem to be too bad so rigging commenced.
Chris Turner, Ro for the morning, had set up a figure of eight course. Starting from a ‘Committee Boat' line - and mark mid way up the eastern side - there was a beat to the twin buoys just off the clubhouse. The next leg was a very broad reach/run down the southern side to a mark south west of the Island. It was then back northwards to the top corner on a close reach followed by a very short run to the start mark.
Just before the start, with most of the boats already on the water it began to rain, gradually getting heavier and heavier until it was tipping it down. Very quickly the rain turned to Hail and visibility went to near zero. The committee boat was quickly up anchored to deal with several capsizes – some five boats were on their side at one point. Once all had been ‘safely gathered in’ the C/B re anchored and the start sequence began.
 
Of the original seventeen boats on the water twelve began the race with Paul Ryan(Full rig Laser - Hardway SC) first off the mark with Jonty Freeman (Radial Laser – NSSC)  almost alongside and Alan Simmons (Streaker- Lancing SC) a little behind. It was blowing a good force 4 to 5 with frequent heavy and shifty gusts and by the end of the first lap Paul.R was ahead of Jonty.F by some 39 seconds with Alan.S a minute or so behind Paul.R but 20 seconds ahead of Michal Veale and Mike Rosier (RS 200- NSSC). The Toppers of Louis Gorringe and Tim Cox (both NSSC) were uncomfortably close behind. Ellie Wilding (Laser 4.7 – NSSC) was struggling after a capsize which left her mast head in the pond mud (for all to see).
Mid way through lap two Paul.R managed to capsize at the gybe mark by the Island – he reckoned the water was ‘blooming cold’-  thus letting Jonty.F and Alan.S by. Jonty.F was far enough away that Paul.R was unable to catch him before the end of the race. Ian Lambert (Laser Radial- NSSC) also capsized during this lap and although assisted by the safety boat ended up on the eastern shore in the reeds and when finally recovered decided to head back ashore without any further racing in this or the subsequent race.
Tim.C passed Louis G as did Darren Field (Topper – NSSC) in lap two – about the busiest lap – with a further capsize by Dan Ford and Declan Davies (Magno – NSSC) ending their race by retiring in lap 3. John Smith (Pico – NSSC) stayed in eigth position on the water until Ellie.W overtook him in lap 4 whilst QuentinThorp (Miiror – NSSC) who had originally intended to have his son Jasper crewing gamefully battled round, single handed, in last place. At the finish the top four faster boats were, in order,  Jonty.F, Paul.R, Alan.S  and Michael.V but after the handicaps were worked out Tim.C was 1st, Jonty.F 2nd, Darren.F 3rd and Louis. G was 4th
For race two the course was held the same with another Committee boat start and in similar gusty, variable direction breezes.. This time there were ten starters, Ian.L and Dan.F having retired ashore. Yet again it was the same three first off the blocks, Paul.R then Jonty.F and Alan.S. By the end of the first beat the order was as at the  start and by the end of the lap Paul.R was leading Jonty.F with Alan.S next and Michael V in 4th spot .Tim.C led the next group ahead of Ellie.W, Loius.G and Darren.F. Bringing up the rear were John.S ahead of QuentinT.
 
The order at the end of the second lap remained the same for the everyone but in lap three there was a change at the front when Jonty.F overtook Paul.R – it was about this time that Paul.R went flat at the gybe again. Further down the field Ellie.W passed Tim.C thus taking 5th spot on the water and Darren.F overtook Louis.G. John.S and Quentin.T stayed relative to one another throughout  the race. In lap 5 Paul got back past Jonty.F (with no room at the mark) at the windward mark. Apart from that there was no change of position for the rest of the fleet. In the final lap Jonty.F had re-passed Paul.R and held the lead to the finish with Alan.S just remaining ahead of Michael.V. Once more the Handicaps, when worked out, gave overall 1st place to Tim.C with Darren.F 2nd, Jonty.F 3rd and Louis.G  at 4th.
Alan S did not exactly cover himself in glory with two 5th places but he did stay upright - unlike Paul.R whom he beat in both races. For the full results – of these races and the series – click the following link:- http://www.nssc.org.uk/results/2012/freemaniceberg.htm
Alan.S 1700

