6th nov pleasure sailing and end of season supper

today i had arranged to meet with richard to go sailing, the weather was lighter than expected, he didnt seem keen so i launched just main only.
after clearing the pier i wondered if i had made the right desicion to launch. the wind then filled in as cheers came from the juniors once they started moving. max speed was 6.5knts  lowest was eh  1knt
it was a nice sunny day and it was very peacefull on the water. what more could you ask for...maybe it was because richard wasnt there   lol .
in the evening Mark,Martin,Graham and Roger and Mike m did the end of season supper.
i must say it was one of the best meals i had, all credit to them they did a grand job. There was a  mention about pastry but we wont go into that.

autumn series 2010 review

aut 1   dnc just got back from worlds

aut 2   dnc dodgy easterly and winds did not travel

aut 3   raced  3RD ON THE WATER  4th overall

aut 4   race duty

aut 5  did  not race working

aut 6  NO RACE bad weather  TBC

aut 7 DID NOT TRAVEL easterly predicted 17-24 knts   didn't arrive

aut 8 5th on the water  7th overall

aut 9 4th on the water  5th overall

aut 10 DID NOT TRAVEL weather did not look nice

autumn 241010

The weather was cold but sunny, wind was expected to be 12knts + a good turn out for the penultimate race of the season, even jorg turned out to race !! and actually started and got to the mark almost in first place.

The tide was going out  and fairly strong and we knew from prev races that we had to tack at the right place or our race would be over, we also started a good run up to the line with good boat speed, unlike before we would be too far back and then struggle to get going.

We followed mark and mike and nick and martin,

we took the first wind shift well and made it to our advantage, tacked off and found our self in a good position in the fleet, we got to the mark in 2nd or 3rd but messed up on the tide, we went back onto starboard to re round the mark much to m chems dissaproval.

We got around but the mark but on the reach found mike doing a 360  as he had hit the mark blaming us for messing him up. poppycock is all i say  because he went around us and past the mark, he just didnt allow for the tide pushing him back, we overtook him and on the first downwind he went lower than us and came out in 3rd we were 5th.

Going around 4 rich called the shot and we didnt make the pin  however we were beating down the line  and i decided  hey lets carry on right and go out to sea, we got pushed back a little and we were all on our own, i said if it works we will do ok  if it did  not our race was over. We tacked and came in at a good speed and richard even went out on the wire as well, we came out on the mark in 4th spot and looked as if we were gaining on the top 3. We discovered we had got infront of mark and we couldnt believe what we had just done. We kept our heads and tried to finnish the race off and hold 4th spot, with the wind dying in places we managed it, however on the very last tack off 4 i did fluff it by moving over too soon and the boat didnt tack.

It was soon remedied and we crossed the line, we were very pleased with what we had done and were praised on the beach by the ones we had beat and others.

When things go right you gain a lot of satisfaction, a simple moment like this made my season, what can we do if we really try and pratice more, next week is the last race, what will it hold in store for us. 

autumn series 8 2010

the season is almost over, the weather is colder, the outside temperature said -1c all the way down to the coast today, at least it was sunny and bright and i was keen to get back on the boat.
the beach was full of seaweed and boat space was limited because of it.
richard arrived and surprised i was there saying it was too cold to go sailing  lol
the wind was NE swinging around to NW and the swell was fairly big, but it was ok for me. we managed to surf a few of them no problem. the start seemed messed up as we went with what i thought was a minute to go  so i guess the timekeepers got it wrong or they never sounded the start of the 3 mins
we made a good start near the committee boat and trailed martin and mike, the pin was biased to the right by a long way, mike tacked onto port and expected everyone on starboard to do the same, we did or a collision would have occurred as we had nowhere to go, he did us a favor really as we seemed to be doing better than the others. when we got to mark 1 we all stopped and the rest of the fleet all bunched up, mark martin and mike all rounded and we followed and went right, martin then gybed off into the middle as this was clearly the best way with the tide going out. we rounded mark 4 in 5th place after nick and shaun gained a spot as well.
we stayed together for a lap or so and then greg was looming fast, he had caught up well, we tried to keep calm and not make mistakes ,coming off mark 4 he was right on our rudders, we tacked off and so did he , it was now a straight blast to the pin end of the line to finnish, he was ahead and then i altered course for more boatspeed and got to the line  looked over and seen that i was  infront,  the hooter went off BEEP..BEEP, so i knew it was close, greg thought he had it, i knew we had beat him,it was a good race for me and richard as we made no mistakes, its a shame the season is ending so soon.

