Wednesday Sailing 2017/18
Sailing takes place each Wednesday morning and the competitors directly circularised. Occasional reports will be posted here to give a flavour to those who are interested. Those appearing tend to be the first Wednesday event of each month which for 2017/18 will count towards a trophy.
Wednesday March 7th
What a pleasant surprise to find the temperatures just nudging double figures, positive, as opposed to last week's negative temperatures, although in the sheltered bays there was still some evidence of ice, for round 4 of the Furzton cup.
A small but select band started today, initially in calm westerly conditions, which just improved slightly as the morning proceeded giving us a lovely gentle sailing breeze by lunch time. No confusion today over rig choices, it was solid A+ weather, all morning, making for some close and exciting racing, with many place changes throughout.
A simple triangle sausage course was set, similar to our usual ones which have been used with the recent westerly winds, initially beating from a port biased starting line, towards the western bay, running back along the shore to the leeward mark before an upwind leg to the buoy just off the jetty, via a spreader. Lap two omitted the spreader to finish between the two inner buoys between jetty and western island.
After finding a huge wind shadow in the bay, subsequent races moved the whole course one buoy to the right, thus keeping us out of the worst of the wind shadow. A few port starters, sailing along the bank, narrowly escaped the starboard starters on most occasions but not all. There were the usual lifts, headers, and calm patches , all there to add some elements of interest to the proceedings, choose the wrong tack and you paid for it, right down to the last couple of yards.
Three skippers shared the wins today with Keith Coxon taking four victories with Geoff Raygada and Alan Smedley, each with two first places apiece. The scores were very close today, with Keith just ahead of Alan, who had sailed extremely well but was hampered by gear failure at the end, leaving him with a DNF. Despite not winning a race, Richard just pipped Geoff by virtue of a string of good consistant finishes.
Happy sailing !!!
Geoff
What a pleasant surprise to find the temperatures just nudging double figures, positive, as opposed to last week's negative temperatures, although in the sheltered bays there was still some evidence of ice, for round 4 of the Furzton cup.
A small but select band started today, initially in calm westerly conditions, which just improved slightly as the morning proceeded giving us a lovely gentle sailing breeze by lunch time. No confusion today over rig choices, it was solid A+ weather, all morning, making for some close and exciting racing, with many place changes throughout.
A simple triangle sausage course was set, similar to our usual ones which have been used with the recent westerly winds, initially beating from a port biased starting line, towards the western bay, running back along the shore to the leeward mark before an upwind leg to the buoy just off the jetty, via a spreader. Lap two omitted the spreader to finish between the two inner buoys between jetty and western island.
After finding a huge wind shadow in the bay, subsequent races moved the whole course one buoy to the right, thus keeping us out of the worst of the wind shadow. A few port starters, sailing along the bank, narrowly escaped the starboard starters on most occasions but not all. There were the usual lifts, headers, and calm patches , all there to add some elements of interest to the proceedings, choose the wrong tack and you paid for it, right down to the last couple of yards.
Three skippers shared the wins today with Keith Coxon taking four victories with Geoff Raygada and Alan Smedley, each with two first places apiece. The scores were very close today, with Keith just ahead of Alan, who had sailed extremely well but was hampered by gear failure at the end, leaving him with a DNF. Despite not winning a race, Richard just pipped Geoff by virtue of a string of good consistant finishes.
Happy sailing !!!
Geoff
Wednesday February 28th
Wednesday Sailors Vs The Beast From The East
or Sailing at -2 degrees
The prospects of sailing today were always going to be slight but since I was half way to the lake I, thought that I would check. To my surprise the lake was indeed still liquid and with a nice easterly breeze and sunshine it was reminiscent of the weekend, which gave us some good sailing.
Rob, Bernard and Alex arrived so the decision was taken to sail until the men in white coats came to take us away.
A nice course was set, keeping us close to shore, nothing too ambitious, very similar to the weekend courses but utilising the eastern bay instead of going down to the spit, as we were sailing the little boats.
All started well but one by one we dropped out, leaving Alex the only one to reach the finish line but only just.
We all suffered the same fate, namely the wet sheets froze either to the decks or the fairleads so eventually the sheets unwound from the drums.
