Category: Racing

WS RACING – SUMMER 1 – August 5th

Expectations were sky high when volunteers arrived at the lake to launch and rig the fleet. Windguru’s forecast would result in a very exciting day on the water for everyone coming to morning and afternoon sessions. The wind strength would grow from a gentle breeze to a challenging 14 knots by 1100 just in time for the Race. Here is the view from the Race Hut at around 0830..

By 1000 many sailors were on the water and enjoying some interesting and exciting sailing in a blustery wind ?. Ten WS Racers turned out for the first race of the Summer Series and they were joined by a guest racer, Jessica Eeles. Here you can see them milling about by the Start line, working out where the best place would be to cross the Start line and on which tack to get to the windward Mark A as quickly as possible.

The strong wind forecast had not arrived but at 11am it was blowing at about 10 knots which was plenty to get everybody going quickly when the race started as you can see from the video…

Start of the Summer Series Race 1

The lap timings showed that the wind strengthened a knot or two during the second lap and then subsided a bit in the fourth and fifth laps. The trees on the south side of the lake created barriers for the SSW wind that produced multiple gusty channels for dinghies approaching the windward Mark A. (I heard lots of sailors at lunch bemoaning the difficulty of sailing around A and after lunch, when Malcolm Hill and I went out in the Martin 15, I totally agreed with them!! So well done to all the sailors in being patient tacking to and rounding that Mark. Ed)

Here is a video of the fleet, led by Derek Preston (Liberty Sail White #24), approaching and rounding Mark A on the last lap…

Derek Preston rounding Mark A for his fifth and final time

Derek Preston and Kelly Tripp (303 Sail Yellow #3) started the race very well and immedialtely found good wind on a port tack. They were followed by the rest of the fleet and Derek gradually started to use the power and pointing ability of the Liberty to get away from the others. He used a windshift to gain distance to the Mark and eventually tacked in just the right place to come in close to Mark A on starboard tack and after rounding the Mark, start the Reach to Mark C. The video shows how important it was to judge ones approach to the windward Mark. Some boats appeared to have arrived but when they tacked – argh…where has the wind gone! And to rub salt into the wounds other boats, like Martin Norman’s and Peter Wagner’s Libertys (Sail White #23 and Blue #25 respectively), came steaming past and rounding A. (I hope the videos of the Start and the roundings will help you to see what you may have done differently. Ed)

Derek Preston led the race from start to finsh (Brilliant effort! Ed), but behind him the race unfolded into a number of sub-races and in particular the battles between the Libertys (Martin Norman, Peter Wagner and Bob Fisher Sail Yellow #22). I have tried to put the following photos in chronological sequence but the main plot line for the Libertys is: Martin chased Derek unsuccssefully for the first lap and a half but was then overhauled by both Peter and Bob over the course of the second and third laps. Peter managed to pull away slightly from Bob, finishing 1 min 20 seconds ahead of him after 5 laps and Martin crossed the finish line inches behind Derek but with only 4 laps completed.

Peter, Martin, Kelly and Bob running down to Mark D for first time

The other battle was between the 303s (Mark Cayzer Sail Blue #2, Kelly Tripp Sail Yellow #3, Steve Farmer Sail White #7 and Jessica Eeles Sail Blue #9). The 303 battle ended extremely closely with Mark crossing the finsh line after 42 min 30 secs, Kelly darting across 3 seconds later and Jessica just 3 seconds behind her. Steve had become separated from that trio and finished some way back. Geoff Taylor (303 Sail White #8) tried to sink his dinghy early on in the race when caught out by a gust and before he could release his main sheet, a few hundred litres of the lake had joined him inside his dinghy. So, very slowly, Geoff sailed to seek assitance from the volunteers on the pontoon to pump out the water! Geoff gamely rejoined the race and completed 3 laps. Ann Frewer (2.3 Sail Striped #279) was late to the start line due to a traffic jam of boats on the pontoon being launched but she completed 2 laps in the remaining time available and, with specially adjusted time keeping, Ann finished in ninth place.

Here are some photos highlighting the 303s….

Mark, Jessica and Kelly approaching windward Mark A

Result for Race 1 of Summer Series is:

Derek Preston – Liberty Sail White #24
Peter Wagner – Liberty Sail Blue #25
Bob Fisher – Liberty Sail Yellow #22
Mark Cayzer and his crew Mike Cartwright – 303 Sail Blue #2
Kelly Tripp and here crew James Thomas – 303 Sail Yellow #3
Steve Farmer – 303 Sail White #7
Martin Norman – Liberty Sail White #23
Trevor Monk – 303 Sail Red #10
Ann Frewer – 2.3 Sail Striped #279
Geoff Taylor – 303 Sail White #8

As an extra …Here are two short videos of some of you approaching and rounding the Leeward Mark D. See what you make of them and do ask if you want to chat about the rules (what is allowed and what will result in a penalty) of rounding Marks. Ed.

