Well, here goes. Off to Greece for a week and then away on "Trio" for a further week pottering around the coast. I hope Neilson have kept their kit in tip top order at Port Heli because I intend to give it some stick.
As usual I expect I'll bemoan the fact that my beloved Phantom isn't there to play with and grow tired of explaining "Yes, I sail a Phantom - you haven't ever heard of them? - Yes, they are a bit like a big Laser but x million times better....". Absence makes the heart grow fonder they say.
I reckon that by the time we get into August everyone will be desperate for another event - the Eastern Champs will be well placed to fit this hunger!
Anyway, take care everyone. Bye.
Chris.
Saturday 18 July 2009
Tuesday 14 July 2009
Creeksea Report
Creeksea Phantom Open Meeting
An impressive fleet of twenty boats met to contest the ever-popular Creeksea Sailing Club Phantom Open meeting over the weekend of 4th and 5th July. The weather forecast had looked too good to be true but for once it lived up to its promise with glorious sunshine and an improving breeze all weekend.
The wind direction did however give the crack race officer team under the direction of Edwin Buckley a challenge in setting good starting windward legs but the judicious use of temporary marks and navigation buoys ensured that a variety of courses were set.
Race one saw the fleet catch the last of the ebbing tide to fetch the navigation mark off the Burnham Yacht harbour with home club members Roberts and Ingram being first to round and head back up river against the tide with the fleet strung out behind. Ingram managed to overtake Roberts on the run and led around every subsequent mark. Unfortunately for him this included rounding the final mark the wrong way thus gifting Roberts a race win ahead of Ian Miller from Alton Water.
Race two was held over the same course and this time Lawrence Crispin dominated the race finishing ahead of an in form Miller and Simon Fielden.
After lunch the fleet had to acclimatise themselves to both a slight change in wind direction and a flooding tide over a revised course. In their eagerness to start several sailors misjudged the line and paid the penalty. Race winner Ingram made no mistakes with the course this time and fought his way past Allen Burrell to record another home boat win.
After day one the results were looking close and the big guns in the fleet were looking nervous. An excellent evening ashore with free apres-sail beer and a meal in town was rounded off by the sharing of a specially commissioned birthday cake for the ever young James Case.
Sunday was another glorious day with the breeze resolutely refusing to swing either East or West to give a decisive first beat. So it was that the old favourite course involving a beat to Canewdon was pulled out of the Race Officers armoury of up river courses. Also appearing was a starting gun that ensured the fleet would be in no doubt that they had started!
The first race of the day was won by Crispin ahead of a delighted Doug Conway – making his long journey from the far North worthwhile. Much place changing took place during the race with local boats spotting the opportunity to exploit their Crouch knowledge on the reach back to the club by changing banks and crossing the tide to benefit from strong wind and slacker water on the North shore.
Race two was held back to back and was won by Simon Fielden who appeared to have shrugged off both his hangover and his past loathing for anything less than a gale!
After lunch the final race of the day was sailed over a shorter course and multiple laps as the fleet had by now had enough of close tacking amongst local day boat classes and racing yachts whilst resisting the attentions of everything from passing Sunseekers to ex-RNLI lifeboats.
As if to oblige the wind picked up to give onshore spectators a real treat of Phantoms in their element, blasting through reaching legs with many a grin to be seen. The placing of the windward mark also gave rise to some place changing and the odd swim as gusts dropping over the riverbank caught the unwary. Crispin and Burrell really came to life in this race and battled around the course to finish ahead of Fielden.
With a consistent set of results with nothing less than a fifth and three race wins Crispin won the Open ahead of a very happy Fielden. Burrell took third spot and Ingram fourth.
Notable achievements lower down the fleet were acknowledged at the prizegiving with Mark Ingall of the home club being congratulated for a determined performance in his classic non self draining wooden boat with tin rig having completed all the races on Sunday in testing conditions.
And so the Tempera-tec / JJ boats sponsored Eastern Series ended its seventh event with the next event at Minnis Bay taking place after the Nationals looking ever more important to those in contention.
An impressive fleet of twenty boats met to contest the ever-popular Creeksea Sailing Club Phantom Open meeting over the weekend of 4th and 5th July. The weather forecast had looked too good to be true but for once it lived up to its promise with glorious sunshine and an improving breeze all weekend.