At this point, common sense kicked in and we decided that it probably wasn't a sensible idea, sailing at -2 deg.
Wednesday Sailors Vs The Beast From The East
or Sailing at -2 degrees
The prospects of sailing today were always going to be slight but since I was half way to the lake I, thought that I would check. To my surprise the lake was indeed still liquid and with a nice easterly breeze and sunshine it was reminiscent of the weekend, which gave us some good sailing.
Rob, Bernard and Alex arrived so the decision was taken to sail until the men in white coats came to take us away.
A nice course was set, keeping us close to shore, nothing too ambitious, very similar to the weekend courses but utilising the eastern bay instead of going down to the spit, as we were sailing the little boats.
All started well but one by one we dropped out, leaving Alex the only one to reach the finish line but only just.
We all suffered the same fate, namely the wet sheets froze either to the decks or the fairleads so eventually the sheets unwound from the drums.
At this point, common sense kicked in and we decided that it probably wasn't a sensible idea, sailing at -2 deg.
Here's the overall position for the Furzton cup after 4 events
Round 4 Furzton Cup for DF65's Wednesday 7th Feb
The fears of a frozen pond were fortunately unfounded as despite the sub zero overnight temperatures, the breeze kept the water moving , not allowing any ice to form.
A good winter turnout of ten well wrapped up skippers enjoyed a very pleasant morning's sailing in near perfect conditions. we had almost everything today, no mud, clear blue skies and uninterrupted sunshine, with the bonus of a fresh northerly breeze, which was just about the top end of the A+ rig. It was very cold but multiple layers meant that there were few complaints.
The clean wind, from across the pond made course setting relatively easy, starting between orange buoy and the edge of the jetty gave us a good beat out into the lake, although the line had a definite starboard bias,then rounding the windward mark to port, returning to the easterly bay via a short reach to a spreader ( which became more of a beat on occasions). the second lap omitted the spreader, finishing with a close reach or beat across the line.
Nobody had a clean sweep this morning, although Keith had some cracking starts and was usually first or second at the weather mark, from where he was almost uncatchable, whilst John Howell, who usually can be relied on to show us how it's done had a less consistent day than usual, struggling to get his boat trim correct and only managed a second place. Best of the rest, today was Richard Dolman, rarely far from the front.
As usual the standard of sailing and rule observance was high with any infringement followed by a timely 360 !
The wind being towards the top end of the large rig did give some people sail setting problems , with incorrectly set boats wanting to round up into wind. The windward mark was somewhat of a "bunker" for most of us at some time or another, with distance perception causing a few of us to sail the wrong side of the mark on occasions, compounded by the fact that the buoy was directly ahead of us.
In hindsight the far line of buoys are slightly too far out ( for old gentlemen ) and small boats, so they may well need moving inshore a few yards.
Geoff
The fears of a frozen pond were fortunately unfounded as despite the sub zero overnight temperatures, the breeze kept the water moving , not allowing any ice to form.
A good winter turnout of ten well wrapped up skippers enjoyed a very pleasant morning's sailing in near perfect conditions. we had almost everything today, no mud, clear blue skies and uninterrupted sunshine, with the bonus of a fresh northerly breeze, which was just about the top end of the A+ rig. It was very cold but multiple layers meant that there were few complaints.
The clean wind, from across the pond made course setting relatively easy, starting between orange buoy and the edge of the jetty gave us a good beat out into the lake, although the line had a definite starboard bias,then rounding the windward mark to port, returning to the easterly bay via a short reach to a spreader ( which became more of a beat on occasions). the second lap omitted the spreader, finishing with a close reach or beat across the line.
Nobody had a clean sweep this morning, although Keith had some cracking starts and was usually first or second at the weather mark, from where he was almost uncatchable, whilst John Howell, who usually can be relied on to show us how it's done had a less consistent day than usual, struggling to get his boat trim correct and only managed a second place. Best of the rest, today was Richard Dolman, rarely far from the front.
As usual the standard of sailing and rule observance was high with any infringement followed by a timely 360 !
The wind being towards the top end of the large rig did give some people sail setting problems , with incorrectly set boats wanting to round up into wind. The windward mark was somewhat of a "bunker" for most of us at some time or another, with distance perception causing a few of us to sail the wrong side of the mark on occasions, compounded by the fact that the buoy was directly ahead of us.
