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Category: Racing

WS Racing – New Trophies in 2019 and the Winners

This year Wealden Sailability lost two of its biggest supporters when Bob Marsh and Brian McCormick died. The Trustees decided that a great way of remembering these lovely people and brilliant sailors, as they were, is to establish two new racing trophies in their names.

So, from 2019 onwards, WS Racers are competing for the Bob Marsh Trophy and the Brian McCormick Trophy.

Having been presented in 2018 with the Peter Hazlewood Trophy, this means that WS Racers are competing for three cups – across the whole season – a well as the Spring and Summer Series.

Winners of these Trophies for 2019 Based on the best 12 finishes in the 21 races sailed

Peter Hazlewood Trophy – The best sailor (single or double handed)

  • Mike Blatchford

Bob Marsh Trophy – The best single-handed sailor

  • Mike Blatchford

Brian McCormick Trophy – The best double-handed sailor

  • Mark Cayzer

MANY CONGRATULATIONS TO MIKE AND MARK

The Trustees recognise that the composition of the WS Racing fleet has recently changed and is likely to change in the future, and hence the criteria for assessing the winners of the Trophies may change. If so the criteria will be announced at the start of the new season.

Click here for full details of all the WS Racing Results for 2019

WS Racing – 2019 Summer Series Result

It was with great reluctance that the Trustees took the decision to cancel the final day of this year’s Racing calendar. As I write this report, rain is falling outside (And the central heating is on! Ed) and there is hardly a breath of wind, so it looks like the forecasters were spot on.

As in previous year’s, the result of the last race of the Summer Series could have changed the result of who was going to be on the top step of the podium! That is now academic and our congratulations go to Martin Norman who has a final low-score of 13 points from his best 5 finishes. (I do hope that his sister in Australia will be delighted with Martin’s success! Ed)

Martin has been sailing a Martin 16 dinghy for most of the Summer Series, often accompanied by his trusty crew Sebastian, but more recently he has been seen out on the water in a Liberty and a 303 (What versatility! Ed).

The Podium for the Summer Series

  • 1st Martin Norman with 13 points
  • 2nd Mike Blatchford – 15 points
  • 3rd Peter Gregory – 17 points.

Plus there were 10 more Qualifiers for the competition:

  • Mark Cayzer  *By a gnat’s wisker. Having 1 x 1st place vs PG’s 2 x 1st
  • David Mason
  • Peter Wagner
  • Fay Watson
  • Keith Eeles
  • Imogen Fletcher 
  • Benn Gubb  
  • Malcolm Hill
  • Ann Frewer
  • Geoff Taylor

In addition to congratulations for the 13 Qualifiers, a HUGE well done to each of the other 10 sailors who entered at least one Race during the Summer Series (from 8 August until last week). In total there were 110 entrants in 10 races – having had to cancel 3 due to poor/dangerous sailing conditions.

Here is a link to the Spring Series Result

WS Racing – Summer Series 11 – October 17th

Well, what a day…..a beautiful sunny morning (at 9 am), followed by drizzle and diminishing sun, followed by heavier rain. BUT where was the promised 7 to 14 knots of WIND?? Alas..it never arrived – until a few strong gusts charged across the lake after lunch and they heralded a deluge that soaked the volunteers as they derigged the boats and took them ashore.

  • Sunny start…
  • Clouds and drizzle….
  • Heavier rain…

Nevertheless 10 eager WS Racers (and two boats sailed by volunteers. Ed) were on the water and sailing…slowly… up and down and around the Start Line as the clock ran down….and then they were off…slowly…towards the first Mark J (which was a Reach, given that the wind was blowing – hardly – from the South)…but it took a few mnutes to get there…and here’s a video of the Start as the fleet made its way en masse to Mark J. The leaders sorted themselves out rounding Mark J and during the short run to Mark D and then starting the broad reach up the lake to Mark C. Here are some pictures showing the leaders and then that man, who somehow always manages to push his boat to the front, rounding Mark C 100 yards in the lead and heading of on the leg that was designed to be a Beat, to Mark A.

