#dinghy race

[waffle1446-blog-blog]

Happy new year all, hope you had a good break!

As promised here is some footage of me in action, taken from race 3 of the 2013 Inland championships at Bassenthwaite, the report for which can be read below. 

I'm off down to the club tomorrow for my first sail of 2014 and its looking windy, may take the Go Pro along for the ride too!

[waffle1446-blog-blog]

West Riding SC, 28/9/2013

Having missed more opens due to work and other commitments, I found myself fast approaching the end of the season and still needing 6 race results (2 open meetings) in order to qualify for the northern paddle and the same in the south. That meant I would need to attend 4 opens before the end of the season. Options were limited in the south, with only two opens remaining. In the end I attended neither of these as the weather forecasts were for little or no wind so I decided to let the southern paddle slip. We arrived at West Riding SC on a sunny Saturday with little wind.

After a short postponement, race 1 got underway in very little wind. Being a little rusty from having nearly 2 months with no sailing I found myself bogged down in the middle of the 24 strong fleet at the start, and as such this race was pretty much a write off. At one point I was dead last, but some clever sailing saw me climb back into the top ten before I threw that away by with a penalty for pushing my luck. One 720 later I had all the hard work to do again, salvaged 13th place on the last lap. 13th/24. 

Race 2 got underway after lunch, in pretty much the same wind but on a different course, This time my start was ok, but the first beat was nothing shot of a disaster. I spent the whole race getting the beats wrong and this ended up fighting for the minor placings. 18th/24.

Knowing I had nothing to loose from the day I took a risk at the start of the 3rd and final race of the day and started on port at the far end of the line, having spotted the wind filling in there, rather than on starboard at the committee boat with everyone else. As soon as we started everyone realized the port tack would pay and tacked round. By this point I was lying third and only had to put in to two tacks to get round the windward mark. And that's pretty much how it stayed, with the top five not really changing places all race. This is where I should have been all day, pride salvaged. 3rd/24.  

Easily my worst day on the water this year, but enjoyable none the less. 

[waffle1446-blog-blog]

Results from the final weekend at Bass Week 2013

[waffle1446-blog-blog]

Bass week, 3-11th August 2013

As you already know, the first weekend of bass week, incorporating the Streaker Class Inland Championship, went really well. My partner, Heather, and I had decided to stay the whole week and use it as our holiday for the year. Bass week is ideal for this sort of thing as the sailing is separated into individual competitions. The first weekend is one competition, then each day, mon-fri, is a stand alone competition and the final weekend is another. This means that you can sail as little or as much as you like and still have a chance of doing well and maybe taking home a trophy or a bottle of plonk.

So the plan was to sail the first weekend, chill out and take advantage of being in the lake district (I can recommend the birds of pray displays at the wildlife park), borrow a two man boat and take Heather racing again, and then sail the second weekend. Some of this plan came off, some of it didn't. It turned out to be surprisingly hard to borrow a boat at a sailing regatta where there were about 200 so sailing with Heather didn't happen,we did however go kayaking on Derwent water instead. 

Anyway, to the racing, I did the Nairn Pursuit race on the Tuesday in horribly light winds.Its best we ignore this, it did not go well. The second weekend however was much better. With wind similar to the first weekend the Streaker class had now reverted to its place in the slow handicap fleet. This consisted mostly of Streakers and Graduates with a handful of Solo's and other classes thrown in. 

There were three races on the Saturday with the final race on Sunday morning. Race one was not my best, I got the first beat very wrong putting me back in the fleet a little, I also got a couple of the subsequent beats wrong and coupled with a getting caught up with other fleets on reaches I could only manage 6th.

Race 2 was much better, I made a great start and nailed the first beat coming around the windward mark in 2nd, inches from the back of the leading graduate. This made it easy to  sail through on the reach that followed. I pulled out a reasonable gap and played it safe on the beats to maintain this. An easy win from another Streaker who had sailed well though the fleet. 

Race 3 was much the same but I just missed out on the win, finishing a close 3rd behind a graduate and another streaker. This was enough to give me the lead overnight, but only just. 

I awoke on the Sunday to a stronger breeze than than Saturday which filled me with plenty of confidence. After hanging around for an eternity in the starting area as other fleets had general recalls, we eventually got underway. Another great start and pushing on the first beat gave me the hole-shot and I never looked back,pulling out a reasonable lead and pushing to extend it. In the end I finished nearly 5 minutes ahead of the Graduate in 2nd place, enough to win the Slow Handicap fleet on the final weekend. Chris Wright made it a Streaker 1-2 with the most competitive of the graduates in 3rd. 

All in all Bass Week 2013 was an interesting and eventful week on and off the water. Going to think hard about going next year and if it can offer what we want in terms of sailing and a holiday, 

[waffle1446-blog-blog]

results for the first weekend of bass week which included the Streaker Class Inland Championships. 

[waffle1446-blog-blog]

SCOA Inland Championships, Bassenthwaite SC, 3rd-4th August 2013; Part 2

If you have read my post below you can probably guess that I am pretty happy with how the Inland Championships went. It was perfect weather for me and I spent the whole weekend fighting for the lead with two other great sailors. You can't ask for better than that and in such a great setting up in the lake district. 