In hindsight the far line of buoys are slightly too far out ( for old gentlemen ) and small boats, so they may well need moving inshore a few yards.
Geoff
Round 3 Wednesday January 3rd - DF65 results and report
If I had been writing the headlines, I might have started with something like "Killer storm causes havoc in Milton Keynes", but we all know to read these headlines with a decent pinch of salt.
It would appear that the weather forecast put off all but the keenest skippers who were treated to an interesting, to say the least , morning's sailing.
Keen as ever Bernard was the second to arrive but sadly, as it would turn out, in his eagerness to get there he had forgotten to pack his transmitter and since nobody had a spare compatible hand set he made a double journey arriving in time for the last couple of races.
Another early casualty was Colin Davies, who suffered terminal winch problems during the first race and not wishing to delve int the innards of his boat in the blustery conditions, settled for spectating and joining us in the pub.
Everybody else managed to complete every race although my boat did suffer a gooseneck coming loose, which made sail setting impossible and went undiagnosed until the last race.
Did I say It was windy? Well it was a Westerly at the very top of B rig and at times well into C rig territory, especially during some of the frequent squalls which wiped us all out at one time or another. Tacking was sometimes an issue, so gybing was often the only way round and in order to keep things as safe as possible, we opted to keep fairly close to the bank by starting between the edge of the jetty and orange buoy just beyond, followed by a very tricky beat out to orange 7, in the channel, through which the wind was funnelled, followed by a hairy run down to the orange buoy in the eastern bay, beating back via a spreader. The final lap took us back to the spreader , finishing across the start/ finish line, which despite its simplicity, provided enough of a challenge to allow for some last minute or indeed second place changes and at least one silly mistake.
The trick today was not to venture too far out and to time your tacks, oh yes at all costs to avoid trouble and if you could master that lot you would be in the position that Rob Tottey found himself. His boat was well trimmed and it is obvious that all his practice has been paying dividends ,so sailing more or less in control, more often than the rest of us as well as getting some good starts meant that he was today's worthy winner.
Having a slightly frustrating morning, runner up Geoff Raygada, struggled with sail setup after a good start in the first few races, Richard Dolman also struggled to get a decent setup but eventually found the sweet spot after the third race.
In summary, it would be fair to say we had a good challenging morning's sport and a nice cosy lunch in the pub which we had almost to ourselves.
Geoff Raygada.
If I had been writing the headlines, I might have started with something like "Killer storm causes havoc in Milton Keynes", but we all know to read these headlines with a decent pinch of salt.
It would appear that the weather forecast put off all but the keenest skippers who were treated to an interesting, to say the least , morning's sailing.
Keen as ever Bernard was the second to arrive but sadly, as it would turn out, in his eagerness to get there he had forgotten to pack his transmitter and since nobody had a spare compatible hand set he made a double journey arriving in time for the last couple of races.
Another early casualty was Colin Davies, who suffered terminal winch problems during the first race and not wishing to delve int the innards of his boat in the blustery conditions, settled for spectating and joining us in the pub.
Everybody else managed to complete every race although my boat did suffer a gooseneck coming loose, which made sail setting impossible and went undiagnosed until the last race.
Did I say It was windy? Well it was a Westerly at the very top of B rig and at times well into C rig territory, especially during some of the frequent squalls which wiped us all out at one time or another. Tacking was sometimes an issue, so gybing was often the only way round and in order to keep things as safe as possible, we opted to keep fairly close to the bank by starting between the edge of the jetty and orange buoy just beyond, followed by a very tricky beat out to orange 7, in the channel, through which the wind was funnelled, followed by a hairy run down to the orange buoy in the eastern bay, beating back via a spreader. The final lap took us back to the spreader , finishing across the start/ finish line, which despite its simplicity, provided enough of a challenge to allow for some last minute or indeed second place changes and at least one silly mistake.
The trick today was not to venture too far out and to time your tacks, oh yes at all costs to avoid trouble and if you could master that lot you would be in the position that Rob Tottey found himself. His boat was well trimmed and it is obvious that all his practice has been paying dividends ,so sailing more or less in control, more often than the rest of us as well as getting some good starts meant that he was today's worthy winner.
