At 0830 there was hardly sufficient wind to disturb the surface of the lake. And the previous evening the forecast for 1100 was 14 knots and gusts to 30 knots which was why the Trustees withheld a decision on whether to sail until the morning. They said YES and the final race of the 2021 season would start at 1100! So a dozen or so racers and their supporters assembled from 1000 onwards to compete on the water and chat around the clubhouse.
The fleet were assembled on the Start Line and milled about for a few minutes waiting for the Race Hut to sound the 3 minute gong which happened a few moments after the last competitor left the pontoon. From a few gusts of 20 knots 5 minutes before the race (Which caused a few helms to spill the wind very rapidly and thus avoid shipping a few unwelcome litres of lake water. But some did not! Ed) you will see in the video of the Start below that the fleet had to work quite hard to get going on the breeze immediately available when the gong sounded. Two helms sailed dangerously close to the Start line and risked being over it…but they were clear when the Start gong sounded and they led the fleet out on a port tack in the leg towards the first mark (Buoy A).
Do look at the tighter angle on the wind that Kelly Tripp (303 Blue #11) managed to sail against that achieved by Martin Norman (Liberty White #23). This set Kelly up very nicely to round the first mark (Bouy A) with a healthy lead over the fleet. Kim Sparkes (303 White #8) chose to extricate herself from the bunch of boats following Kelly and Martin by tacking away on starboard and then returning to port tack when she had clear air. Then she sailed above the mark and was able to sail into the mark on starboard tack which gave her right of way over the boats approachng Buoy A on port tack! And well done to Peter Wagner (Liberty Blue #25) who also came into the mark on starboard tack in front of KIm. (It makes life so much easier! Ed). Do try to find yourself and see whether you might have chosen a different route.
Somehow Steve Farmer (303 Blue #2) managed to squeeze (No touching eh Steve! Ed) his boat between Peter Wagner and KIm Sparkes and she was followed round the mark by Derek Preston (Liberty White #24) and Martin NOrman on his outside. Then Ann Frewer (303 Red #5) came in on starboard tack also but decided to give Derek and Martin a wide berth! She was followed by Imogen Fletcher (303 Red #10).
Peter Wagner managed to keep his second place, chasing Kelly who was stretching her lead on the run from Bouy A to C, and Peter was closely followed by Steve, Kim, Derek and Martin. Kelly had a commanding lead as she rounded Bouy C and started the longer run downwind to Mark D.
Result for Race 13 of Summer Series is:
BRAVO to the WS Trustees who decided that the weather forecast: “Wind gusts of 35 knots at 0800 and 14 knots at 1100” would be accurate. The result was the fastest race of the season with the first two boats completing 6 laps in less than 6 minutes per lap. The early wind was strong but it was the gusts that would be the main threats to dinghies on the water. Which meant that the ten intrepid sailors who came to race were slightly held up getting on the water but they eventually did after the Session and Safety Managers had asked John Masters to go out and sample the conditions around the proposed race course (B -C-D- K) and then gave the All Clear at 10.40. It was great to welcome Samuel Cargill Thompson and his mum Rachel to our throng. Sam is a youngster who was keen to get on the water, despite the blowy conditions, since the Tuesday session had been cancelled due to awful weather. Peter Moore crewed for Samuel in his WS Racing debut.
Below can be seen John’s “test sail” with the safety rib watching and a shot of an ugly gust racing across the surface of the lake. The recent heavy rains had resulted in the lake’s water level being the highest it had been since the new pontoon was installed in 2019 and it could not be used today. So getting everybody on and off the water took a little longer than usual and required careful management by the Pontoon Manager and volunteers ashore to keep everyone safe.
