Wealden Sailability (Beta)

Another brilliant day for sailing greeted the volunteers who arrived as early as 8am to start launching and rigging the fleet of Access 303s, 2.3 and Liberty’s and the Martin 16s for the WS Racers as well as the rest of the WS fleet including the Stratoses, the Venture, the Lugger, the Longboat and the Pioneer that takes clients and their wheelchairs for trips on the water.

It was particularly pleasing to see Bob Fisher and Keith Eeles at the session after not seeing them for too long whilst they have not been able to attend. (Welcome back! Ed.)

The wind from the NW was a brisk 15 knots with occasional gusts of 20 knots. The wind was surprisingly (for Chipstead Lake) consistent in power and direction which made the challenge for the WS Racers more enjoyable than when they are constantly having to cope with the wind’s constant changes of direction and power. It was a very demanding race which everybody handled extremely well, especially Kelly Tripp in her 303 with her hand-picked crew Helen Fairfax (Well chosen Kelly! Ed.) who came first!!

Here is a video of the Start and a few photos below from a variety of moments in the race….

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Result

1. Kelly Tripp and her crew, Helen Fairfax – 303 Sail # 3
2. Peter Wagner – Liberty # 21
3. Keith Eeles – Liberty # 23
4. Steve Farmer – 303 # 8
5. David Mason – Liberty # 22
6. Peter Gregory – 2.4m #102
7. John Beck and Paul Thatcher – 303 # 10
8. Trevor Monk and James Thomas – 303 # 7
9. Malcolm Hill and Mike Mackenzie – Martin # 125
10. Jake Jones – 2.3 # 745
11. Mike Blatchford – Martin # 126

Retired and did not finish – Martin Norman (303 #4), Imogen Fletcher and her crew Peter (303 # 9) and Tom Phillips and Jim McEwen (303 # 2).

What a superb day we had :). A surprisingly consistent robust wind from the West – backing SW at times – enabled the twelve of you who came to race to have a very enjoyable time in the sunshine and on the water. It was great to see Jake Jones back on the water, taking the opportunity to join us away from his academic study, and even better to see him decide to join the Race.

As we have done in the past, here is a video of the start as viewed from Race Hut and a second video with view from the pontoon (Thanks to one of Peter Wagner’s fan club! Ed.) . Here is also another short clip showing three boats running downwind towards Mark D and then reaching across to Mark J and tacking back up the lake to cross the Start/Finish line.

(The purpose of posting videos is to enable each of you to see what you did versus your competition and work out if you might have done something different – where you started along the line or where you decided to tack or if you perhaps gave too much space at a Mark (if you didn’t have to according to the 3 boat length rule)? The boats and their sail numbers are all shown
below with the Result. Ed.)

Result

1. Jake Jones 303 Sail #10
2. Mike Blatchford Liberty #22
3. Mark Cayzer and his crew Alan Cayzer 303 #9
4. David Mason Liberty #23
5. Fay Watson and her crew James Thomas 303 #2
6. Peter Wagner 2.4m #108
7. Peter Gregory 2.4m #102
8. Imogen Fletcher and her crew Peter 303 #6
9. Martin Norman and his crew Sebastian Martin #126
10. Steve Farmer 303 #7
11. Ann Frewer and her crew Peter Coulcher 303 #4
12. Malcolm and his crew John Masters Martin #125

Well done to all the entrants and many thanks to their crews.

Result

1. Martin Norman Martin Sail #125
2. Peter Gregory 2.4m #102
3. David Mason 2.4m #108
4. Peter Wagner 2.4m #109
5. Mike Blatchford Martin Martin #126
6. Mark Cayzer and his crew 303 #5
7. John Beck and his crew Mark Skipper 303 #4
8. Steve Farmer 303 #9
9. Edward Florey and his crew 303 #3
10. Trevor Monk Liberty #22
11. Tom Phillips 303 #8

Well done to all entrants. You can see the summary sheet that shows the results for all the Spring Series races on the WS Website here

Firstly, apologies for the delay and short report. I went camping over the weekend with mixed results. Sadly the wind that greeted us for the race on Thursday didn’t remain and at 4am our tent tried to blow away with us in it, leading us to de-camp and head home! I think I’ll just stick to sailing.