Don't get me wrong though it was not perfect, there were plenty of mistakes that I could do with ironing out. I have taken note of these and have a video from race three that shows a few for me to work on. My fitness remains an issue, traveling with work is continuing to have an impact but I intend to do something about this over the winter. 

All in all though I felt more consistent than earlier in the year, but there were some other challenges ahead which would cause me to miss some more sailing but I'll cover them in future posts. For now I intend to gently get this blog up to speed over the next few weeks. I have some video to post as promised and a few more events to write up to!

[waffle1446-blog-blog]

SCOA Inland Championships, Bassenthwaite SC, 3rd-4th August 2013; Part 1

As I wrote the report for the Streaker Class Inland Championships I just thought I'd it below to cover the weekends sailing. 

Twenty-three helms found their way to Bassenthwaite Sailing Club for the Inland Championships to be held on the first weekend of the Bass Week Regatta. They were greeted on Saturday morning with a strong force 4 gusting 5 and bright sunshine.

The strong winds meant many stayed ashore and so only 10 helms lined up for the first race. With many of the usual favourites absent, it was Tom Lonsdale who won the first beat, followed closely by Dan Phillips, Pete Lawson, Matt Whitfield and Peter Cogill. By the end of the 5th leg Lonsdale, Phillips and Whitfield had managed to open a gap over the rest of the fleet. Whitfield managed to pass Phillips upwind on the way to the first pass through the finishing line, a sequence of 3 marks designed to give the race office time to correctly record the positions. Lonsdale failed to pass round all three mark and so had to return and unwind himself, dropping down the fleet and leaving Whitfield in the lead with Phillips close behind. After holding the lead for a few legs Whitfield failed to spot the breeze filling in and Phillips made his move, taking the lead and building a gap while Lonsdale climbed back into third place. Poor luck for Whitfield and Lonsdale saw them trapped in a hole on the following leg, powerless as they watched Phillips further extend his lead and eventually take the win, followed by Lonsdale in second and Whitfield third. Barney Proud followed in a distant 4th having made his way through the fleet after a poor start. Dave Metcalfe was 5th with Peter Cogill rounding out the top six.

The second race got under way in much the same conditions as the first, on a different course due to a shift in the wind. This time Phillips, Lonsdale and Whitfield rounded the windward mark fairly clear of the rest of the fleet and had a significant gap by the end of the 4th leg. The lead swapped between the three for much of the first lap, with each leading at some point. Due to the nature of the event it was not long before this lead group began to catch slower boats in front, having to work their way through these other fleets, a task that could prove tricky. It was this that proved to be Whitfield's undoing, getting caught with an Enterprise and GP14 in his wind on a run, leaving him to finish a distant third. On this occasion Phillips was no match for Lonsdale and had to settle for second. Barney Proud came home 4th with Dan Gentry 5th and Dave Metcalfe 6th.

After and evening of live entertainment, a bigger fleet lined up for race three on Sunday morning, in similar conditions to the previous day, the only difference being the bigger difference between the gusts and the lulls. Lonsdale again won the first beat with Phillips and Whitfield close behind, this time joined by a fresh legged Stuart Hoare and Chris Wright who had sat out the Saturday. In only three legs this small group had caught a fleet of enterprises and GP14's with Lonsdale leading the charge through on a dead run. With some chopping and changing, Whitfield, Phillips and Lonsdale arrived at the next mark practically glued together having ducked and dived through the slower boats. However, it was Hoare who came out on top having sailed around the outside of the entire group and shot off down the next reach. By the end of the lap, Whitfield had passed Hoare for the lead with Lonsdale now second, Hoare third, Phillip fourth with Wright a distant fifth. Whitfield, Phillips and Lonsdale soon found themselves battling again, with Phillips taking the lead only to suffer gear failure and have to retire. This left Lonsdale and Whitfield to battle for the lead with Lonsdale the eventual winner, Whitfield second and Hoare third. Fourth went the way of David Smith with Chris Wright and Pete Lawson rounding out the top six.

The fourth and final race got under way, after a general recall in the medium handicap fleet caused a 15 minute delay, in a steadily decreasing breeze. Phillips, needing to win the race to take the championship came out on top after the first beat with Lonsdale close behind. Whitfield managed to sneak through in third just ahead of Cogill and Lawson. By the fourth leg, Whitfield was leading with Lonsdale second and Phillips third. Having had clear air on the long reach down the lake, Whitfield was still leading at the end of the first lap. Due to the delayed start the fast handicap and Flying Dutchman fleets were catching and despite doing his best to avoid the situation, Whitfield found himself blocked by a Flying Dutchman and his lead disappearing. The next beat was closely fought between Phillips, Lonsdale and Whitfield with David Smith now joining the action. The four all battled closely for the remainder of the race and coming onto the last beat it looked as though Lonsdale was going to take the honours. However, Lonsdale got pinned low on the beat by a flying fifteen, having to gybe around the back to get clear air. By this time Phillips had taken the lead and remained there till the finish. This was also enough for Smith to find a way through to take second, with Lonsdale finishing third followed by Whitfield in Fourth. Chris Wright was fifth with Peter Cogill sixth.

The final race win allowed Dan Phillips to take the Championship, with Tom Lonsdale second and Matt Whitfield third. Prizes were awarded to the top five and also to the top three in the silver fleet, won by Chris Wright in 12th overall, who takes home the Silver Spares trophy.