Trevor Monk about to be swamped by eager 303 Helms!

The leaders mixing it with back markers around Leeward Mark D

So all in all another great day on the water. Thank you to all sailors and volunteers who make this fun possible. Have fun and see you next Thursday!

WS RACING – Spring Series Results

The Spring Series was planned to be 12 Races but one was cancelled due to dangerous weather conditions and one was abandoned due to insufficient wind. So we ended up with 10 races that attracted 15 entrants who made 83 entries. There is a need to race at least 5 times for qualification and 9 Racers cleared that hurdle whilst 4 Racers had successfully completed 3 or 4 races. Tom Phillips entered 9 races which was one more than 4 other sailors who raced 8 times.

The finishing positions are calculated by adding the five best finishing places (lowest scores).

The Result for the WS Racing Spring Series 2021 is….

Kim Sparkes – 6 points

Peter Wagner – 9

Martin Norman – 10

Imogen Fletcher, Ann Frewer and Derek Preston – 18

Steve Farmer – 22

Mark Cayzer – 24

Tom Phillips – 33

Bravo to all 15 entrants who have raced and congratulations to those on the podium. I am sure that you will be thinking what if….some of our friends from pre-covid days had been able to race. Our thoughts for good health and speedy recoveries are with them all.

Onward to the Summer Series which will comprise 13 races between 5th August and 28th October – subject to weather allowing you to play!

WS RACING – SPRING SERIES 12 – July 29th

WS Racers have been able to enjoy some great sailing days in recent weeks and the conditions for Race 12 were the best of the lot. A solid 15 knot wind from the West enabled the whole area of Chipstead lake you normally sail on to have good wind conditions and the fetch from the Windward Mark (Buoy A) to the Leeward Mark (Buoy D) meant that the downwind legs were full on fun whilst the beat back up into the wind was a tough challenge. Here are some photos of the list of 17 dinghies and 3 larger boats that had been prepared for WS Sailors’ use during the day and unlike last week when at 9.30 am the sails were totally limp, you can see every sail absolutely flattened by the wind… (Great sight! Ed)

Most of the WS Racers wishing to race today arrived at the club between 10am and 10.30am and at times there was a queue of eager sailors waiting to put on their buoyancy aids and be allocated the dinghy of their choice. By 11am the racing fleet was sailing up and down the start line working out where they wanted to cross the start line and how long it would take to reach the start line from say 50 yards away……10 secs or 20 secs? (Good to see some WS Racers are learning the crafty arts of good starting! Ed).

However, relying upon the fleet’s patience, there was a delay to the start of the Race as we waited for Steve Farmer to arrive and for his 303 to be made seaworthy! As Steve in his Access 303 (Sail Yellow #3) left the pontoon, the 3 minute gong was sounded and at the start gong there were a line of dinghies a few yards behind the start line ready to head for the first and windward Mark (Buoy A). As can be seen in the video most of the fleet were evenly matched for some time as they tacked up the lake but Peter Wagner had already made up hs mind how he wanted to get to the Mark and by the time he got there he had put plenty of clear water between himself and the Access 303 (Sail Blue #9) in second place sailed by a guest from Camp Mounthill, Andrew Vestrini, with his crew and teacher James Thomas. Martin Norman in his Liberty (Sail Blue #25) appeared to have arrived at the Mark in second place but, as can be seen in the video, Andrew and James are on Starboard Tack approaching the Mark which gives them the right to hold their course and Martin, on Port Tack could either tack to starboard himself or hope to be able to sail round their stern and still round the Mark. Martin chose the later option but as a result his boat bangs into the Mark resulting in a 360 penalty. However, Martin did not notice this infringement and waited until he was told by the Safety Boat of the need to do a 360 (tack and gybe) turn which he then did. (Sailing Rules are primarily there for safety but penalties for infringing Sailing Rules are quite clear and are meant to reduce advantage gained by a boat at fault. If in doubt, it is better to do a 360 or 720 turn than be disqualified after the race if a protest is made and upheld. Any entrant can make a protest if they think a rule has been broken. Due to the friendly nature of our racing, such protests are more useful for learning than to gain a place or have a boat disqualified. It is also helpful if each helm self-monitors themselves and perfoms penalties as soon as possible. Ed)