Thursday 22 November 2012

Streakerramblings - Freeman Iceberg Races 5 & 6 18/11/2012


As Bett and I were up in Stratford upon Avon - after seeing the Spanish Riding School Lipizzana Horses at the Birmingham NIA on the previous day - I did not sail in either race on Sunday. However so that my readers do not go 'hungry' I have pinched (with his permission) the report drawn up by Laurence Venus - the other Streaker sailor, and my rival, competing in the Iceberg Series and publish it here below. Regretably there are also no pictures available to hand to insert. The only other camera buff, Anna Freeman, having been invegled into acting as ARO taking down the results.

"Winter Series 2012 Races 5 & 6
On arrival at Pidinghoe it was sunny but a little chilly with a light F2 northerly breeze. Rupert Smith was race officer and set a similar course to the previous week but with the start line further out from the bank with a committee boat. The course was the same for both races, a beat to the north end of lake then a run/broad reach, followed by an almost beat which turned into more of a beat later in the race as the wind gradually veered, a run pass the island to the next mark followed by a fetch along the south side back to the finish mark off the clubhouse. The start line was a little short for the large number of boats sailing, 23 boats, so it was very congested.
Paul Ryan, Steve Duncan and Jonty Freeman had a good start at the pin end of the line on starboard. It was a tricky beat with shifting winds. Laurence Venus managed to tack behind the leading batch of boats into clear air and stayed out of the conflict ensuing amongst the Lasers. He tacked across to just make the mark on starboard and was pleasantly surprised to find himself in second place just behind the lead boat Paul Ryan’s Laser. Paul R and the Streaker managed to find clearer air than the other boats on the run and then on the beat, a wind shift enabled the Streaker to make the next mark without tacking which enabled him to pass Paul R who had to put a tack to get to the next mark. Having clear air from then on was a great advantage with Steve Duncan, Julian Dobson Lasers and Tom Taylor’s Megabyte fighting it out behind Paul R with the following bunch of Chris Turner and Jonty F sailing Radials and battling it out with Darren Field and Nathan Bloss in their Vago. Gradually Jonty F and the Vago pulled away from Chris T. On the 3rd lap the Streaker put his daggerboard back down a little too early as he was passing the island, struck mud and stopped which allowed Paul Ryan to catch up. Paul remained on the Streaker's tail and overtook on the run as the Streaker tried to clean some of the mud from the bottom of his daggerboard. On the beat out to the next mark with the help of some wind shifts the Streaker again caught up with the Laser. Paul R couldn’t make the mark and almost headed up into wind trying and in the process hit the mark, as the Streaker passed Paul R he heeled his boat to windward causing his sail to touch the Streakers sail and demanded a penalty from the Streaker. The Streaker reluctantly did the 720 deg penalty while Paul did his 360 deg penalty and in the process passed the Streaker again and managed to stay ahead on the next leg to finish 3 seconds in front of the Streaker. Meanwhile Steve D took advantage of the incidents ahead of him and manages to gain on both the leading boats to finish just 13 seconds behind Laurence V, following Steve was Tom T and Julian D. Out of the slower boats (mostly Picos and Toppers) Louis Gorringe lead the way in his Topper and did very well in such light conditions, he eventually finished a credible 7th on handicap and was the leading cadet. The final positions on handicap were: - 1st Streaker - Laurence V, 2nd Laser - Paul R, 3rd Laser - Steve D, 4th Megabyte – Tom T.
Second Race.
It was basically the same course but the start line was re-set for the veering wind and made a bit longer to accommodate the number of boats. The third leg was now much more of a beat. The Streaker tried to start on port at the committee boat end but was too late and was caught out by most of the fleet bearing down on starboard so ended up taking action to try and avoid the other boats. Paul R again soon took the lead and he and most of the fleet headed to the left hand side of the beat while the Streaker was forced to go to the right where he found the wind and a good couple shifts to find he was leading at the windward mark with Paul R just behind followed by Tom T sailing his Megabyte and then Steve D in his Laser. The order stayed much the same throughout the race but with a dropping wind the slower boats were struggling. After the second lap Chris T (Radial), David Hitchins (Laser) and Darren F (Vago) all retired. By the time the Streaker finished the wind dropped still further so the gap between the finishing boats increased, therefore, the finishing order tended to be the same as the final positions on handicap. Considering the very light winds the two radials of Jonty F and Ian Lambert did very with a 5th and 6th and also Louis G did very well again in his Topper to come 7th overall and was 1st cadet. We should also admire the determination of David Murley and Aidan Murley who struggled on in their Pico in virtually no wind during their second lap to finish in 1 hour 12 min and 4 secs about ½ hour after the first boat had finished.
The final positions on handicap were: - 1st Streaker - Laurence V, 2nd Laser - Paul R, 3rd Megabyte – Tom T, 4th Laser - Steve D.
Laurence Venus S 1706 "
If the forcast strong wind do not materalise this coming Sunday I will be back on the water once more
and hopefully report the events myself
Alan.S 1700