The wind direction did however give the crack race officer team under the direction of Edwin Buckley a challenge in setting good starting windward legs but the judicious use of temporary marks and navigation buoys ensured that a variety of courses were set.
Race one saw the fleet catch the last of the ebbing tide to fetch the navigation mark off the Burnham Yacht harbour with home club members Roberts and Ingram being first to round and head back up river against the tide with the fleet strung out behind. Ingram managed to overtake Roberts on the run and led around every subsequent mark. Unfortunately for him this included rounding the final mark the wrong way thus gifting Roberts a race win ahead of Ian Miller from Alton Water.
Race two was held over the same course and this time Lawrence Crispin dominated the race finishing ahead of an in form Miller and Simon Fielden.
After lunch the fleet had to acclimatise themselves to both a slight change in wind direction and a flooding tide over a revised course. In their eagerness to start several sailors misjudged the line and paid the penalty. Race winner Ingram made no mistakes with the course this time and fought his way past Allen Burrell to record another home boat win.
After day one the results were looking close and the big guns in the fleet were looking nervous. An excellent evening ashore with free apres-sail beer and a meal in town was rounded off by the sharing of a specially commissioned birthday cake for the ever young James Case.
Sunday was another glorious day with the breeze resolutely refusing to swing either East or West to give a decisive first beat. So it was that the old favourite course involving a beat to Canewdon was pulled out of the Race Officers armoury of up river courses. Also appearing was a starting gun that ensured the fleet would be in no doubt that they had started!
The first race of the day was won by Crispin ahead of a delighted Doug Conway – making his long journey from the far North worthwhile. Much place changing took place during the race with local boats spotting the opportunity to exploit their Crouch knowledge on the reach back to the club by changing banks and crossing the tide to benefit from strong wind and slacker water on the North shore.
Race two was held back to back and was won by Simon Fielden who appeared to have shrugged off both his hangover and his past loathing for anything less than a gale!
After lunch the final race of the day was sailed over a shorter course and multiple laps as the fleet had by now had enough of close tacking amongst local day boat classes and racing yachts whilst resisting the attentions of everything from passing Sunseekers to ex-RNLI lifeboats.
As if to oblige the wind picked up to give onshore spectators a real treat of Phantoms in their element, blasting through reaching legs with many a grin to be seen. The placing of the windward mark also gave rise to some place changing and the odd swim as gusts dropping over the riverbank caught the unwary. Crispin and Burrell really came to life in this race and battled around the course to finish ahead of Fielden.
With a consistent set of results with nothing less than a fifth and three race wins Crispin won the Open ahead of a very happy Fielden. Burrell took third spot and Ingram fourth.
Notable achievements lower down the fleet were acknowledged at the prizegiving with Mark Ingall of the home club being congratulated for a determined performance in his classic non self draining wooden boat with tin rig having completed all the races on Sunday in testing conditions.
And so the Tempera-tec / JJ boats sponsored Eastern Series ended its seventh event with the next event at Minnis Bay taking place after the Nationals looking ever more important to those in contention.
Monday 6 July 2009
Stone Sailing Club Report
Okay, writers cramp and writers block are now setting in and I can't face the prospect of writing up the Creeksea Report yet but here's the Stone Report...
Stone Sailing Club Phantom Open Meeting
The sixth event in the JJ boats / Tempera-Tec sponsored Eastern Series took place at Stone Sailing Club on 27th / 28th June.
Twenty-one helms assembled on Saturday in glorious sunshine at Stone but were dismayed to see little wind on a serene Blackwater dotted with stationary yachts. A short postponement allowed much banter and ample time for sail measurement and boat tweaking.
When released from the shore around midday the fleet was pleased to see that the breeze whilst somewhat fickle was good enough to allow a good course to be set by Wendy Robinson and her delectable team of helpers.
The first race of the day saw the fleet beat with the tide in close order to round the windward mark and split to both sides of the course in an effort to cheat the flooding tide. Lawrence Crispin and several other boats chose an alternative option of going for pressure down the rhumb line and gave an object lesson in the benefits of sailing the shortest course by rounding before the fleet converged from the sides of the course. Crispin went on to win but was intriguing followed home by visitor Richard Parkin from Hunts. More accustomed to inland venues but with a reputation for being a light weather ace Parkins result may not have registered on some at that time.