With the strength of the wind remaining constant, the bigger Libertys were at an advantage on the water over the Access 303s and both Peter Wagner and Martin Norman sailed 5 laps within the 40 minutes duration set for WS Races. (This was the only race in the season where 5 laps had been able to be sailed by the leaders on the water. Ed). Kim Sparkes had problems when the outhaul on her Access 303 came unattached and suddenly she lost all power and control of her boat and then spent valuable time trying to rectify the problem. (The outhaul keeps the mainsail tight to the end of the boom which is essential for sailing quickly in a strong wind. Apologies Kim. Ed). Nevertheless, Kim was the only Access 303 to sail 4 laps and would have had time to sail 5 laps if the outhaul had not proved to be a problem. There were good tussles right down the fleet and the to’s and fro’s were being discussed long after the race, during lunch. Although not officially recorded, our guest Andrew and his crew James came in squeezed between Steve Farmer and Geoff Taylor (Just 4 seconds a lap behind and ahead of…! Ed). Here are a few more photos of the action during this race…

Clear water between the first two Libertys

This was the final race of the WS Spring Series so those WS Racers who haven’t yet been able to come down to the lake on a Thursday who but are now ready, can start afresh next week when we will have the first of 12 Races in our Summer Series.

The full result of Race 12 is:

Peter Wagner – Liberty Sail White #23
Kim Sparkes – Access 303 Sail White #8
Martin Norman – Liberty Sail White #25
Derek Preston – Liberty Sail Blue #24
Steve Farmer – 303 Sail Yellow #3
Geoff Taylor – 303 Sail White #7
Trevor Monk – 303 Sail Blue #11
Kelly Tripp and her crew Colin Barnes – 303 Sail Red #10

A big thank you to all the sailors and volunteers on and off the water and to Chris Wagner for assisting me record the lap times in the Race Hut. Ed.

WS RACING – SPRING SERIES 11 – July 22nd

Chipstead Lake looked resplendent when the volunteers arrived at 8.30 am to wash down the pontoons, launch and rig the dinghies and launch the lugger and longboat and safety boats. This was the beautiful scene when all this work had been done and the volunteers briefing had been completed and the first sailors and their carers were arriving….

A cloudless sky! The only thing lacking was…… yes, the limp sails give it away…..WIND!! The forecast was for 5 to 6 kn from the East (that is, blowing across the picture above from right to left) and therefore the course was set with the start line off the middle pontoon, the windward mark was buoy D followed by a downwind leg to Buoy B, then a reach across to buoy A, the leeward mark, before a long beat, up past the pontoons (through the start/finish gate) and back to buoy D.

Fortunately by the time the WS Racers were on the water milling around the start line, the forecast 6 knots of E wind had arrived and all the boats were able to manoeuvre freely, albeit rather slowly! Seven WS Racers and one WS volunteer entered the race which was able to start shortly after 11 AM. Here is a video of the start from which you can see Ann Frewer’s sailing knowledge working to her advantage from the start line but due to her Access 2.3 (Striped Sail #279) having a smaller sail area, she is overhauled by Bob Fisher in his Access 303 (Red Sail #10).

Bob was followed round the first Mark (D) by Ann and the WS volunteer, Nigel Raynes, in his 303 White Sail #8, who you will notice from the photo below leaves sufficient space for Ann between himself and the mark . Ann may have quite correctly called for “Water round the Mark” since her boat had an overlap on Nigel’s boat at 3 boat lengths away from the Mark. As with last week’s Race, the light wind made it difficult for the following boats to round the Mark and you can see eventual race winner Martin Norman in his Liberty White Sail #23 trailing behind the leading trio.

As the leaders reached the west end of the course, the wind started to pick up a bit and this benefitted Martin in his Liberty (#23). On the upwind leg from A to D, he overhauled Bob (303 #10) just before completing the first Lap – crossing 10 seconds ahead. From this stage on in the Race the wind filled in nicely and all the boats were moving more quickly. However, as is the case at Chipstead, the East wind backed and veered throughout and that provided opportunties for the sailors who recognised these small shifts either to harden up on the wind or to tack immediately as the lay line to the next Mark shifted.