Friday 16 November 2012

Streakerramblings - Freeman Iceberg Races 3 & 4

Appologies for the delay in publishing this report - a new computer requiring data to be transferred from the original is the excuse.
Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny with just a tickle of breeze and on arrival at Piddinghoe the car park was half fully already. It transpired that this was mostly fishermen, 'encamped' especially along the eastern bank.
 
A goodly fleet did however appear with some seventeen boats on the water. Laurence Venus was RO for the day and set a course starting with a beat to the east along the western Clubhouse - shore to the bay area. The following leg was a run/very broad reach back to the twin buoys just off the clubhouse and then a single sided beat to the eastern bank. Thereafter there was a run across behind the island and then a close reach back to the starting area.
 
There was a slight problem with the start to Race 3 when the four minute signal was missed and after a general recall the start commenced again.

 First away was Paul Ryan (full rig Laser -  Hardway SC) with Alan Simmons (Streaker - Lancing SC) close behind but slightly upwind. Just below Alan were Michael Veale and Mike Rosier (RS 200 -NSSC). Below that pair and close to the pin was Jonty Freeman (Laser Radial - NSSC).
Paul.R pulled out a short lead ahead of Alan.S who in turn got away from the two Mikes in the RS200. By the end of the first lap the order was Paul.R with Alan.S 11 seconds behind and the RS 30 seconds behind him. Next up was Jonty.F and then the full rig Lasers of Steve Duncan (NSSC) and Graham Hardy (NSSC) with Tom Taylor in his Megabyte behind them.
In lap 2 Jonty.F and then Steve.D both passed Michael. V but the rest of the changes were in the lower end of the fleet with Zoe McCaig (Gull - NSSC) climbing from 16th to 13th passing Mel (Pico- NSSC), Colin Pryer (Slipper - NSSC) Giles Colyer (Mirror - NSSC0 an Alex (Pico - NSCC) on the way. . In mid fleet Graham.H stayed ahead of Tom. T and Ellie Wilding (Laser 4.7 - NSSC) then Louis Gorringe (Topper - NSSC) also managing to stay ahead of Terry Jones (NSSC) sailing single handed in a Wayfarer. The slower boats did not fare too well in the predominantly faint breezes experienced during this race. After three laps, for the faster boats, the order on the water was Paul.R, Alan.S, Jonty.F, Steve.D, Michael.V and Graham.H. On handicap it was Alan.S who came out on top ahead of Paul.R and Jonty.F.
This year, for the first time in the history of the winter series racing at Piddinghoe, it had been decided to try two races back to back. This meant that the first race, for the first finisher, was a tad under 33 minutes duration.
 
Thus, after the delayed start of the first of the days races, the second - Race 4 - got underway at 12.15pm with Paul.R again first away, on the same course as the first race of the day it was Steve.D however, who although starting second, kept close to the west bank and rounded the windward mark in the lead. Jonty F was third across the start line but quickly lost the breeze whilst Alan.S was closer to the pin and fourth away. It was not far into the first offwind leg however before Paul.R and then Alan.S got ahead of Steve.D. By the end of the next windward leg Alan passed Paul and then led for the rest of the race, finishing some 33 seconds in front. Steve.D managed to hold off challenges by Tom.T and Jonty.F but in the second lap Jonty edged ahead of Tom as did Michael.V - coming back from 6th at the end of the first lap. This race was only two laps in length and in yet more fitfull breeze and as a consequence the slower boats had little chance to lose or gain places.
As he had been ahead of some faster 'rated' boats on the water Alan.S - and having been suffering from a  nose bleed throughout - was again the winner once the handicaps had been calculated  but with Jonty.F ahead of Paul.R and Steve.D with another fourth place.
Was the two race format a sucess? - the jury is still out - but the writer's personal view is that the races were too short, even with the lack of wind. With more breeze I am not sure that over such a short time space the handicapping may be somewhat distorted.
Alan.S 1700
 
