Last Thursday (3 Sept) was another brilliant sailing day, with the sun unexpectedly shining brightly and warmly through gaps in the light cloud and a decent but variable NW backing WNW wind. These conditions provided the 6 WS Racers and 2 volunteers a good challenge for Race 5 of the Summer Series. There were 5 entrants in 303W Access and 1 entrant in a Liberty plus Allan and Mike C in the two other Liberties. The course was set to enable the fleet to have an upwind leg from the Start – namely the Start Line was between Buoy D and the Race Officers’ Commando (stationed north of the Buoy), the first leg was a Beat upwind to Mark B, the second leg was a Reach to Mark A and the third a Run downwind back to Mark D.

It was tricky for those racing because the wind varied in strength and direction before and throughout the Race. This might have been the reason for all the 303 helms’ cautious approach to the Start and this resulted in the first boat not actually crossing the Start Line until 20 seconds after the Starting whistle. (LESSON: Use your time before the race to decide the direction of your first tack after crossing the Start Line and then assess how long it will take you to sail the last 25/50 yards or how far you will sail in 30 seconds approaching on that tack. Use that information to get your boat in the right position away from the Start Line to cross it as the Starting Whistle sounds). However, Kim crossed the Start Line first and was closely pursued by Fay, Brian and Steve. Since it was their first race, Rosie and Kai were being ultra-cautious and kept out of the other boats way to such an extent that they only got up to the Start Line just ahead of Mike B’s Liberty start (which was 3 minutes after the 303s!). The Liberty start was an example of how to start and all three boats crossed the Start Line within a few seconds of the Start sounding. Well done Mike B, Allan and Mike C!!

During the 3 minute wait for the Liberty Start, the 303 fleet had made good progress Beating and Tacking up towards the first Mark B which was a port hand rounding. Kim got there first closely followed by Brian then Fay and Steve and all four boats were off on the Reach vying for a good position at the next Mark A which would be a port gybe rounding. Brian was close to Kim as she rounded Mark A to start her Run downwind and just a few boat lengths in front of Fay and Steve. And then, as is often the case with sailing, Brian, running in 2nd place, lost the wind and Steve running in 4th place found a great gust which pushed him up to within 50 yards of Kim as she rounded the third Mark D also to port, whilst Brian lost boat speed and was overtaken by Fay dropping him to round the Mark D in 4th place. Mike B and the two Liberties helmed by volunteers had overhauled Rosie and Kai, who were battling hard as they tacked steadily but slowly towards Mark B, and some good wind helped the bigger Liberties to make up distance on the 303s. By the time the Liberty fleet had completed the Run downwind from Mark A to Mark D and hence their first lap, they were close to the 303s and their proximity may have caused Kim to have an uncharacteristic loss of concentration which allowed Brian and Steve to gain the advantage and lead her around Marks B and A. However, by the time the leaders had run down to Mark D to complete the second lap, Mike B in his faster Liberty had caught up and rounded Mark D just in the lead from Kim and Brian, then Steve and Fay. Mike held his lead throughout the final lap but there was still close racing behind him with Brian and Kim swapping honours for second place but eventually and literally on the last run down from Mark A to the Finish Line, Steve managed to sail past Brian pushing him into fourth, with Fay not that far behind. Our stalwart beginners Rosie and Kai succeeded in finishing some distance behind Fay – nevertheless a very creditable effort! Well done to all our WS Racers.

Result – 1 Mike B; 2 Kim S; 3 Steve F; 4 Brian Mac; 5 Fay W; 6 Rosie & Kai

Last Thursday (August 27) was a superb sailing day; cloudy but with the sun trying to break through, and a strong, but gusty wind – perfect for Race 4 of the Summer Series. We had 7 entrants in 303W Access and 2 entrants in Liberty plus David Mckee in the third Liberty. The wind was shifting between SSE and WSW so the course set was the same as last week – namely Start at the line between Buoy K and the shore, first Mark was D, second Mark B and the third Mark K.

