As those of you who have been dinghy racing with WS Racing before will know, we start our races using a WHISTLE BLAST from the Committee Boat (or sometimes from the pontoon ashore).  We ensure that all the helms are clear where they are in the sequence of blasts by shouting out after each blast (and giving the information if asked directly by a helm/crew).

The final start time between each Class’ Start Position is determined by using the  handicapping system called the Portsmouth Yardstick (PY).  The PY for each Class of boat is calculated by some clever folk who look at the measurements of each Class and then decide how much faster/slower each Class travels through the water – all things being equal (e.g. wind strength, ability of helm, condition of boat).  The longer/shorter a pursuit race lasts also affects the calculation.

NB. 1) We will be treating the 303s with a helm AND a crew as Double Handed (=DH) and they will have the advantage of starting before 303s which are Single Handed (=SH). 2) If RS Venture or RS Stratos are racing then these Classes will Start two minutes AFTER the Martin.

Here is the Starting Sequence which WS Racing will be using in 2016 for a 35 Minute Race:

And for a 40 Minute Race:

We hope you all had a decent winter and the wet and the cold hasn’t been too much of an inconvenience !  Most of the weather in our region this week has been rather pleasant and (I hope) means Spring might be just around the corner. At my allotment, bulbs have burst into flowers and buds are appearing on bushes and trees and grass is greening up (ready for the first cut?) and that means the new sailing season will start very soon.

For your diary… Wealden Sailability’s first day of full operation this year will be in the week after Easter on Tuesday 5th April.  During February and March the Volunteers have attended First Aid and Rescue Boat Coxswain training courses, and will be gathering on  22nd March for their Briefing Day followed by a day to spring-clean all the different class dinghies ready for them to be used next month. 

The season will be split into two series, Spring and Summer. The first Spring Series race will be on Thursday 28th April and this race will be followed by 13 more races, each Thursday, until 28th July. Then the Summer Series will start on  4th August and there will be 12 more races though to the end of the season on 27th October. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE

2016 Races will start at 11.30 each Thursday – which is 30 minutes earlier than last year. Otherwise everything else will be the same.  And as in previous years, we will be offering training sessions to help you master the core sailing skills and to consolidate your knowledge of sailing rules. 

To ensure the WS Racing 2016 season runs smoothly, Bob, Fleur and I have been joined by Mike Coleman, a WS Trustee, and Mike Mackenzie. We and all the WS volunteers look forward to greeting you again at Chipstead Sailing Club as soon as you are ready to get back on the water!! Please leave any comments below or contact me by email (p.m.c.ashwell@btinternet.com) or telephone (01732 461087).   Best wishes, Peter Ashwell

Yesterday (29 October) the weather forecast was for steady rain and a 20-30 knot wind. Not exactly the conditions most sailors would have liked for the final race of the Summer Series, nevertheless six 303, two Liberty and one Martin helm turned up to race and they were rewarded with far better sailing conditions than those forecast. And they were provided  with a good challenge for their final outing of the season. The wind was blowing mainly from the S, but with irregular shifts to SSW and SW, at around 15 knots with gusts up to 20 knots. And just to remind us we were in the last week of October, a light drizzle set in just as the 5 minute whistle sounded.

As in previous races the 303 fleet went off 3 minutes before the Liberty fleet and 8 minutes before the Martin. The start/finish line was set away from the clubhouse on the north shore, between the Race Boat and Buoy C, from which the fleets would have a beat into the shifty S wind for the upwind leg across the lake to the first mark (Buoy K), then a downwind leg to Buoy D, followed by a broad reach back to Buoy C.

With visibility reduced and the race boat’s position moving about, none of the helms wanted to be baulked by the race boat and hence they held back from the Start Line. Their caution paid off and all three class fleets were able to start within 30 seconds or so of their Start whistle.  Kim and Bob had a slight head start over the rest of the 303 fleet and whilst most of the fleet quickly got onto a port tack, Brian Mac chose to head East until he realised that he was the only boat heading for Buoy D and turned around to rejoin the others. LESSON: Confirm the Race Course by looking at it on the Race Board, by the clubhouse, and check that you have remembered it correctly just as you’re going on the water. And you can always ask another Racer!