  • Nearly there…
  • The leaders round J…
  • What is Keith doing?
  • But HE always gets away…

By the time Peter Gregory started to make his way down the lake from Mark A to the Start/Finish Line, the racing fleet had spread itself across the lake, and even though he had taken 20 minutes to do one lap, the Race Controller decided to let him enjoy it all over again! The next wave of finishers on the water were…Ian Gubb and Anne Burrell in their Martin #125, then Mike Blatchford in the other Martin #126 and the first Liberty #24 sailed by Derek Preston, a newish WS Racer, who finished 1 minute ahead of Martin Norman in Liberty #23. Then there was a longish gap until the first 303 finished, being Ben Gubb and his carefully selected crew Helen Fairfax in 303 Sail #2 and they pipped Peter Wagner in Liberty #21 by just 5 seconds. Imogen Fletcher and her crew Kevin Read in 303 Sail #7 finished 30 seconds later. Peter Gregory in his 2.4m had got a move on in his second lap (just 15 minutes! Ed) and came in 2 minutes ahead of Mark Cayzer, Fay Watson and Tom Phillips in 303s. All in all a patient sail when you couldn’t find any wind and a relief when it arrived to fill your sails.

Next week will be the FINAL RACE of the 2019 Summer Series and there are just 8 places separating the Racers lying between first (13 points) and seventh (21) as they start that race.

Result of the race

  1. Peter Gregory in 2.4m Sail #102
  2. Derek Preston in Liberty Sail #24
  3. Ben Gubb and his crew Helen Fairfax in 303 Sail #2
  4. Martin Norman in Liberty Sail #23
  5. Imogen Fletcher and her crew Kevin Read in 303 Sail #7
  6. Mike Blatchford in Martin Sail #126
  7. Peter Wagner in Liberty Sail #21
  8. Mark Cayzer and his crew Jim McEwen in 303 Sail #4
  9. Fay Watson and her crew James Thomas in 303 Sail #11
  10. Tom Phillips in 303 Sail #5

Keith Eeles and David Mason did not finish (Apologies to Keith for an equipment failure! Ed)

WS Racing – Summer Series 10 – October 10th

After two weeks when racing was not possible and with just three races remaining in the 2019 season, seventeen of you Racers came to Chipstead to race. That is a record number of entrants and nearly a maximum since it only left a few dinghies in the WS fleet unused. The weather forecast was for an overcast sky and a 14/18 knot WSW wind to be blowing by 11am with gusts up to 25 knots. But at 8am, when the volunteers started to rig and launch the fleet, the lake was covered by a nearly clear blue sky and ruffled by a steady 7 knot breeze from the West. By 10 am most of the racers had arrived and were able to get out on the lake to practise in the gradually strengthening wind which was backing towards the South, especially in the SW corner of the lake near Mark A. A few more clouds were gathering but it was still perfect sailing conditions. From the shore, one could see wind gusts buffeting the dinghies on the water and thus reminding the helms and crews to keep a viligant eye open for advancing pressure shown by the darker patches of water often called “cats paws”.

Between 11.20 and 11.30 am the lake had all the Racers sailing up and down the Start Line, tacking and gybing to ensure they were able to position themselves exacty where they felt they would have the best initial tack towards the first, upwind starboard mark (Mark A). Here is a video of the Start and first few minutes of the race (Apologies for the off-camera noise – someone clipping a hedge? And well done to Mike Blatchford for doing a 360 degree penalty – but why? Ed). The course continued with a very broad reach across to Mark B followed by a downwind leg to Mark D, a short reach across to the windward mark (Mark J) before tacking up back up the lake, crossing the start/finish line so the race Hut could record the times, and heading off on another lap.

As so often has been the case in this and previous years, Peter Gregory sailed his 2.4m, oft referred to as the Red Torpedo (and often used as the WS Poster Boat! Just look at the welcome page of the WS website. Ed), through the mass of boats on the Start line to his preferred position on the lake and an near-immediate lead – which he never relinquished until the Race Results were declared (see blow). The Martins and Liberties, as would be expected on handicap, started off well but were caught out by PG who sailed across them, being on starboard tack, and on the video you see them give way to him. Even on the first leg, they were tracking Peter Gregory, albeit quite some distance behind by the second Mark. Nevertheless three 303s, especially Imogen Fletcher, Fay Watson and Mark Cayzer, were battling away, with assistance from their crews to keep them out of trouble in the gusty and tough conditions, and were rewarded with good places in the final line up. The whole fleet managed to complete the course over some 30 minutes duration before getting together on the benches outside the clubhouse for a very convivial lunch and the declaration of the result. Well done to you all.