autumn 4

duty day

crews race 18th september

wind was light but picked up a little but the tide was strong, all the cats were well behind the line .
shaun helmed for nick mick helmed for greg and richard for me.
the mono flew of the line but the cats took at least 5mins to cross so it was basically a cat race just for fun beacuse were were beat already.
we got to the windward mark eventually and rounded in 3rd we eventually overtook greg but lost out by mistakes or the tide getting us. on the last lap we made one fatal miostake at mark 4 and misjudged the tide and we never ever made it around we retired as the wind dropped off, the race had lots of potential but it all slipped away on the tide, best moment calling a 360 on mike lol

richard if you read this, you did ok, but............

summer series review

SS1   =6TH
SS2   =7TH
SS3   =did not sail due to little wind  RACE NOT RUN
SS4   =DUTY
SS5  =8TH
SS6  =did not race WORKING
SS7  =5TH
SS8  =8TH
SS9  =crewed for rich miller  prep for worlds
SS10 =no race 

autumn series 2010 3

i was really eager to get sailing again after the worlds and after suffering from a bad head cold as well.
we launched earl;y to suss out the weird wind and tide. it did pay off as we timed a really good start and then made the mark without the tide getting us. greg was hot on our heeels and overtook us when we hit the pin on the start line , we did however re over took and put a good 20 secs into him using a bit of skill going to one
he then reovertook us again and we did likewise when poor greg messed up his rounding of mark 1
we kept cool and didnt tempt fate and made the finnish along way ahead of him.
after he commented how did i get in front and promptly covered my boat in sea weed and all sorts of cr..
overall apart from richard losing his head on a gybe we did really well
richard if you read this racing is meant to be taken seriuos and you should know how to hold on and position yourself by now, i was really worried he had hurt himself bad , when we gybe you know you got to hold on tight
sometimes on mutley as the helm i would almost be flung overboard as the action of the sail going over was so violent. so pay heed to the warning its no laughing matter when were racing
as for general crewing richard has come on leaps and bounds as he now is calling the tactics and doing a lot better

hopefully by the end of the season we will be closer to the front

world championship dart 18 at weymouth & portland

from 21st august for a week i was competing in the world championships at weymouth and portland  where the 2012 olympics will be held.

weather was really windy completed 4 races dnf in 2 races dns 3 races from 9.
came 115th from 131  crewed for james kundert from stokes bay on #2800 Here and now

summer series 9

the wind was 15 gusting 21 knts when i arrived at the club and the waves were building in the bay, the forecast was the wind was going to drop according to windguru . i decided not to race and rich miller imediatly asked did i want to crew for him or he wouldnt be sailing either, so as for pratice crewing for the worlds i said yes ok, but bear in mind i hadnt crewed for ages. we set off and got some trapeze pratice in, it went ok so i was happy for the race. we got a good start and rounded in 3rd place martin overtook us upwind as he was pointing higher than us, we got in front when rich decided to go different on the downwind leg, it paid off on the first attempt and finally paid offf nicely on the last lap when we took over 500 metres out of martin to finally take 3rd from 5
greg and mike 5th
overall i was very pleased and i hope i didnt mess richard up too much.
i hope to be able to crew for him again and learn a few more things from him.

3rd august training

a day out and off to Swanage  where else. Richard needed some training on the helm and today was a good day for it, learning how to head up and stop the boat was my first task as he clearly didn't know what to do when overpowered, se capsize from prev sessions. we then did lots of pratice gybes and finally some beating, which to be honest scared me too death when he kept putting the bows under the water.
finally he said he had enough PHew !!! so i took the boat in for him.
all in all he did better than the first atempt.
about an hours sailing

Summer series 8

we made another really good start on the line like yesterday  but couldnt tack off because richard m was windward of us when we did we made good progress. we battled with nic and then greg when we made a tactical mistake going into the course. we later recaught greg  and overtook only to lose it again when guess what the mainsheet came out again, only this time we stopped back in front of the solent cruiser, we made the rope off as fasta s possible after drifted right across his bows. it was like we were playing chicken with the big boys and seeing if they knew the rights of the road at sea, we guestured to them thankyou for stopping and then made good speed back to the line we then reoover took greg and then he just piiped us to the line.
a good fun weekend sailing
and we had the regatta on the saturday night as well.

knoll beach race

we made a good start to the race and had all the other cats beat on the upwind section. we had a penalty over mark g for crossing on port  nothing we could do really as the wind dropped, we did a 360 and then flew down the beat on port to overtake him and round the mark in 2nd place.
we then led for a while cross gybing with mark and mike, however an rs400 was well away as well.
the run turnedinto a beat after old harry and we had to tack inward for the bar bouy however the direction change wasnt so good and we got overhauled by all the 18's. we finnished last but one but it was a good sail and who cares where we finnish  we had fun.
on the way back it was very good with a few fluky patches under the cliffs at old harry. the beat into swanage was very fast.