Results
Winter Series Freeman Iceberg 2012

Overall

Sailed:2, Discards:0, To count:2, Entries:32, Scoring system:Appendix A
RankBoatClassSailNoClubHelmNameCrewNameR3
 
R4
 
TotalNett
1stLast BashStreaker1700Lancing SCAlan Simmons 1.01.02.02.0
2ndLaser Radial192842NSSCJonty Freeman 3.02.05.05.0
3rdLaser156163Hardway SCPaul Ryan 2.03.05.05.0
4thMistyblueStreaker1706NSSCLaurence Venus 3.0 OOD3.0 OOD6.06.0
5thFrayed KnotLaser81NSSCSteve Duncan 4.04.08.08.0
6thTopper16013Louis Gorringe 6.05.011.011.0
7thCongaheelinMegabyte202NSSCTom Taylor 5.06.011.011.0
8thHot ToddyRS 200582NSSCMicheal VealeMike Rosier8.07.015.015.0
9thLaser 4.7179733Ellie Wilding 9.08.017.017.0
10thJo-JoWayfarer2820NSSCTerry Jones 10.09.019.019.0
11thPico 22072Dale MurleyAidan Murley12.010.022.022.0
12thMirror19474Giles Colyer 15.011.026.026.0
13thMirror69544Quentin ThorpJasper Thorp11.015.026.026.0
14thCilin CryerSlipper57  14.012.026.026.0
15thGulNo NoZoe McCaigLucy McCaig13.013.026.026.0
16thPicoBlueAlex 17.014.031.031.0
17thPicoPurple SailMel 16.016.032.032.0
18thLaser163443NSSCGraham Hardy 7.033.0 DNC40.040.0

Monday 5 November 2012

Streaker Ramblings - Freeman Iceberg 2012 - Day 1


The first day of the 2012 Freeman Iceberg series did not start auspiciously, following heavy overnight rain and strong winds. We set off for Piddinhoe in one of the brief lulls between downpours and just after the Traffic Island at Kingston we encountered the first flooded road. It was the worst of those experienced on the way to the Pond although the lane from the village was also bad.
The overnight Windguru forecast had indicated up to 39knots mid morning but the Sunday morning version was down to 29 knots. On arrival on site however it was blowing hard, my guess at force 6 plus a bit. The Boat was rigged, with a little help in stepping the mast, and then ‘put to bed’ – Streaker 1700 was staying firmly ashore.
A few ‘brave’ souls rigged their boats, Michael Veale and Mike Rosier went afloat in their RS 200 and were on, or in, the water for about 15 minutes. There were waves on the pond and they were breaking (white water) on the far eastern bank. Huge gusts were hitting the water from the southern bank and charging across the water. After several capsizes, and black/brown sail tops from the mud at the bottom of the pond, they came ashore – to wash down – before any racing had actually commenced.
Jonty Freeman had readied his Laser Radial but did not need to go afloat – a Pico had ventured out  (reefed down) but he fell in and then, after help from the safety boat, headed back ashore. The only other aspirant was a Mirror with (I believe) two adult but inexperienced sailors. They were on the water for less than two minutes and although they did manage to survive the really vicious gusts – just – one final one snapped their boom close to the gooseneck.
Rupert Smith, the R.O for the day, had been intending to send the fleet round the pond in a triangle starting from a ‘Committee Boat’ but finally decided to call all racing off – there was really none left to try anyway.
By Mid afternoon the wind had gone and the sun came out to play but for the sailors this was far too late. Lancing SC had had the added problem of huge breaking waves in the morning but by evening the Fireworks and Bonfire went off in ideal, calm, conditions.

Alan. S 1700