Commodores Cup 2019/20
12 events for DF 95s first Friday of each month
Sailing now suspended
Round 5 Commodores cup for DF95 6th Mar 2020
A nippy but bright and sunny morning with a light north westerly breeze, greeted the eleven skippers this morning.
The wind was far enough round to miss the island so it was or at least should have been a good steady wind, coming from across the lake. After a very slight change of course after the first race, we settled on a start between the jetty edge and red 6, upwind to red 4, to a spreader red 3, then the long run into the bay to round red 7, repeating for the second lap, finishing between red 6 and S.
The beat was quite difficult to read and the bias on the start line was constantly changing as the wind shifted to and fro which meant that the smart ones were those who had spotted the shift and picked the correct end of the line.
Beating directly away from you or towards you is never particularly easy and today was no different, even with the good light, it was difficult to judge whether you had reached the buoy or not and indeed quite a few found themselves either on the mark or short of it. Funny the buoys don't look that far away when you aren't racing but get ten boats on the water, all heading out towards the leeward mark and it's quite another matter!
Most of the time there was a decent enough breeze but on occasions it would just evaporate, leaving boats stranded.
Even the usual front runners ran into trouble on occasions and nobody was totally dominant today but as usual some did manage to be more consistent than others and so today's worthy winner was Dave Green, just slightly ahead of an on form Mike Ewart with Mike Kemp a few points adrift finishing in third place.
A nippy but bright and sunny morning with a light north westerly breeze, greeted the eleven skippers this morning.
The wind was far enough round to miss the island so it was or at least should have been a good steady wind, coming from across the lake. After a very slight change of course after the first race, we settled on a start between the jetty edge and red 6, upwind to red 4, to a spreader red 3, then the long run into the bay to round red 7, repeating for the second lap, finishing between red 6 and S.
The beat was quite difficult to read and the bias on the start line was constantly changing as the wind shifted to and fro which meant that the smart ones were those who had spotted the shift and picked the correct end of the line.
Beating directly away from you or towards you is never particularly easy and today was no different, even with the good light, it was difficult to judge whether you had reached the buoy or not and indeed quite a few found themselves either on the mark or short of it. Funny the buoys don't look that far away when you aren't racing but get ten boats on the water, all heading out towards the leeward mark and it's quite another matter!
Most of the time there was a decent enough breeze but on occasions it would just evaporate, leaving boats stranded.
Even the usual front runners ran into trouble on occasions and nobody was totally dominant today but as usual some did manage to be more consistent than others and so today's worthy winner was Dave Green, just slightly ahead of an on form Mike Ewart with Mike Kemp a few points adrift finishing in third place.
Round 4 February 7th
Geoff Raygada reports:
The recent trend of light and fluky wind , which has been with us for what seems a lifetime continued today, different direction but still as challenging and frustrating as it has been recently.
Today's breeze came for the south east, off the shore and heavily influenced by the houses behind us, so there were plenty of no go areas, which ensnared most of the fleet at one time or another, we all had our ups and downs, some managing more ups than downs, those less lucky or skilful managed more downs than ups.
With limited options for an upwind start, we had to make do with a very starboard biased line between safety bag and white 9 with a decent beat to red 7 in Gloom Cove, which was very much like Doom Bay on a bad day. You could stay out in the breeze and approach on port tack hoping to avoid the fleet approaching along the shore on starboard, both risky strategies, since at any time the light breeze would simply evaporate leaving a gaggle of stranded boats.
Having rounded the first mark we headed out to red 2, out in the lake , where hopefully there was some more breeze, the first lap included white 5 as a spreader, whereas the second lap was a straight run. Again, avoiding dead spots was vital to success as was getting the beat right from the leeward mark back to the bay or the finish line .
Mercifully the sun shone all morning to make a pleasant morning for the thirteen skippers sailing this morning and with a large fleet it was decided from the outset that one skipper would stand down and act as scorer who would receive average points.
Well done to Dave Green, who seems to excel in these tricky conditions, Rob, having a good consistent day in the front half of the fleet, wasn't far behind, with Dorian just slightly less fortunate, filling the last podium place.
Geoff Raygada reports:
The recent trend of light and fluky wind , which has been with us for what seems a lifetime continued today, different direction but still as challenging and frustrating as it has been recently.
Today's breeze came for the south east, off the shore and heavily influenced by the houses behind us, so there were plenty of no go areas, which ensnared most of the fleet at one time or another, we all had our ups and downs, some managing more ups than downs, those less lucky or skilful managed more downs than ups.