Having a slightly frustrating morning, runner up Geoff Raygada, struggled with sail setup after a good start in the first few races, Richard Dolman also struggled to get a decent setup but eventually found the sweet spot after the third race.
In summary, it would be fair to say we had a good challenging morning's sport and a nice cosy lunch in the pub which we had almost to ourselves.
Geoff Raygada.
Round 2 Furzton Cup, Wednesday 6th December.
Being the first Wednesday of the month, today saw round 2 of the Furzton Cup, our new competition for the weekday skippers, with eleven skippers competing today.
The forecast wind never really materialised so initally the choice being between A and A+ rigs, with a few opting for the larger rig leaving the majority of the fleet choosing the more conservative option but after a couple of races, as the wind strengthened slightly Geoff opted to change to the more controllable smaller rig although to be fair a few held on and managed well, if a little over canvassed.
The south westerly breeze, as usual was badly affected by the houses and trees making the westerly bay a no go area and the island cast a large wind shadow over a large area of the lake, which needed to be taken into account on the two upwind legs.
Ideally we should have been sailing from the spit but we made do with a short upwind leg from the two buoys in front of the sailing area to the buoy just off the left hand jetty, taken to port, running parallel to the bank, rounding again to port, out into the middle buoy, in line with the hotel, followed by a beat back towards the inner start buoy, back out before and up wind finish between the left hand jetty and the centre buoy of the trio... easier done than described.
Despite the start line being heavily port biased and the short beat to the windward mark, turned into more of a close reach, most people managed without too many incidents.
The racing again was dominated by Keith Coxon , with six out of nine wins , the next of the best was a close call between Alan Smedley and Geoff Raygada, with Alan winning out on count back, although the results for GR were missed off the sheet and so an average score was taken.
The two upwind legs gave plenty of opportunity to make up or loose places, with plenty of shifts to catch out the unwary. Running out to the far buoy was challenging with a few incidents due to eyesight problems and beating directly back towards ourselves. was equally tricky.
As usual competition throughout the whole fleet was keen, with some good sailing from our new members and on the whole rule observance was good, penalty turns being taken, although one incident did generate some heated debate, not interpretation of the rule mealy one of judgement of overlap and clear ahead. Never mind it gave Mike Ewart ample opportunity for a rules seminar over lunch, using several pieces of cutlery to demonstrate, all very illuminating.
Only Alan Smedley, Rob Tottey and Colin Davies returned in the afternoon to sail the 95's, so no results today.
Geoff
Being the first Wednesday of the month, today saw round 2 of the Furzton Cup, our new competition for the weekday skippers, with eleven skippers competing today.
The forecast wind never really materialised so initally the choice being between A and A+ rigs, with a few opting for the larger rig leaving the majority of the fleet choosing the more conservative option but after a couple of races, as the wind strengthened slightly Geoff opted to change to the more controllable smaller rig although to be fair a few held on and managed well, if a little over canvassed.
The south westerly breeze, as usual was badly affected by the houses and trees making the westerly bay a no go area and the island cast a large wind shadow over a large area of the lake, which needed to be taken into account on the two upwind legs.
Ideally we should have been sailing from the spit but we made do with a short upwind leg from the two buoys in front of the sailing area to the buoy just off the left hand jetty, taken to port, running parallel to the bank, rounding again to port, out into the middle buoy, in line with the hotel, followed by a beat back towards the inner start buoy, back out before and up wind finish between the left hand jetty and the centre buoy of the trio... easier done than described.
Despite the start line being heavily port biased and the short beat to the windward mark, turned into more of a close reach, most people managed without too many incidents.
The racing again was dominated by Keith Coxon , with six out of nine wins , the next of the best was a close call between Alan Smedley and Geoff Raygada, with Alan winning out on count back, although the results for GR were missed off the sheet and so an average score was taken.
The two upwind legs gave plenty of opportunity to make up or loose places, with plenty of shifts to catch out the unwary. Running out to the far buoy was challenging with a few incidents due to eyesight problems and beating directly back towards ourselves. was equally tricky.
As usual competition throughout the whole fleet was keen, with some good sailing from our new members and on the whole rule observance was good, penalty turns being taken, although one incident did generate some heated debate, not interpretation of the rule mealy one of judgement of overlap and clear ahead. Never mind it gave Mike Ewart ample opportunity for a rules seminar over lunch, using several pieces of cutlery to demonstrate, all very illuminating.