old school

today we had arranged for an old school friend to visit swanage and go sailing, wind was very light after the bay had cleared of misty rain, after a visit to the far side and then over to pevril and back our task was done and back to the club ready for the knoll beach race. when i went to pull the rudders up  i snapped the tiller bar, luckily mike lent me one for the race and had mended it by the sunday morning. thanks mike.
sailing time 1hr

summer series 7

the  race was postponed but we launched when we could see wind. we had a good sail around the boats moored in the bay as richard like to take a look.
we made a pratice start and then went behind the line and stayed close to the line to set our watch. we reached down the line to then see the wind stop us, mike c and mark g and clive all did port flyers in the 1 boat lenght gap i was short of the pin, we got going and soon made up ground on the reach. going from 2-3 we lost it and the 3-4 we had a good run.
lap 2 was unexciting and then we were finished on 55mins
we made no mistakes but richard did call the shots when to tack however i trusted to my judgement than his, next week however we will do as richard calls to see if he is right. overall a nice sunny day.

summer series 5

wind started to build as usual prior to the race. we had a poor start due to me messing up my position on the start line, we went over 2 mins late, however we then caught the fleet on the reach and then left them on the run. places swapped as we watched them all gybe time after time, we didnt and gained position.
then on the 2nd lap or so my mainsheet broke and quick thinking richard tied it off so we could carry on, greg passed us in the meantime and latter on the same leg we flew past him and gave a polite wave.
latter int eh race we caught graham(solo) and pulled away only to lose it somehow. the next mistake was thinking we had finnished when we got tooted and we hadnt . lesson learned wacth for class flags and only finnish if yours flag is shown, mark g came out to tell us but in the meantime we had gone to the back of the fleet., we did the final lap pondering on what could have been. progress in the 18 fleet for us is good and we are very pleased indeed, just need a good run of no mistakes.

in the afternoon we had a cat clinis hosted by mike cemm , we had theory in the class on the boat and then on the water, upwind downwind and then reaching. we also swapped crews and had to do the same thing giving good comms to them so everyone knew how other helms worked. also we had tuition from the rib watching others as well.
richard did have ago when it was supposed to be me helming and struggled to listen to orders when doing stuff. this resulted in a bad capsize in which i hurt my leg. the rib helped us right the boat and we carried on the session, however richard was now the crew. i was angry at the time but in reflection we all have to learn sometime, my only thing i would say is if the tutor tells you do do something  do it  because he's telling you for a bloody good reason.
now i have taken my calming down pills i'm ok.

3RD JULY

sailed in the morning with a nice breexe  solo and main only. sailed all along the coast and then heaed to old harry and thought better of it when i seen the waves from behind, i turned around and heaed parralel to the bay to get back in, the waves were a bit like the bournmouth race, once in the bay it was ok.
jason came out with the hurricane so we reached up and down getting some good reaches from it, untill his rudder broke and then i headed in with him just incase he needed help.
sailing time 1h 3/4
decided not to do the durlston race as earlier on i had rounded the ledge bouy only to be spooked by it. the plan in the race was to travel into durlston 4 times, they managed only 2 or 3 because of the tide.

in the evening we had a good barbecue and listed to jim ethrington, after many pints of stofford i retired to my pit at gone midnight.

bournmouth race 3rd july 2010

wind was forcast wsw and 14knts or more

race started at 2.30pm with the tide going out . we planned that it would be a broad reach and a beat back. the wind did get up as usual before the race started making the sea choppy. i made a bad start and got into irons in the last minute of the count down, when i did start i was near the back. getting to the wind ward mark was lively and rounding was ok going onto a long run direct to bournmouth. we went under the cliffs  at ballard and then headed out to sea to make a mark off old harry, spotting the bournmouth eye we worked out that we could indeed head directly.

we overtook many boats in doing so and including greg ??

when we spotted the mark at  bournmouth we prepared for what was going to be a tough return trip beating into every wave we surfed in on. indeed it was a nightmare, the boat hit one wave cut the next and cut stopped by the next, boat speed seemed very  slow. the waves came off the winward hull right across the boat straight into my face. we tacked when we thought we could make the odm but soon realised that we were being headed by the tide. we chanegd tack and carried on and then tacked much later, we gained back all the time we lost to greg who tacked too early. we then got overtook my martin who had a tough time with pleasure boats. we almost got took out by a speedboat that was fishing and didnt know we were there, we shouted and then he avoided what would have been a severe collision. we then made the odm and then headed back to swanage bay this time keeping out and coping the wave a little better. we heaed in when we neared pevrill and then to tack a final time to finnsh off the old pier. the race was a back breaker and i suffered after.

thanks to john russ for crewing and for being a good tactician on the day.

after a good clean up and several pints of stoford press cider i retired to my pit for some well earned rest. we broke our record for 2009 by finishing in about 1h50 mins

the times for the race were messed up for some unknown reason.