Some sailors of note today were: Imogen completed her first Race solo (Access 303 Yellow Sail #6) and did very well considering she started well back from the fleet since she made a late decision to join the fray! (Brilliant job Imogen 🙂 Well done! Ed); Bob Fisher‘s immediate return to form after just 3 races. (Bravo Bob! Great to have you back. Ed); Derek Preston, as he acquaints himself with sailing at Chipstead – last week he bumped into the shallows and this week he found the dreaded weeds which managed to entangle themselves around the twin rudders of his Liberty (Blue Sail # 25) and as he said to me later “I just couldn’t get any boat speed” (I wonder what your next lesson will reveal Derek? Ed); and finally a duo, Martin Norman and Tom Phillips (Liberty White Sail #24) since it was Martin’s Samaritan act on his third lap towards Tom who was on his first lap. It is unclear exactly what happened but Martin ended up spending so much time with Tom – helping him (Really? Ed) – that Bob Fisher was able to catch Martin up and although he finished the Race 14 seconds after him on the water, after the PY handicap was applied Bob’s overall time placed him first. (Well done to both Bob for his perseverance and to Martin for his good intentions. Ed)

And many thanks to the volunteers on the Rib and Commando who were assisting sailors throughout the race and Tom especially on the beat to the finish line, which meant that everybody managed to complete at least one lap.

Here are a few more photos taken during the Race:

Bob rounds Mark A in the lead for first time

The full result of the Race is:

Bob Fisher – 303 Sail Red #10
Martin Norman – Liberty Sail White #23
Ann Frewer – 2.3 Sail Red/White #279
Steve Farmer – 303 Sail Yellow #4
Derek Preston – Liberty Sail Blue #25
Imogen Fletcher – 303 Sail Yellow #6
Tom Phillips – Liberty Sail White #24
Rachel Ibbott and her crew Colin Barnes – Sail Blue #2

A big thank you to all the sailors and volunteers on and off the water and to Angela Cartwright in the Race Hut. Ed.

WS RACING – SPRING SERIES 10 – July 15th

The main celebration today was the Chair of Trustee’s 70th Birthday for which we had a sunny, warm and windy day perfect for a Race. The lunchtime presentation of a Photo Book covering David Mckee’s 10 year association with Wealden Sailability as Volunteer, Trustee and Chair of Trustees was followed by toasting David’s health with a glass of champagne and a piece of birthday cake in the presence of his wife, children and grand-daughter. A lovely occasion for a very special man. (Thank you David! Ed)

WS Racers arrived at Chipstead after the volunteers had launched and rigged enough dinghies, the Rib and Commandos to enable the expected number of sailors and racers to get on the water safely. The weather forecast was perfect for racing but the North wind was veering aand backing between NNW and NNE. The normal expectation for sailing races is that the first leg of the race is a Beat so that racers have to zig-zag into the prevailing wind. The high trees on the north bank of the lake creates a natural baffle for a north wind and this results in the creation of a wind shadow in the area immediately south of the trees and when the wind does get through it comes in swirling and uneven currents. This makes setting a course for the race with a NNW/NNE wind quite tricky. The set course was: START/FINISH line between Buoy K and a Flag opposite Pontoon #5, the windward mark was Buoy D, then Buoy C and the leeward mark Buoy A down near the waterfall.

Here are some photos of activity on the lake as the Volunteers got the dinghies ready and some WS Racers got the feel for the conditions before the race

The race fleet gradually started closing on the Start Line as the 3 minute Gong sounded at 11 am. From the video below, you can decide whether you might have arrived at the start line just as the final Gong sounded (rather than be stationary and therfore needing a few minutes to start moving). Another decision to make before a race starts is which end of the Start Line would most benefit you in sailing to the first Mark. You can test that by sailing up and down the Start Line before the fleet start gathering for the race. (If anyone would like advice on how to select which end of the Start Line to target, please ask one of the Race Organisers. Ed)

The position of Mark D was tough because of the reasons mentioned before. Both the approach to Mark D and the second leg run downwind to Mark C was made extremely difficult by the varaibility of the wind’s strength and direction. When the wind blows from the North, seasoned sailors at Chipstead aim to sail in the middle or south side of the lake and only venture north to round the Marks on their course. Nevertheless you all managed to overcome these challenges which was no mean feat. (Well done and apologies for putting Mark D in such a tricky position. Ed)

As often is the case the front runners around the upwind Mark are able to lead the Race on the water for at least the first few Laps and that was the case for the first two Laps with Peter Wagner and Martin Norman in their Libertys (Sail # 22 and 24 respectively) with Martin passing Peter during the second Lap. Imogen Fletcher and Steve Farmer in their 303s (Sail # 7 and 3 respectively) were similarly closely matched in the first two Laps but then Imogen managed to pull away on Lap 3 and managed to maintain that performance on Lap 4. Bob Fisher, Mark Cayzer and Rachel Ibbott in their 303s (Sail # 9, 11 and 2 respectively) were closely matched on Lap 1 after which Bob and Mark managed to pull away from Rachel on Lap 2 and Bob managed to shake off Mark on Lap 3. Derek Preston (Liberty # 25) was unfortunate to run aground shortly after the Start and lose a lot of time whilst waiting to be rescued by the birthday boy who was crewing on the Safety Rib (Good to see the top brass getting their hands dirty! Ed).