Only Alan Smedley, Rob Tottey and Colin Davies returned in the afternoon to sail the 95's, so no results today.
Geoff
Geoff Raygada reports Wednesday November 1st
Some early bedtime reading for you all !
A lovely day for the beginning of November, bright and not too cold , but that was probably because of the very light westerly wind. As usual this direction caused a few course setting issues with an initial course that took us into the westerly bay then running close to shore midway down the lake, with a spreader further off shore out of the wind shadow, followed by a second lap, missing out the spreader. All buoys were port roundings in order to keep things nice and simple, which meant that there weren't too many incidents around the marks except when the fickle wind died, causing some bunching and boats with no steerage being caught out, unable to manoeuvre clear.
The line had a definite port bias, for most of the races, so port starters, close to the shore had an advantage, provided they avoided trouble.
As usual there were channels in the wind, which the wise used to good effect, however lady luck came into play when the expected breeze had shifted, leaving boats sailing in treacle, whilst the fleet sailed by.
After three races, the start line and the whole course was shifted East, thus avoiding the sheltered bay, making sailing more pleasant and less frustrating.
Again it was good to see a great turnout of thirteen boats, despite some of the regulars being away and once more the racing was very close, although some races saw the back markers a good couple of legs behind the winners. Competition at the front of the fleet was keen with three skippers scoring two wins, apiece with Alan Smedley and Richard Dolman also leading the fleet home, nobody was feeling safe until they were actually called across the line since places changed within spitting distance of the finish.
John Clifton took advantage of the unseasonably warm conditions to join us and sailed his usual consistent self, being a bit of a master of the light tricky conditions, albeit with a couple of minor hiccups, like the rest of us. Mike Ewart seemed to be getting his RG65 to perform better than last week but I think that whereas at one time an RG 65 would romp away, they are now at a disadvantage against a DF65 with the larger A+ rig, especially in light tricky weather.
With eight races completed by 12:00 o'clock, it was off to the Old Beams, which is steadily getting busier as Christmas approaches.
No formal DF95 racing, this afternoon as many of us had things to do in the afternoon, however a few returned for some casual sailing after lunch.
Some early bedtime reading for you all !
A lovely day for the beginning of November, bright and not too cold , but that was probably because of the very light westerly wind. As usual this direction caused a few course setting issues with an initial course that took us into the westerly bay then running close to shore midway down the lake, with a spreader further off shore out of the wind shadow, followed by a second lap, missing out the spreader. All buoys were port roundings in order to keep things nice and simple, which meant that there weren't too many incidents around the marks except when the fickle wind died, causing some bunching and boats with no steerage being caught out, unable to manoeuvre clear.
The line had a definite port bias, for most of the races, so port starters, close to the shore had an advantage, provided they avoided trouble.
As usual there were channels in the wind, which the wise used to good effect, however lady luck came into play when the expected breeze had shifted, leaving boats sailing in treacle, whilst the fleet sailed by.
After three races, the start line and the whole course was shifted East, thus avoiding the sheltered bay, making sailing more pleasant and less frustrating.
Again it was good to see a great turnout of thirteen boats, despite some of the regulars being away and once more the racing was very close, although some races saw the back markers a good couple of legs behind the winners. Competition at the front of the fleet was keen with three skippers scoring two wins, apiece with Alan Smedley and Richard Dolman also leading the fleet home, nobody was feeling safe until they were actually called across the line since places changed within spitting distance of the finish.
John Clifton took advantage of the unseasonably warm conditions to join us and sailed his usual consistent self, being a bit of a master of the light tricky conditions, albeit with a couple of minor hiccups, like the rest of us. Mike Ewart seemed to be getting his RG65 to perform better than last week but I think that whereas at one time an RG 65 would romp away, they are now at a disadvantage against a DF65 with the larger A+ rig, especially in light tricky weather.
With eight races completed by 12:00 o'clock, it was off to the Old Beams, which is steadily getting busier as Christmas approaches.
No formal DF95 racing, this afternoon as many of us had things to do in the afternoon, however a few returned for some casual sailing after lunch.