Result of the race

  1. David Mason in Liberty Sail #22
  2. Martin Norman and his crew Sebastian in Martin Sail #126
  3. Derek Preston in Liberty Sail #21
  4. Mike Blatchford in Liberty Sail #23
  5. Imogen Fletcher and her crew Anne Burrell in 303 Sail #2
  6. Peter Gregory in 2.4 Sail #148
  7. Fay Watson and her crew James Thomas in 303 Sail #10
  8. Mark Cayzer and his crew Helen Fairfax in 303 Sail #8
  9. Keith Eeles in Liberty Sail #25
  10. Peter Wagner in Liberty Sail #24
  11. Malcolm Hill and his crew Mike Mckenzie in Martin Sail #125
  12. Louise McSweeney in 303 Sail #7
  13. Geoff Taylor in 303 Sail #11
  14. Steve Farmer in 303 Sail #4
  15. Ben Gubb and his crew Don in 303 Sail #9
  16. Claudine Stone and her crew Ralph Brandenhorst in 303 Sail #5
  17. Tom Phillips in 303 Sail #6

WS Racing – Summer Series 8 & 9 – Sept 26th & Oct 3rd

The weather on the day of these two scheduled races has been so bad that on 26 September the Trustees felt the strength of the forecast winds would endanger WS sailors and racers. So the whole day’s activity was Cancelled. On 3rd October the wind at the start of the day up until just before the Race start time was totally absent and although there were 14 Racers on the Start Line, all ready to race, the Race Organisers felt that the absence of wind was such that the leading boat would be unlikely to reach Mark 1 within 10 minutes or complete the course within 30 minutes, even if a new consistently better wind were to arrive soon, which was possible but unlikely. So a decision was made to abandon the race.

Instead of the planned race, there was an offer to the fleet to participate in a paddle-assisted race. The 3-2-1 and Start Gongs sounded and Mark Cayzer could be seen encouraging more and more effort from his crew Paul Phillips such that they gradually built up a solid lead over the trailing fleet. Mark maintained his lead and – surprise, surprise – the faintest of breezes could be seen helping him increase his lead but it failed as quickly as it had arisen and Mark was seen paddling right up until he crossed the finish line. Well done to Mark and all the other WS Racers below who turned up to race today:

  • Ben Gubb
  • David Mason
  • Fay Watson
  • Geoff Taylor
  • Imogen Fletcher
  • Keith Eeles
  • Lewis Atkins
  • Malcolm Hill
  • Mark Cayzer
  • Martin Norman
  • Mike Blatchford
  • Peter Wagner
  • Tom Phillips

I am sure that we all hope for better weather next week. See you then.

WS Summer Race #6

12th September 2019

A warm, somewhat muggy, day at Chipstead, with a steady 12mph westerly producing an opportunity for a beat to the 1st mark – always a plus.  John, Fleur & Paul were in the race hut.  Last week we used flags in the start process in addition to the sound signal.  This week we raised all 3 flags at the 3 minute, then lowered 1 with each of the 2, 1 & 0 sound signals.

There is a video showing from 3 minutes before the start to when the boats get to the first mark “A”.  There’s a bit too much movement on the mobile phone.  Next time a tripod.  Its interesting to see what everyone was doing in the build up to the start, and maybe contrast it what you were doing and how it evolved into the start.  Keith Eeles (6th) made probably the best start from the middle of the line, crossing ahead of Mark Cayzer (2nd), who’d made an excellent start at the very crowded windward end.  Peter Wagner (3rd) also chose to be in clear air at the leeward end of the line and set off well.  But after about 30 seconds, he was caught on port by Mark Cayzer.  Peter Gregory (1st) was close behind Mark, followed by Fay Wilson (5th).  As the first leg evolves, Martin Norman (4th) follows Peter Wagner from the leeward end in clear air.

Of course starting isn’t everything.  It’s interesting to see that while Peter Gregory was behind by Mark at the start, and was 4th by the 1st mark, by the end he was 1st overall – how does he do it?  Derek Preston was just that little bit too impetuous, and had to go round and restart, yet pulled back to 7th.

If you do a web search for “Dinghy Racing Start Techniques” there are a good number of interesting articles, which go into quite some detail about ideas such as checking the line bias to decide on which end to go for, timing runs to the line etc. both in articles and videos.

Result of Summer Race 6                               

1        Peter Gregory                   Liberty 22

2        Mark Cayzer & Ann           303 11

3        Peter Wagner                    Liberty 21

4        Martin Norman & Sebastian         Martin 125

5        Fay Wilson & James          303 10

6        Keith Eeles                       Liberty 25

7        Derek Preston                   Liberty 24

8        Imogen Fletcher & Helen   303 7

9        Steve Farmer                    303 9

10      Malcolm Hill                      Martin 126

11       Mike Blatchford                 Liberty 23

12      Geoff Taylor                      303 4

13      Ian Gubb                          303 8

14      Ben Gubb & Brian             303 6