The fleet responded to a call at 1120 from the Race Hut to get ready and a group of helms could be seen positioning themselves to hit the start line (between the Race Hut and Buoy K) on starboard tack , at speed and just as the Start Gong sounded. (They must have been reading Bruce’s Starting Tips! Ed) The video of the Start starts a few seconds late and therefore we can have no record of which helm was first to the line 🙁 (The Racing Director – aka Chief Dogsbody – needs to grow some more arms so he can simultaneously “Start the race, give the All Clear AND make a video from before the start”! Ed)
Immediately behind the leaders was Kim Sparkes (303 Sail Blue #11) and Peter Wagner (Liberty Sail Blue #25) who were both watching and waiting to pounce if Martin or Derek made a mistake. After a slower start than in his recent races, Peter managed to overhaul Kim on the second lap and finished well ahead of her on the water after 5 laps. But after applying the PY handicap (1550 for Liberty vs 1630 for 303) Peter’s lead was just 15 seconds! (Living dangerously Peter! Ed). Imogen Fletcher (303 Sail Red #5), Steve Farmer (303 Sail Yellow #4) and Bob Fisher (303 Sail Ble #9) were close together as they approached the windward mark (Buoy B) but Steve and Bob were overtaken on lap 2 by our debutant Samuel Cargill Thompson (303 Sail Red #10) but Steve fought back on lap 3 to head Samuel on the water by 2 seconds a lap but after applying the PY handicap for the fact that Samuel was carrying additional (and substantial. Ed) weight in the form of his crew (1630 vs 1660), Samuel pipped Steve by 4 seconds a lap (Good to see that a decade of sailing is nearly worth something! Ed). Our recent arrival to the WS Racing community, Danny Wilson (Liberty Sail Yellow #22) had a difficult time getting to grips with his dinghy in the conditions and fought hard to recover from an horrendous 5 1/2 minute disdvantage to the first boat (Martin Norman) by the end of lap 1 to finish 8th. Overall a BRILLIANT day was had by all the racers. Here are a few photos of the runners and riders:
Result for Race 12 of Summer Series is:
Many thanks to all the volunteers who crewed and helped ashore to enable the Race to take place and to everybody else associated with WS. It is sad to think that the season only has one more week to go before the winter break. (Agh! Ed)
Autumn is well advanced but today was a fabulous day for our race day. It started with hardly a ripple on the surface of the lake at 0830 and gradually built up to a steady 10 knots with erractic – in direction and strength – gusts up to 20 knots. The scene at 0930 from the Race Hut showed a perfect setting of the foreshore, the dinghies in all their colourful glory, the ruffled lake, the garland of trees on the north bank and sun on the North Downs.
After the normal preparations and the arrival of eleven eager WS Racers – some welcomed back after a few weeks absence and no doubt keen to improve their places in the Summer Series standings! The conditions were sunny but we soon had a lake full of dinghies battling with an increasingly strong and rather chilly wind. Big gusts could be seen from the Race Hut dashing down the lake from the West and all the helms and crews had to be fully on guard to spill the wind from their sails as they were smashed into by the elements. At least that meant the sailors were working hard and keeping warm. After a brief delay to ensure Mark Rainbow could get on the water before the 3 minute Gong was sounded, the race started as can be seen in this video. Look at how the fleet split with two boats going south on starboard tack and the rest of the fleet heading north on port tack before the northern leader, now on startboard tack, crossed just in front – forcing the port tack boats to go behind.
Due to the sustained wind speed this was the fastest race of the year so far and all the helms and crews were forced to sail very well. The slightest drop in concentration or mishandling of the sheets could result in missed opportunities to get past a competitor or losing a place to a boat behind. The wind favoured the four bigger Liberty class dinghies in the race but Kim Sparkes (Access 303 Red #5) bought her A Game today and after a very good start she sailed her smaller Access 303 brilliantly to keep in touch with Peter Wagner (Liberty Yellow #22) as he rounded the winward mark Buoy A first. Kelly Tripp (Access 303 Red #10) also sailed very well to get round Buoy A ahead of Mike Blatchford (Liberty Blue #25) with Imogen Fletcher (Access 303 Blue #11) rounding the Mark just a few metres behind Mike. All very close racing!
But on the downwind legs from A to C and C to D, Peter increased his lead and Mike made up ground and overhauled Kelly. Only Kim managed to keep in touch as they approached the leeward Mark, Buoy D. This close combat sailing continued throughout the next four laps but at the end of each lap the order was Kim, Peter, Mike. The second battle in the fleet was between Kelly, Imogen and Mark Rainbow (Access 303 White #7) and Daniel Wilson (Liberty White #23) who managed to sail past Imogen on the water before completing their third (and final) laps. But that was on the water – with the lower PY handicap the Liberty was pegged back and Imogen beat Daniel. But in these conditions all the helms had to sail well just to finish the race.
Here are some photos that show how hard the wind was blowing and how close the racing was… (Bravissimo tutti! Ed)
Result for Race 11 of Summer Series is:
As always many thanks to the volunteer crews and helpers who enable the racing to take place alongside the other demands placed upon WS resources and those who keep the Tea/Coffee and cakes flowing.