With the wind gaining strength, there was quite a lot of activity amongst the Fleet as they tried to work out how best to place themselves ready to cross the Start Line during the 5-4-1 Starting Sequence of whistles. The result was that the 303 entrants – except young Lenny, who was still pondering whether to become a WS Racer – got across the Start Line soon after the Starting Whistle blew and sailed downwind towards the first Mark (D). There was lots of competition on this first leg with boats changing position. At the Mark D, Fay narrowly led from Brian, Ann, Kim and Lisa. Mike, Steve and David got away within yards of each other, 3 minutes after the 303 start, and unlike last week, there was plenty of wind to enable the Liberties to set about catching the 303 fleet!  As last week, Kim started to show her sailing skill by making her way upwind most efficiently, staying on the northerly side of the leg, and those who followed her lead were still within striking distance as they rounded Mark B. Brian meanwhile got caught out by some wind shifts in the middle of the lake and lost distance on the chasing pack and became vulnerable to Catriona and the Liberties. Fay, Ann, Lisa and Owen set off on the Reach to Mark K but Kim held them off and completed the Lap 1, rounding K and crossing the Start/Finish line, some 70 yards ahead. The chasing pack jockeyed for position on the Reach and Brian Mac was starting to make up some of the distance lost on the upwind leg. Following the Liberty start (3 minute handicap) Steve had just managed to keep ahead of Mike and David in their Liberties over the first two laps and half of the third lap. And all three were closing down on Brian and the other 303s chasing Kim on the upwind leg between Marks D and B. Steve and David kept clear of trouble around the Windward Mark B but Mike’s Liberty stalled and allowed them to get away on the Reach. Lisa, Fay, Ann and Owen, with David’s Liberty next, having overtaken Steve on the Reach from Mark B rounded Mark K in that order at the end of Lap 2! Most of the running order seemed to be played out until Mike’s Liberty got entangled with Ann’s 303 as they were closing in on Mark B during the third Lap. Naturally this incident threw Ann off her stride and allowed everybody – bar Lenny who had actually started the Race one lap behind everyone else! – to pass her before she completed Lap 3. Should Mike have done a 720 – did he do one? I don’t know. No protest was received. During Lap 4, Lisa and Owen made a gallant effort to chase down Kim but to no avail.

Result – 1 Kim S; 2 Lisa; 3 Owen; 4 Mike B; 5 Brian Mac; 6 Steve F; 7 Fay W; 8 Ann F and 9 Lenny.

Race 1 – August 6

Fleur reported that four WS Racers had a good race to kick off the Summer Series. And even with an equipment failure, Steve managed a fourth place!
Result: 1 Peter W; 2 Mike B; 3 Fay W; 4 Steve F.

Race 2 – August 13

Unfortunately rain and thunder forced a cancellation of sailing.

Race 3 – August 20

It was a variable day weather wise, cloudy but with the sun trying to break through, but it provided reasonable conditions for Race 3 of the Summer Series and we had 4 entrants in 303W Access and 1 entrant in a Liberty in the line up! With the wind varying in direction from SSE to WSW it was difficult to set a course that would consistently give a beat on the first leg followed by a reach across the wind and then a run downwind. So the course initially set at 10am was changed at 11.45 just before the start at 12.00 (LESSON: Always check the Race Board just before the race starts).

With the wind blowing SSW, the Start Line was in a tricky position, nevertheless all 303 entrants got to the line soon after the Starting Whistle blew. Unfortunately for Brian Mac he was a boat length early across the line and had to restart and this let Kim get a flyer with clear air in front and a steady wind to the first Mark (D), hotly pursued by Fay and Steve and then Brian, after his restart which had cost him about 150 yards on the leading group. Mike got away cleanly 3 minutes later in his Liberty to start hunting down the 303s but unfortunately for him the wind had died and he took a long time getting up to and around the first Mark 🙁  Meanwhile Kim had been steering her 303 in good wind into a longer lead, on the beat leg to the second Mark (B) but Brian Mac had made up his earlier 150 yards deficit, overhauled Fay and Steve on the beat leg and rounded Mark B in second place. After following Fay round the second Mark (B), Steve managed to pass her on the run down to Mark K and completed the first lap in 3rd place. After Kim, who was gaining an ever increasing lead, the race order was quite fluid with regular changes between Brian, Fay and Steve – sometimes due to better sailing, other times due to helpful or hindering changes in the wind strength or direction and other times due to being (too?) close to one another (but nobody protested!). And whilst the 303s were battling it out, Mike’s Liberty had been gradually taking back his 3 minute handicap and eventually, on the beat between Marks D and B on the third lap, he sailed into second place and started to pursue Kim. The first and second places were from thence on settled, and the 303s changed order throughout the third and final forth lap right up to the last 30 yards of the Race! A great effort by all the helms and Fay’s crew!
Result: 1 Kim S; 2 Mike B; 3 Steve F; 4 Brian Mac; 5 Fay W.