This site uses cookies to provide you with a more responsive and personalised service. By agreeinging to this statement you consent for us to use cookies that ensure the marketing we do is relevant to you. Please read our cookie notice for more information on the cookies we use and how to delete or block them.

Weds 18th July

< Back
  • It was... drizzling...

    Well, stone me, that hasn't happened before this summer. Still it was a nice F4, maybe F5 at times, so it was by no means all bad news, and the drizzle did ease off by the end.

    Some organisational stuff first.

    We have no duty team booked for next week. No duty team: no racing. Because the attendance has been low this year what with the dreadful weather a fair few of us are going to have to do a second duty. Some already have. However there are still people who are yet to do a single duty and have done a reasonable number of races, so please get your names on the list at the weekend. You don't need to worry about booking the first of August because 1st August racing is cancelled. The damned Olympic cycling is at the very least going to make it extraordinarily difficult if not impossible to get to the club. I wonder just how many sporting events round the County of Surrey have been cancelled because of the cyclists?

    And a bit of a whinge: please ensure you are well clear of the start line before your class start sequence runs. Tonight some of the Lasers were significantly obstructed by RS200s as their start gun went. Its not good manners folks:-)

    And an apology. We were rather rushed running the racing tonight with a largely press ganged duty team - another problem with not getting names done in advance, and I feel the race management was not as good as I'd like it to be. Sorry. It highlights a couple of issues: perhaps the most important one is the difficulty of doing any kind of reasonable notification of OCS competitors. I'm also wondering if I should have general recalled the last start. With, I reckon, half the fleet over perhaps I should. I think two went back, two were scored OCS, and at least one other was lucky not to be OCS. The trouble is that there's always a reluctance to do a general on a Wednesday evening when time is short, but bearing in mind the recall problem perhaps I should have done. That wind direction is a particular problem for starting because of the lack of good transits: there are at least three similar looking gaps in the trees.

    Anyway, the race. A tight Solo start, one well OCS, two went back. No problem there then really. There was one spectacular match race between Gareth Griffiths and Paul Playle from I think the first windward mark to the end finishing up with their ending up miles high of the rhumb line on the last leg and having to run down. Don't forget the clock boys: you're racing that as well as each other, and when I look at those corrected time intervals I wonder if the price of protecting that place wasn't two or three more... Graham Potter's Albacore was going well in the breeze I thought, and a long shy reach wasn't doing any of the kiteless boats any harm.

    A smaller Laser fleet (two of them under the start flags with me) was led by Evan Cairns, but with Kevin Pearson's radial very well in evidence not far back.

    As mentioned a very aggressive start from the fast fleet, and unfortunately not all came back who should have done. Dave Nunn's RS600 was flying - especially down the long shy reach, but Richard Barker's Phantom was not getting left behind anything like as much as it looked as if it ought to be - if you see what I mean...

    So results... Richard Barker took the win from Graham Potter's Albacore with Kevin Pearson 3rd. Mike Storey and Dave Nunn dead heated for 4th, and Evan Cairns rounded out the top 6. That means Gareth is still leaidng the series with 4 wins, but its getting closer with all of the top 5 getting (they hope) discards this week, and Richard's 3rd win certainly brings him into contention if he can do all of the rest of the races. Only three races left now though, unless we have a weather cancellation that will be 8 to count from 16.

    The personal result want to Ian and Claire again. Five wins now. Graham Potter took 2nd, and is still very close in the standings. CJ is running 3rd, even though I haven't amalgamated all his scores in odd boats yet, which, looking at it, I don't think will actually change anything. All to play for, although Ian and Claire want a bit of catching now.

    close

    JUNIOR SAILING SCHOOL

    image for add

    BOOK NOW right