Near perfect conditions on Thursday led to a really great race. Another clear start which is always good to see. However, it would be good to see you all pushing to be on the line as the gun goes to gain valuable extra ground. Just remember your rules if you do it to avoid collisions! The most notable start of the day went to David Mason followed by Mike Blatchford and Peter Wagner. Fay Watson and David also started well up the first windward leg.

David Mason amassed a good lead round the 1st mark. However, Martin found some speed and overtake him. Peter also made a move to catch up and was just 7 seconds behind David at the first mark. The 303s were all fighting it out with Fay Watson leading the charge at the end of the first lap.

On the second lap, Peter made a move and overtook David leading him by 5 seconds at the gate. Mike and Malcolm were also battling it out, just 8 seconds apart at the gate. The 303s were even tighter with 2 seconds between David and Fay and Mark only a further 30 seconds further back.

On the third lap. Martin stayed well ahead of the pack with Peter and David chasing him. David, having relinquished 2nd place to Peter in the second lap, regained control leading him by 6 seconds at the gate. Malcolm made a move and overtook Mike in the Liberty. Further back, the 303s powered to the finish. David gained time on the final lap, finishing 34 seconds ahead of Fay. Mark Cayzer had a difficult final lap but kept going getting to the line.

On the final lap for the final 3, on the water positions remained constant with Martin crossing the line first ahead of David and Peter.

Another great race is really near perfect conditions. You’ve got me solo in the race box again next week so keep doing your wind prayers and we will hopefully be in for another good instalment.

The race results were:

1. Martin Norman
2. Mike Blatchford
3. David (303D) – David or your crew, if you read this, would let me know your surnames. Peter Ashwell
4. David Mason
5. Gay Watson
6. Peter Wagner
7. Malcolm Hill
8. Mark Cayzer

Altogther, it was a great day to be on the water. A lot less wind than in recent weeks but nevertheless enough and very challenging. Here is a short video clip of the start of the race – watch in amazement at the advantage David Mason gets starting from the top of the Start Line. He literally looks as if he has an outboard assist. Well done….and this was a lead which he never looked like losing over the next 3 laps. And, for the mere mortals amongst the rest of you, pick out your own boat and see if you could have chosen a better place to start or a better route to the first mark.

Here are a few photos of the race’s slow moving action. Patience was the order of the day and, in some of the photos, you can see how important it is to know the sailing rules. Who is the stand on boat and who must bear away? And at the end….we all had our lunch al fresco in beautiful sunshine.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The Race result is:

1. David Mason – 2.4m – #108
2. Mike Blatchford – Liberty #23
3. Martin Norman – Martin – Sail #126
4. Peter Wagner – 2.4m – #109
5. Malcolm Hill and his crew Nigel Lamb – Martin #125
6. Mark Cayzer and his crew Alan Cayzer – 303D – #4
7. Fay Watson and her crew James Thomas – 303D – #1
8. John Beck and his crew Danyel – 303D – #745
9. Tom Phillips – 303S – #7

Here is a short video clip of the start of the race – please note how carefully the 303 nearest the Start Line is careful to avoid going over the line until the START GONG sounds. And – for something completely different – what do you think is happening aboard two of the 303s – one with yellow and the other with blue sails?

And here are some photos of boat-on-boat action taken throughout the race. It is clear that there is some very good sail trimming going on and tactical thinking. Well done and keep it up.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The Race result is:

1. Mike Blatchford – Martin – #125
2. Malcolm Hill and his crew Matt Bryant – Martin – Sail #126
3. David Mason – 2.4m – #108
4. Fay Watson and her crew James Thomas – 303D – #1
5. Mark Cayzer and his crew Mark Skipper – 303D – #4
6. Peter Wagner – 2.4m – #109
7. Martin Norman – Liberty – #22
8. Peter Gregory – 2.4m -#148
9. Rowan Nicholls and his crew Allan Griffiths – 303D – #2
10. Ann Frewer and her crew Bruce – 303D – #5
11. Bill Garry – 303S – #7

Tom Phillips and Louise McSweeney were also out on the water during the race. Well done to all the racers. The results have been added to the summary sheet on the website.