With limited options for an upwind start, we had to make do with a very starboard biased line between safety bag and white 9 with a decent beat to red 7 in Gloom Cove, which was very much like Doom Bay on a bad day. You could stay out in the breeze and approach on port tack hoping to avoid the fleet approaching along the shore on starboard, both risky strategies, since at any time the light breeze would simply evaporate leaving a gaggle of stranded boats.
Having rounded the first mark we headed out to red 2, out in the lake , where hopefully there was some more breeze, the first lap included white 5 as a spreader, whereas the second lap was a straight run. Again, avoiding dead spots was vital to success as was getting the beat right from the leeward mark back to the bay or the finish line .
Mercifully the sun shone all morning to make a pleasant morning for the thirteen skippers sailing this morning and with a large fleet it was decided from the outset that one skipper would stand down and act as scorer who would receive average points.
Well done to Dave Green, who seems to excel in these tricky conditions, Rob, having a good consistent day in the front half of the fleet, wasn't far behind, with Dorian just slightly less fortunate, filling the last podium place.
Round 3 Commodore's Cup DF95 3rd Jan 2020
Geoff Raygada reports:-
Today was the first event of 2020 and if it was anything to go by, it looks as if we are going to have a closely fought year ahead of us, with great turnouts and in general a very high standard of sailing.
The weather decided to behave it's self for a change, a nice stiff breeze, somewhere between A and B rigs strength and a nice cooperative direction, from the north west, which meant that it was just about as clean as we are likely to have it and as a bonus we didn't even have to walk over to the spit.
A start was set between red 6 and a pole on the bank, which gave us a good beat out to red 2, taken to port before running back to white 3, as a spreader before rounding red 7 in the eastern bay. The second lap was simple a beat back to red 2 and back to red 7, followed by a chase to the finish.
As usual, starts were important but making most of the lifts on the beat was where most places were made or lost, as well as avoiding collisions and of course making the right rig choice.
Early on in the morning it was debatable as to which rig was the correct choice and indeed there were skippers on both and there seemed very little difference in performance between the two but as the morning progressed and the wind dropped slightly, Dorian and Mike Kemp made the decision to change up to the larger sails.
One of the greatest advantages of sailing at Furzton is its lack of weed but today we encountered a different issue, which caught a couple of us out and that was floating reed, dislodged by the wind of yesterday and today. Geoff manage to find a couple of very nice specimens which didn't aid sailing in a couple of races.
Brian retired early with winch issues but kindly stayed on to take the scores
Geoff Raygada reports:-
Today was the first event of 2020 and if it was anything to go by, it looks as if we are going to have a closely fought year ahead of us, with great turnouts and in general a very high standard of sailing.
The weather decided to behave it's self for a change, a nice stiff breeze, somewhere between A and B rigs strength and a nice cooperative direction, from the north west, which meant that it was just about as clean as we are likely to have it and as a bonus we didn't even have to walk over to the spit.
A start was set between red 6 and a pole on the bank, which gave us a good beat out to red 2, taken to port before running back to white 3, as a spreader before rounding red 7 in the eastern bay. The second lap was simple a beat back to red 2 and back to red 7, followed by a chase to the finish.
As usual, starts were important but making most of the lifts on the beat was where most places were made or lost, as well as avoiding collisions and of course making the right rig choice.
Early on in the morning it was debatable as to which rig was the correct choice and indeed there were skippers on both and there seemed very little difference in performance between the two but as the morning progressed and the wind dropped slightly, Dorian and Mike Kemp made the decision to change up to the larger sails.
One of the greatest advantages of sailing at Furzton is its lack of weed but today we encountered a different issue, which caught a couple of us out and that was floating reed, dislodged by the wind of yesterday and today. Geoff manage to find a couple of very nice specimens which didn't aid sailing in a couple of races.
Brian retired early with winch issues but kindly stayed on to take the scores
Round 2 Commodore's Cup Friday 6th Dec 2019 DF95
Geoff Raygada reports:-
What a difference a day makes, a complete turn around from Wednesday's drifter as today we had plenty of a damp south westerly wind, not too much but enough to persuade the fleet to change to the B rigs, well at least those who had one.
Fortunately the wet stuff stayed in the sky and apart from a little drizzle we kept dry and not too cold.
Again a great turnout of 13 skippers, which sadly was reduced to 12 when Paul Risdale's boat developed a terminal radio problem.