Here are a few more photos of different moments and situations during the Race…

And the winner both on the water and after applying the PY handicap was Martin Norman (Very relaxed. Congratulations! Ed)

The full result of the Race is:

Martin Norman – Liberty Sail White #24
Imogen Fletcher and her crew Mark Cartwright – 303 Sail White #7
Steve Farmer – 303 Sail yellow #3
Bob Fisher – 303 Sail Blue #9
Ann Frewer – 2.3 Sail Red/White #279
Peter Wagner – Liberty Sail Yellow #22
Mark Cayzer and his crew Nigel Lamb – Sail Blue #11
Rachel Ibbott and her crew Paul Chilvers – Sail Blue #2
Derek Preston – Liberty Sail Blue #25
Tom Phillips – 303 Sail White # 8

A big thank you to all the volunteers and sailors and to David Mckee’s family to let us enjoy a moment to reflect upon the devotion and skill provided to Wealden Sailability over many years by David Mckee on a perfect sailor’s day of sun and wind!

WS RACING – SPRING SERIES 9 – July 8th

The wind returned to Chipstead! WS Racers turned up from 10am and were astonished to see Sails flapping on the dinghies and wind-gust induced ripples running across the lake. The volunteers had launched and rigged enough 303s and Liberty’s for those who indicated they would be coming and Ann Frewer’s appearance at 10.30am meant that her Hansa Access 2.3 was readied for the battle to come. We even had sunshine. Another beautiful summer’s day for sailing.

With the wind direction wavering between S and SW and at times veering to W, the Start Line was set on the north side of the lake between Mark C and a distance Marker. This Start line was also treated as a gate for the racers to go through on each lap and the Finish Line. The Upwind Mark was A and the Downwind Mark was K (which had been dragged into a more central position).

There are lots of small things that need to be done to get everything ready to safely start sailing and racing, such as cleaning the Pontoons of bird dirt and having Buoyancy Vests ready….

The race started at 11.05am with the first Gong of the 3-2-1-START sequence and as often is the case only a few boats were close to the Start Line when the final Gong sounded. Take a look to see if you were close to the line or 20/30 seconds back from the line from this video sequence from the Start until when the leaders rounded the upwind Mark (A).

The wind managed to keep blowing, albeit in strong gusts at times, and everyone had an opportunity to keep their dinghy moving. It was especially good to see Captain Bob Fisher back at the helm of Access 303 Blue Sail# 11. (Welcome back Bob! I hope you will feel the urge to send us some of your inimitable thoughts about proceedings as you get back into the cut and thrust of the WS Racing scene. And it was also good to see Keith Eeles and Jon Beck back on the water and getting strong enough to resume racing when they feel ready. Ed)

The main observation of the Race was the temporary absence of our Race Leader Kim Sparkes in Liberty Yellow Sail # 22 when her main sheet started to jam. Fortunately this was rectified quickly by her “pit crew” on Pontoon 5 and with an increase in the wind strength she was able to rejoin the Race and sail her Liberty through the middle of the fleet and overhaul the leaders to regain outright lead on the water and go onto sail an extra Lap. (Which turned out be 1st also even after the PY Handicaps had been applied by the software to the times recorded for each boat as they cross the Start/Finish line each lap. Ed)

Here are some photos taken during the race which show the close racing at each level of the fleet. (Absolutely right! You don’t need to be leading by miles to miss out on the fun. The toing and froing between dinghies at every Mark and on every Leg – up and downwind – is what makes sailing so much fun. Ed)

Rachel taking a tighter turn than Tom at downwind Mark..

The Result of Race 9

Kim Sparkes – Liberty Sail #22
Rachel Ibbott and her Crew Paul – 303 Sail #9
Peter Wagner – Liberty Sail #24
Steve Farmer and his Crew Helen Fairfax – 303 Sail #8
Ann Frewer – 2.3 Sail #279
Mark Cayzer and his Crew Alan Cayzer – 303 Sail #3
Imogen Fletcher and her Crew James Thomas – 303 Sail #7
Bob Fisher – 303 Sail #11
Tom Phillips Liberty – Sail #25