Meanwhile Bob had made an excellent start and headed the 303 fleet around the first mark (Buoy K), closely pursued by Kim and Fay (and her crew – the Chairman of Trustees!). And, although Mike started 3 minutes behind the 303s in his Liberty, he slipped round the first mark just ahead of Brian Mac and Steve to start chasing down the leaders. Peter still had some distance to catch up in his Liberty. Mark Cayzer (and his carefully chosen crew – top club sailor Tony Meyrick!) had been patiently waiting in his Martin for their Start Whistle which was blown just before Kim and Bob completed their first lap.

Now that all three classes were racing, spectators could witness the superior boat speed of the Martin over both the Liberty and the 303. Which taken together with Mark’s crafty crew selection, meant that Mark’s Martin, although starting a full lap behind the leading 303 and Liberty, was lying in 5th place by the end of the second lap and was just ahead of Kim in her 303 as they completed the third lap, and so Mark ran out a comfortable winner over four laps. Nevertheless Kim managed to hold both the Liberty helms at bay during the last two laps of the race. There was an excellent tussle going on behind Kim, with Mike and Peter trying to gain an advantage over each other in their Liberties. It was nip and tuck with Mike mainly the winner on the upwind leg, Peter sailing the downwind leg better and both helms making similar progress on the reaching leg. However, on the third lap Peter made a decisive move by just managing to get room round the mark (at Buoy K) on starboard tack which meant he could round the mark as he wanted to and position his boat to start his downwind leg in front of Mike. On this leg Peter gained some more distance – helped by a big gust (which he seems to relish as his boat heels sharply leeward) –  and his lead round Buoy D enabled him to hold off a final challenge by Mike on the reach between Buoy D and C. Bravissimi to Peter and Mike for a closely fought season of  Liberty racing! Ed.

During the second lap Bob could not hold off the Liberty onslaught but he had created sufficient advantage over the rest of the 303s by the end of the second lap to hold onto his fifth place for the rest of the race. Brian Mac’s solid sixth place showed that he might have been fighting Bob and possibly Kim if he had not gone walkabout immediately after the start of the race!

All in all, well done to this intrepid group of stalwart WS Racers for getting out on the water and making the last race a really good race!

Result: 1 Mark; 2 Kim; 3 Peter; 4 Mike; 5 Bob; 6 Brian Mac; 7 Fay; 8 Steve

Yesterday (22 October) was the penultimate race of the Summer Series and it was a real challenge for the 11 Racers who took part. The wind was (as it often is) the main reason for the challenge, not only because its strength  fluctuated between a slight ruffle up to a decent 15 knot breeze, but also it changed direction frequently, veering from W to NNW and  then backing to W, during the whole race.  This meant that the Racers had to adjust their sails differently for just about every leg of each lap of the race. The helms could never settle into a pattern of how to attack each leg. Also the variable wind meant that some helms delayed their decision  to tack away from the Island (west of the pontoons) fractionally after just slight wind shifts and they found themselves running aground on the rocky outcrop that runs north west of the Island.

