What a day for English Cricket fans! We are in the final of the Cricket World Cup at Lord’s on Sunday….wow. Fantastic…..and so was the sailing even though the wind could have been fresher. The sun shone and there was sufficient wind for the leading boats to complete 3 laps around a long course of marks A, B, J and D. There were 12 entrants in the race including Stratos 1 helmed by Peter Coulcher with Rowan and Brigette on board.

Here is a short video of the Start of the race.

Result of Race 11

1. Peter Wagner in a Liberty – Sail #21
2. Malcolm Hill and his crew Jim McEwen in a Martin – #126
3. Mike Blatchford in a Martin – #125
4. Keith Eeles in a Liberty – #22
5. Ann Frewer in a 2.3 – #279
6. Martin Norman and Sebastian in 303 – Sail #1
7. Fay Watson and James Thomas in 303 – Sail #3
8. Imogen Fletcher and Andrew in 303 – Sail #10
9. Mark Cayzer and Mike Cartwright in 303 – Sail #2
10. Trevor Monk and Nigel in 303 – Sail #8
11. Tom Phillips in 303 – Sail #4

Today was a lovely day for going to the beach – or even a lake – but there wasn’t really sufficient wind for serious sailors, let alone the Baker’s dozen of WS Racers who pitched up at Chipstead Sailing Club to do battle in Race 10 of the Spring Series.

The start of the race was held up for 10 minutes to allow the volunteers to get a Martin for Malcolm Hill and then help him into it along with his carefully selected crew Helen Fairfax (Good choice! And I have heard a rumour that the Racers are organising a Just Giving Page to raise funds for a new Alarm Clock to help Malcolm to get to Chipstead 15 minutes earlier in future. Oh dear! Ed.)

Anyway, as soon as Malcolm and Helen were away from the pontoon, the 3 minute Gong sounded and the count down to the Start was on. And here is a video of the excitement that followed the Start gong – all the way to the windward Marks D and J.

Below is a slide show of photos taken as the first, second and third waves of boats in the fleet headed up to the windward Marks D and J and another action-packed video as a bunch of boats caught one of the few, sporadic gusts that swept them downwind to and around Mark A.

Result

1. Ann Frewer – 2.3 Sail #279
2. Malcolm Hill and his crew, Helen Fairfax – Martin #125
3. Peter Wagner – Liberty # 21
4. Imogen Fletcher and her crew – 303D #4
5. Mike Blatchford and Louise McSweeney – 303D #9
6. Rowan Nicholls and his crew – 303D #6
7. Mark Cayzer and his crew Andrew – 303D #1
8. Fay Watson and her crew Bruce – 303D #8
9. Steve Farmer – 303S #7
10. David Mason – Liberty #22
11. Keith Eeles – Liberty #23
    
12. Martin Norman – Martin #126
13. Tom Phillips – 303S #2

Well done to everyone who raced and a special thanks to our brilliant volunteers who crewed for some of the racers. Only 3 more races to go in the Spring Series so there is still time for a few more of you to join the 9 Racers who have already qualified for the Series. See you next Thursday!

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.