summer series review

SS1   =6TH
SS2   =7TH
SS3   =did not sail due to little wind  RACE NOT RUN
SS4   =DUTY
SS5  =8TH
SS6  =did not race WORKING
SS7  =5TH
SS8  =8TH
SS9  =crewed for rich miller  prep for worlds
SS10 =did not race

macdona cup race 26 th june 2010

the race was postponed for 45 mins or so due to a sea mist decending right across the whole of the bay .
when we launched it was just hanging of the edges of the cliffs so we could sail ok.
the course was a very small triangle sausage a  tim page special. at the start i went into irons just when i wanted to get going to the line, after crossing the line i crossed onto port tack and went to the right of the course to follow at a distance a few 18's rich and greg. the course was ok and on the sausage leg the best idea was to go back around 2 again as that was the best route for cats. i think that isd what alot of the 18s did but i did try another route as well. i think i was catching greg at the end, a good race in all and a few gusts to lift the hull as well. tacking on my own and doing the jib presented no problems as i was used to it on the d15.
as we finnished the mist decended again heavily and it was fun getting back to the club.
with not much wind for sunday i traveled home so no summer 3 for me

saturday 26th june

weather was very sunny and hot, with enough wind, today was the solo cup race so i had to go out and pratice with main and jib and try also to trapeze on my own. at first there wasn't enough wind to trapeze, alan and chris johnson were also out so we spent time heading out to the edge of the bay, because i was faster i did turns to get back behind them, praticing tacking and gybing as i was going. on the way back to the club the wind picked up and i attempted to go out on the wire. i did manage it and held my steering well, bearing in mind i had never trapezed on the helm only as a crew,i got back in and tried it 3 more times. back at the club i picked up john russ and then went back out to pratice with john ready for the cup race next week.

summer series 2

the wind was supposed to be 8knts at most, i thought ok no crew that should be no problem, richard did sail in the end which was just as well as the wind did get up to about 18knts or more. after a good start we trailed mark and richard and cross gybed with them going to 3 mark dooley then took the lead and that was it we went backwards from that moment onward. i felt that we helm crewed better today after i explained to richard some of the finer things about losing ground during a race. we di much better and was very pleased apart from 2 moments  one i think was my fault and the other was definiatly richards, after tacking he got the jib rope well and truly tangled with the trapeze wire, we spent a few moments untangling it, good job the world championship wasnt on it  lol
we battled on and finnished, we stayed upright and that was all that mattered, in the club after we were told the art of when and when not to trapeze, i think we were over doing it and it was costing us time.
still early days but well pleased with overall progress and the boat in general.

pics from summer 1

Summer series 2010 1

after the saturday i decided to return home rather than have camp out in the van overnight.
weather was going to be 12-18knts and early morning it looked fresh, when we eventually launched we spotted a ship in the bay and we headed out to see it.
we got ourselves ready and decided on a port flyer which wasnt however we did follow mc(spit) and richard(d18) the wind was building and we tacked for the mark perfectly, we lost ground going to 2 and also 2-3 then the gybe mark, the gybes on the d18 are ok not like the hurricane. 3-4 was like being on a roller coaster dodging waves and surfing them. we had adrian for company and nick troy, most of the race was spent holding them off or trying to catch them back up. both got in front of us and it was just damage limitation time. at the end nick had a problem so we gratefully took that spot from him
wind on the pier was showing 13-25 knts in the gusts so that was eve stronger out in the bay, waves were breaking so it must have been a f5 at least. overall very pleased  as this was only our 2nd race. lots of work to do as well  but that can be worked on

6-06-2010 12:31	1012	17.2	8.6	25.9	12.9	250	17.2
06-06-2010 12:21	1012	18.1	9	19.8	9.9	220	17.4
06-06-2010 12:11	1012	12.3	6.1	15.2	7.6	250	17.9
06-06-2010 12:01	1012	18.8	9.4	24.9	12.4	260	17.3
06-06-2010 11:51	1012	12.1	6.1	18.5	9.3	260	17.7
06-06-2010 11:41	1012	13.6	6.8	25.7	12.8	260	17.3
06-06-2010 11:31	1012	17.2	8.6	20.7	10.4	240	17.1
06-06-2010 11:21	1012	18	9	23.5	11.7	250	17.6
06-06-2010 11:11	1012	17.2	8.6	22.1	11.1	240	17.4
06-06-2010 11:01	1012	16.9	8.5	22.5	11.3	250	17.1
06-06-2010 10:51	1012	16.2	8.1	20.8	10.4	250	17.4
06-06-2010 10:41	1012	13.4	6.7	19.7	9.9	260	17.5

wind is stronger out at sea by a few knts easily, wind was f5-f6 and maybe more