After the normal 5 -4-1- START countdown, most of the  helms in the 303 fleet were closely bunched as the Start Whistle sounded and they took a couple of minutes to sort themselves out. Kim, although only sixth over the start line, managed to find clear air quickly on the upwind leg to the first Mark (Buoy B) and she started to pull out a 50 yard lead over Lukas, Bob and Brian Mac on the downwind leg to the second Mark (Buoy C). Peter Wagner was helming the only Liberty in the race and he hit the start line within a few seconds of his Start Whistle (3 mins after the 303 Start) and a good gust helped him to  immediately get into his stride on the beat upwind to the first Mark….. but Peter’s first Tack came to a resounding HALT when he sailed too close to the Island and went aground on the rocky bottom. Fortunately the safety boat got Peter back on his way quite quickly and he made the most of the stiff breeze upwind to round the first Mark (Buoy B) before the 303 fleet had completed their first lap.  The two Martins in the race, helmed by Mark Cayzer and Mike Blatchford, set off a daunting 8 minutes after the 303 fleet’s START but that did not put them off and Mike especially started to gain ground on the boats in front of him and worked his way through the fleet (for the first time – since he had started over a full lap behind) and he soon had the leader group, headed by Kim,  in his sights. But just after Mike had rounded Buoy K to complete his first lap, he sailed too close to the Island and ran aground (as had Peter W). Unfortunately for Mike, the safety boat took a long time get him off the rocks and back into the race and this meant that the 303s and the Liberty had escaped his clutches! The rest of the race saw Kim starting to close in on the back markers of the 303 fleet (Well done! Ed.) and, of course, maintain her lead over the chasing 303s of Patricia, Bob and Lukas and Peter W’s Liberty, which was gaining ground (as expected by their respective PYs) massively on the upwind leg but slowing down on the two downwind legs.

The changes in the wind direction and strength required constant vigilance by the helms to enable them to sail the best course whilst tacking upwind and to be patient when the wind died on the downwind legs and then to try and stay in front of the boats behind them which  were benefiting first when the wind filled in again!

All in all the race was tough and challenging due to the variable wind and made more difficult for the three helms (Yes – Peter, Mike and Brian Mac!) who went aground near the island! Well done, especially to Kim,whose victory cemented her as Summer Series Winner, and to all the helms and crews.

Result: 1 Kim; 2 Peter; 3 Patricia; 4 Lukas; 5 Anne; 6 Bob; 7 Steve; 8 Mark; 9 Mike; 10 Fay: 11 Brian Mac

Last Thursday (Oct 15) began as a drizzly, cold day with little breeze but, since gusts up to 20 mph had been forecast for later in the morning, the Session manager asked that sails be reefed when we set up the dinghies. However, once the first WS clients arrived it began to warm up and the NNE wind started to gain in strength to about 10 mph.

The Race Course (START/FINISH = K:Pontoon; then D; B; K) was set on the Race Board at 10am and the WS Racers, who arrived early for the morning session, had plenty of time to practice and enjoy free sailing on the lake prior to the Race. By noon, there were 6 Access 303s, 2 Liberties and a single Martin milling around the Start line as the first whistle blast sounded (indicating 5 minutes to the 303 Start).

Brian Mac was perfectly positioned as the 303 Start whistle sounded and he led Ann Frewer, Fay Watson and Avril Sleeman, a newcomer to WS and WS Racing (WELCOME Avril – Ed.) across the line to start the first leg up to the first Mark (Buoy D).  As always, knowing the Sailing Rules can give you an advantage – especially on the Start Line! And yesterday, there was a perfect example when Bob who sensibly was starting on a Starboard Tack (and hence he could  have held his course whilst all boats on Port Tack MUST tack or go round behind him) acted the gentleman by slowing and changing direction to enable Steve to sail straight across his bows!!

The Beat up to the first Mark, Buoy D, was made tricky because of the direction of the wind and the effect of the trees on the north bank.  This meant that the WS Racers who kept closer to the south bank made better progress. And therefore, Steve, having crossed the Start Line in 5th place, rounded the first Mark in 3rd place, following Brian and Ann.  Taking advantage of a favourable gust, Brian started to pull away, followed by Ann and the rest of the fleet on the Downwind leg towards the second Mark, Buoy B. The rest of the 303s started to bunch up as the wind quietened, especially on the north side of the lake, but by sailing their boats into the middle of the lake, Bob, Avril and Fay managed to get the best of the wind and were closing in on the Mark in 2nd, 3rd  and 4th place. Bob went round clear and headed off to the next mark whilst Avril called for Water (Mark-Room) from Fay who moved across to let her round the Mark on the inside. However, this manoeuvre was disrupted when Ann, who had been caught up and was furthest away from the Mark, collided with Fay who subsequently hit Avril. This should have resulted in somebody making a 360 penalty turn and, in view of uncertainty, probably everyone could have done that! Please remember the most important Sailing Rule is to keep clear of and hence avoid collision with/damage to other boats (even if you/the helm think you have right-of-way!)