The second race win by Parkin over Crispin was however telling and a win by James Jarvey from Hickling Broad (another acknowledged light weather ace) made things look distinctly interesting by the end of the day.
The evening festivities started with a meal consumed by the fleet whilst both Wimbledon and the days rugby results were equally digested.
Moving on to the bar the fleet clicked up a gear to join in with a sing along conducted busker style as part of the Cancer Research Busking Week by a local musician and Laser sailor. Perhaps emboldened by excess alcohol the fleet proved that there is no correlation between sailing ability and singing talent.
Sunday started in a similar manner to the previous day with a mist over the Blackwater obscuring the multitude of catamarans trying to complete the Three Piers Race.
Sensibly, sailing was postponed until a sea breeze developed and this strengthened throughout the day.
The three races were again run over a triangular course that needed frequent adjustment to the windward mark position as the breeze swung and the impact of a flooding tide was felt.
Parkin again showed his prefence for the lighter conditions of the first race of the day, winning from a delighted Simon Fielden (not noted for his love of light weather sailing!).
Crispin dominated the second race of the day winning from local hero Neil Fulcher and Ian Miller from Alton Water.
The last race saw past Eastern Series Champion John Wayling find his form with a deserved race win ahead of James Jarvey and much scratching of heads on the run back to work out the results after Parkin scored a sixth and Crispin a fifth.
With a single point between them Parkin had successfully taken the result from past champion Crispin and amused the fleet by acknowledging how much he now looked forward to returning next year. It was not long before the fleet pointed out that next year Stone would be the venue for the National Championships and winning that might be a touch harder!
The seventh event in the Eastern Series is planned for the following weekend allowing the fleet to deposit their boats in readiness for the next weekend - and enjoy a drive home without the burden of a trailer.
Results.
1st Richard Parkin Hunts SC
2nd Lawrence Crispin Stone SC
3rd James Jarvey Hickling Broad SC
4th Neil Fulcher Stone SC
5th John Wayling Northampton SC
Stone Sailing Club Phantom Open Meeting
The sixth event in the JJ boats / Tempera-Tec sponsored Eastern Series took place at Stone Sailing Club on 27th / 28th June.
Twenty-one helms assembled on Saturday in glorious sunshine at Stone but were dismayed to see little wind on a serene Blackwater dotted with stationary yachts. A short postponement allowed much banter and ample time for sail measurement and boat tweaking.
When released from the shore around midday the fleet was pleased to see that the breeze whilst somewhat fickle was good enough to allow a good course to be set by Wendy Robinson and her delectable team of helpers.
The first race of the day saw the fleet beat with the tide in close order to round the windward mark and split to both sides of the course in an effort to cheat the flooding tide. Lawrence Crispin and several other boats chose an alternative option of going for pressure down the rhumb line and gave an object lesson in the benefits of sailing the shortest course by rounding before the fleet converged from the sides of the course. Crispin went on to win but was intriguing followed home by visitor Richard Parkin from Hunts. More accustomed to inland venues but with a reputation for being a light weather ace Parkins result may not have registered on some at that time.
The second race win by Parkin over Crispin was however telling and a win by James Jarvey from Hickling Broad (another acknowledged light weather ace) made things look distinctly interesting by the end of the day.
The evening festivities started with a meal consumed by the fleet whilst both Wimbledon and the days rugby results were equally digested.
Moving on to the bar the fleet clicked up a gear to join in with a sing along conducted busker style as part of the Cancer Research Busking Week by a local musician and Laser sailor. Perhaps emboldened by excess alcohol the fleet proved that there is no correlation between sailing ability and singing talent.
Sunday started in a similar manner to the previous day with a mist over the Blackwater obscuring the multitude of catamarans trying to complete the Three Piers Race.
Sensibly, sailing was postponed until a sea breeze developed and this strengthened throughout the day.
The three races were again run over a triangular course that needed frequent adjustment to the windward mark position as the breeze swung and the impact of a flooding tide was felt.
Parkin again showed his prefence for the lighter conditions of the first race of the day, winning from a delighted Simon Fielden (not noted for his love of light weather sailing!).
Crispin dominated the second race of the day winning from local hero Neil Fulcher and Ian Miller from Alton Water.
The last race saw past Eastern Series Champion John Wayling find his form with a deserved race win ahead of James Jarvey and much scratching of heads on the run back to work out the results after Parkin scored a sixth and Crispin a fifth.