The course initially set : start (white 3/4) beating to white 1, red 1 in Doom bay, running to white 6, out to red 4, back to white 4, back out to red 4, finishing between white 3/4.
We sailed a couple of races round this course, which was OK except for the fact that in the gloomy light it was almost impossible to se your boat, especially on the beat back from red 4.
Mike Ewart suggested running straight down the lake to white 7 and then back via white 8 instead of red 4, making it easier to see the boats, which certainly helped matters but there were still some spectacular pile ups at the leeward mark due to the boats at the back of the pack completely masking the bunch of boats ahead, especially when they boats were running at full tilt.
More by luck than judgement the boats either disentangled themselves or sailed onto the shore except for the final race when Alex's boat dissapeared out of sight, only to snag on the far side of the eastern island, requiring a launch of the rowing boat.
Mike Kemp was almost unbeatable today, dropping only two points all day, not so closely behind was Mike Ewart, with Keith Coxon just managing a third place on count back from Alan Smedley.
Geoff Raygada reports:-
What a difference a day makes, a complete turn around from Wednesday's drifter as today we had plenty of a damp south westerly wind, not too much but enough to persuade the fleet to change to the B rigs, well at least those who had one.
Fortunately the wet stuff stayed in the sky and apart from a little drizzle we kept dry and not too cold.
Again a great turnout of 13 skippers, which sadly was reduced to 12 when Paul Risdale's boat developed a terminal radio problem.
The course initially set : start (white 3/4) beating to white 1, red 1 in Doom bay, running to white 6, out to red 4, back to white 4, back out to red 4, finishing between white 3/4.
We sailed a couple of races round this course, which was OK except for the fact that in the gloomy light it was almost impossible to se your boat, especially on the beat back from red 4.
Mike Ewart suggested running straight down the lake to white 7 and then back via white 8 instead of red 4, making it easier to see the boats, which certainly helped matters but there were still some spectacular pile ups at the leeward mark due to the boats at the back of the pack completely masking the bunch of boats ahead, especially when they boats were running at full tilt.
More by luck than judgement the boats either disentangled themselves or sailed onto the shore except for the final race when Alex's boat dissapeared out of sight, only to snag on the far side of the eastern island, requiring a launch of the rowing boat.
Mike Kemp was almost unbeatable today, dropping only two points all day, not so closely behind was Mike Ewart, with Keith Coxon just managing a third place on count back from Alan Smedley.
DF95 Commodores Cup Round 1
Good afternoon All
10 boats out for Round 1 of the Commodores Cup for DF95’s. The wind was SW but we stayed on the western jetty area as the spit was fairly waterlogged and we didn’t want to make conditions worse.
Actually the course worked well with a start into the western bay taking the red and white 1’s to port out to red 3 on the perimeter with a good beat back to white 4 just off of the jetty and repeat and finish.
We lost Mike Kemp after race 4 with a rudder servo having gone "kapput" and he retired. Alex also lost three races with battery problems.
Otherwise we had a full fleet for most races.
Getting a good start as always was critical and that was difficult into the bay as the direction and strength did vary a lot. From Race 5 onwards KC managed to get to grips and won five of the last seven races. Was it good starts or the fact that our 95 supremo MK had to retire - answers on a postcard. However KC won the day on 16 points. Richard had a good day also with good starts coming home 2nd with 28 points and Rob being just pipped by one point on 29 points.
A good fleet but a depleted lunch crew with just 3 skippers enjoying the fare of the Old Beams.
Keith
Good afternoon All
10 boats out for Round 1 of the Commodores Cup for DF95’s. The wind was SW but we stayed on the western jetty area as the spit was fairly waterlogged and we didn’t want to make conditions worse.
Actually the course worked well with a start into the western bay taking the red and white 1’s to port out to red 3 on the perimeter with a good beat back to white 4 just off of the jetty and repeat and finish.
We lost Mike Kemp after race 4 with a rudder servo having gone "kapput" and he retired. Alex also lost three races with battery problems.
Otherwise we had a full fleet for most races.
Getting a good start as always was critical and that was difficult into the bay as the direction and strength did vary a lot. From Race 5 onwards KC managed to get to grips and won five of the last seven races. Was it good starts or the fact that our 95 supremo MK had to retire - answers on a postcard. However KC won the day on 16 points. Richard had a good day also with good starts coming home 2nd with 28 points and Rob being just pipped by one point on 29 points.
A good fleet but a depleted lunch crew with just 3 skippers enjoying the fare of the Old Beams.
Keith