LESSON:  There is a key Rule intended to enable two or more boats that are close to one another to round or pass a Mark without damage or injury in a fair, orderly, and predictable way that preserves the order of the boats that was established before they reached the Mark. So if two or more boats are all on Starboard Tack, have an overlap on the boat on their outside when entering the 3 boat length zone around the Mark, and want to gybe around a  leeward (downwind) mark,  the outside boats are required by Rule 18.2(b) to give the inside boats mark-room.  And since on this occasion  the WS Racers are all on starboard tack, the outside boats are required by Rule 11 to keep clear of those inside them. As a result, the inside boat is in the driver’s seat  and is therefore entitled to make a tactical approach and rounding of the mark (rather than  just make a seamanlike approach and rounding of the mark). NB. This LESSON was extracted from a lengthy article which can be read in Sailing World about the new Mark-Room Rules

The Liberty (+ 3 minutes) and Martin (+ 8 minutes) classes had started by the time Brain Mac and Bob had rounded Buoy B ahead of the rest of the 303 fleet, so Peter, Kim and Mark could see their quarry and the only question was “Could they use the extra power at their disposal to catch them?”

All the classes seemed to enjoy the Reach between Buoys B and K and made best use of the wind coming down/across the middle of the lake.  So by the end of the first lap, Brian was in 1st place leading Steve who had sailed a storming leg from B to K and went up to 2nd place, ahead of Ann, Fay, Avril and Bob,  Some distance behind but closing gradually Peter and Kim in their Liberties and Mark in his Martin were chasing down the pack of 303s.

The upwind leg from Mark K to Mark D and the downwind leg from Mark D to Mark B proved just as much a challenge to the Racers on the second lap as they had done earlier in the Race and, other than Brian continuing to extend his lead, this resulted in places being swapped among the 303 fleet as the helms either caught or lost the available wind which was at times gusting to 15 mph. Possibly due to the fluctuating wind, the Liberties and the Martin were not catching the 303s as quickly as their PY rating expects.  So by the end of the second lap, Brian had a commanding lead over Avril (possibly now getting her crew, Rick, to work a bit harder!) who had forged into 2nd place, ahead of Fay (and her crew, James) in 3rd, Steve 4th, Ann 5th and Bob 6th. Peter W had nearly caught up the 303 back-markers in his Liberty in 7th, ahead of Kim and Mark.

The last lap saw a complete change around in fortunes, with Brian Mac deciding to run aground, in the shallow water between the Pontoon and the beach, rather than tack off towards Mark D and certain victory. By the time the stand-by boat had dragged him back into deep water and even with a stalwart fight to get back on terms, Brian came in 6th! In the opposite direction, Ann who had fallen back to 5th after 2 laps, sailed a great final lap to come 1st – for the second week running! (Brava Ann – Ed)  getting in just in front of our newcomer Avril who was chased all the way home by Steve, Fay and Bob and a little ahead of Brian Mac who still beat the Liberties and Martin.

In summary, although the wind’s behaviour on the lake when blowing from NNE does not make for the easiest of sailing, the WS Race  #11 showed that resilience to keep sailing, whatever is happening around you and wherever you are on the lake,  pays dividends. Well done to all of you!

Result: 1 Ann; 2 Avril; 3 Steve; 4 Fay; 5 Bob; 6 Brian Mac; 7 Kim; 8 Mark; 9 Peter