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September 2003
The Newsletter of Spinnaker Club, Ringwood
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September 2003 |
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The Newsletter of Spinnaker Club, Ringwood |
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Laser Nationals 2003 A View from the Shore. Largs is a long way, especially with a car full of boys, Laser gear - and just one Blackadder tape (we can now understudy for any part…). Largs also proved a great venue for this year’s Laser National championships. Richard and James Clay joined James Anderson to represent Spinnaker at the 6-day event – the first to include 4.7s. The whole affair was impressively civilised. A comfortable and imaginatively-designed clubhouse gave spectators great views of heather-clad Western Isles (in rare dry moments). Points races ran from Monday to Friday, with a practice race on Sunday pm, giving people time to make the journey without taking more than a week off work. And good winds, coupled with great efficiency from the Race Officer and team, meant 10 races were completed with little hanging around or fuss. The downsides from the long-suffering trolley-dolly’s point of view were
The discoveries of the week were
All in all, a good week, especially for the sailors. (And the journey home came in handy to brush up our lines.) Rosie Clay
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Swanage Grand Prix And Regatta 4 standard rigs, a radial and 4.7 made the short journey from Spinnaker to the Swanage Regatta and Laser South Coast Grand Prix event held on 2-3 August 2003. The forecast had been for bright sunshine and no wind and up until about 12 noon the forecast held true on Saturday. After lunch and the briefing, the wind gradually filled in, building to a force 3, occasional 4. Two races were held back to back with the first race set on a standard triangle sausage course with a true beat to the windward mark. With the tide running towards the start line it was inevitable that a recall would be required despite the “I” flag being flown. At the second attempt the fleet got away with close racing all the way to the first mark with the majority of the fleet going inshore. Peter May took the offshore route to take advantage of the tide. Initially the offshore route appeared to pay but a strong lift up to the windward mark on the inshore route resulted in neither side being particularly favoured with Peter rounding the mark just ahead of Mike Worley. The 10 lead boats swapped positions during the race, but Mike Worley showed great pace despite a lack of practice to score an 8th place. For the second race the wind had shifted round to an easterly with a starboard bias to the line. This resulted in a general recall. The fleet got away on the second attempt but with the assistance of the tide was able to fetch the mark, resulting in a procession and an unsatisfactory race with Mike Worley leading the Spinnaker fleet home in 7th place. On the Sunday, a light breeze greeted the competitors and the first race got away at around 11.00am. The breeze was from the north east and during the race the breeze gradually died away as it competed with the sea breeze. The majority of the fleet set off on an inshore route to the first mark and Peter May and local sailor Tim Page made the best use of local knowledge going out to sea to allow the tide to take them to the windward mark and both gaining a substantial lead which they held on a shortened course to the finish. The fourth race was postponed till the afternoon when a light sea breeze had become established. A short rectangular course was set and the fleet managed to get away on the first attempt. The lead boat then proceeded to lead the fleet off in the wrong direction after the windward mark before the error was realised and the whole fleet made an about turn. This resulted in a complete reversal of positions. Jim Anderson and Chris Stott made the best of the mistake establishing a good lead over the rest of the Spinnaker fleet. Jim gained a creditable 4th and Chris Stott was 8th. First place in the third race gave Peter May a 3rd overall, Jim Anderson sailed consistently to gain a 7th with Mike Worley in 9th place. Jo Newall-Smith was third radial. Well done Jo! The slow handicap was dominated by James Anderson who had two seconds on the Saturday and two firsts on the Sunday. James won the slow handicap cup, won last year by our own Sam Downing. Well done Spinnaker Laser sailors! Peter May
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Spinnaker Lasers August and the summer series is now over, the nights are drawing in and it’s back to school for the kids. It is only three months since I wrote the last Laser report and an incredible amount of sailing has been and gone. On the home front I would like to congratulate Richard Marshall on winning the summer series. Despite being only a part time Laser sailor Richard managed to put together a string of good results, leaving us all in his wake. There have been about 16 different entrants in the series split between standard, radial and 4.7 rigs, and it’s very pleasing to see new faces and talent on the water making their presence felt. Richard Kitchener, a new member this year, has one of the older boats in the fleet with a sail to match but has quickly learned the idiosyncrasies of Spinnaker Lake Sailing. This year has also seen substantial improvement in Dick Meredith's performance. Dick, a regular every week, has clearly benefited from this year's training and he is now a difficult man to beat. All we need to do now is persuade Dick that he is ready to join the travelling fleet to improve his sailing still further. Jim Anderson, who has joined the fleet so that he doesn't have to watch his boy, James from the shore, has in recent weeks got to grips with his boat. In the last race at the recent Swanage Regatta, Jim showed us all a clean pair of heels and tactical awareness to gain a creditable 4th in a very competitive fleet. Over the summer Spinnaker Lasers have attended South Coast Grand Prix events at Hill Head where Peter May was 11th out of 27, at Highcliffe where Jonathon Burns was 8th out of 26 and at Swanage where Peter May was 3rd out of 17. There are three events left in the series with Castle Cove on Saturday, 20 September, Weston on Sunday, 28 September and Spinnaker, the last event in the series on Saturday, 4 October. It would be great if the Spinnaker Laser fleet could make every effort to attend these events, but particularly the home event in October. Richard Clay represented Spinnaker at the Laser Radial Nationals held at Largs in Scotland. Richard came 84th out of a fleet of 118. His brother James was 22nd and James Anderson was 30th in the 4.7 Nationals, held at the same venue. Congratulations on competing in such a strong fleet. I have again been asked about training. I would like to run two events before the end of the year, one for beginners and a second more focused on racing and tactics. If anyone is interested please let me know. Training is the best way to improve technique and boat speed. Learning the rules helps to be tactically aware and to prevent simple mistakes which cost places in racing. Now that the holiday season is behind us I am hoping that the Autumn series will be well attended. At the RNLI pennant there were 12 Lasers competing despite a very light breeze and a number of absentees. I would like to aim to have had at east 15 Lasers on the start line this Autumn to prove that Lasers are the premier fleet in the club (not that there was any doubt!). Finally I would like to say our goodbyes to Stephen Broom our most successful Laser sailor ever, and to Ken Manley. Both sailors must have caught Yellow Fever as they have both bought Solos. Despite the strange choice of boat and the fact that I consider it mutiny and should make them walk the Gang Plank, we wish them success and only hope they wipe the floor in their new fleet, so at least we can take some satisfaction from their results. Peter May |