With a single point between them Parkin had successfully taken the result from past champion Crispin and amused the fleet by acknowledging how much he now looked forward to returning next year. It was not long before the fleet pointed out that next year Stone would be the venue for the National Championships and winning that might be a touch harder!
The seventh event in the Eastern Series is planned for the following weekend allowing the fleet to deposit their boats in readiness for the next weekend - and enjoy a drive home without the burden of a trailer.
Results.
1st Richard Parkin Hunts SC
2nd Lawrence Crispin Stone SC
3rd James Jarvey Hickling Broad SC
4th Neil Fulcher Stone SC
5th John Wayling Northampton SC
Brightlingsea report
Note to self - must tell club representatives that they should produce the reports before I forget what happened...anyway here's a report I've penned for the website and Y & Y. I guess it may be a bit late for Y & Y but I thought I'd try it on!
Brightlingsea Phantom Open
The fifth event in the JJ boats / Tempera-Tec sponsored Eastern Series took place at a new venue for the fleet over the weekend of 13th /14th June. The event was combined with a Fireball and Laser Open and introduced another side of the Blackwater to the class. Sparking sailing conditions on a rising tide saw Saturdays racing dominated by John Wayling from Northampton with three straight wins. John didn’t have it all his own way and racing was close throughout the fleet with Steven Popple from Shoreham being consistent and local class representative Andy Large grinning from ear-to-ear with a second place in the first race.
During the day the wind swung round and built in strength with the PRO accommodating this with a little mark movement and adjustment to the start line. The variation in courses between the single-handers fleets and the Fireballs kept the two apart and the last race of the day was held in perfect planning conditions.
Saturday evening saw the fleet tucking in to a great meal at the club – something that Phantom sailors tend to excel at!
Sunday dawned bright with similar sailing conditions but a change in wind and tide conditions. The earlier start meant that the previous guide to best course had to be put to one side and new lessons learnt.
James Jarvey set a cracking pace with two firsts but Wayling secured two second places having battled hard with Jarvey for the lead.
The final race saw Chris Roberts round the windward mark with a commanding lead but both Wayling and Jarvey chased hard and eventually caught Roberts on the final gybe mark to reach to the finish.
All competitors commented on their liking for this new venue to the fleet and expressed the desire to be invited back.
RESULTS
1st John Wayling
2nd James Jarvey
3rd Steve Popple
4th Paul Lester
The fifth event in the JJ boats / Tempera-Tec sponsored Eastern Series took place at a new venue for the fleet over the weekend of 13th /14th June. The event was combined with a Fireball and Laser Open and introduced another side of the Blackwater to the class. Sparking sailing conditions on a rising tide saw Saturdays racing dominated by John Wayling from Northampton with three straight wins. John didn’t have it all his own way and racing was close throughout the fleet with Steven Popple from Shoreham being consistent and local class representative Andy Large grinning from ear-to-ear with a second place in the first race.
During the day the wind swung round and built in strength with the PRO accommodating this with a little mark movement and adjustment to the start line. The variation in courses between the single-handers fleets and the Fireballs kept the two apart and the last race of the day was held in perfect planning conditions.
Saturday evening saw the fleet tucking in to a great meal at the club – something that Phantom sailors tend to excel at!
Sunday dawned bright with similar sailing conditions but a change in wind and tide conditions. The earlier start meant that the previous guide to best course had to be put to one side and new lessons learnt.
James Jarvey set a cracking pace with two firsts but Wayling secured two second places having battled hard with Jarvey for the lead.
The final race saw Chris Roberts round the windward mark with a commanding lead but both Wayling and Jarvey chased hard and eventually caught Roberts on the final gybe mark to reach to the finish.
All competitors commented on their liking for this new venue to the fleet and expressed the desire to be invited back.
RESULTS
1st John Wayling
2nd James Jarvey
3rd Steve Popple
4th Paul Lester
5th Ian Miller
Wednesday 1 July 2009
James Case fan club
What a dark horse, sneaking off to one of my other favourite venues to stitch up a prestigous handicap event....
http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/?article=147331
James, you should know that I'm watching you....(and Marcus Ingram for that matter - the URYC ace) and to think that I've been called a handicap bandit in the past!
http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/?article=147331
James, you should know that I'm watching you....(and Marcus Ingram for that matter - the URYC ace) and to think that I've been called a handicap bandit in the past!
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