Race Reports 2007

Epilogue

The pursuit race on September 1st was well won by 1st Place, living up to her name for the 1st time this year! The strong Northerly wind prevented the later starters from getting on terms and cost Fine Cut their mainsail. Cleo, Pattie B Too and 1st Place had a rare old battle and it looked like any of them could have won on the last beat back to the finish line at HoJo but 1st Place kept their cool and nailed it. Tarka showed the Flying Scot and Fine Cut a clean pair of heels in the second flight in spite of the hired guns aboard FS. Next year will see some new boats in the races and word from the depths is that the Lightnings may not have it all their own way. Watch this space! Nick

Series now over, Sunday 26th August

Humble Pie finally Triumphs! 

The last official race of 2007 had a sting in the beak and the playing field was levelled at the start when the wind dropped as 2pm arrived and the boats were still bunched at 13.55, 14.00 and 14.05. Young guns Schwabe and Kidger in Humble Pie were serendipitous or perhaps wise in heading West from the start line, albeit slowly and when the wind filled in from the West North West it got to them first and they streaked off towards the Sheep Island buoy while the rest of us were still sitting near the line. Rounding Sheep ahead of the Pattie B Lightning; grizzled veterans Charlie & Harris Whitehead offered formidable experience in that boat.  Hours Too with Scott Kidger crewing was an unfamiliar 3^rd as the boats made it back to HoJo just ahead of Tarka, (Jim Loney sporting a motley crew of Bert, Lael, Nina, Geoff & Greg Kidger) and Moonshine (Helmed by the shining Lori Kidger with Alyssa & Nick as ballast) but worse was to come. The thorny problem of which course to take to Rich Man’s then presented itself to the crews and as usual different choices were made. Humble Pie extended their lead from Pattie B slightly but Hours Too lost ground badly. Moonshine overtook Tarka on the beat and Hours Too on the run back to HoJo but was to lose out again on the next tight reach to Sheep.

Back in the second pack, Spindrift, (another motley crew) was holding off Rosamund and 1^st Place (Rink, Eric & Susy) with Cleo (almost as motley) a little way back. Sylkie with Tom & Connor Kelly were keeping out of the thick of things while Kai in Gypsy had lost all his advantage at the windless start. After the next leg to Sheep, Humble Pie was still leading but Pattie B had closed the gap a bit while Moonshine had dropped to 5^th. There was then a big gap to Spindrift who still had Rosamund and 1^st Place on their tail. Cleo was 5 minutes adrift of 1^st Place but it’s never over till it’s over! Sylkie was still cruising and Kai was praying for more wind.

On the last leg to Rich Man’s, Pattie B was again quicker than Humble Pie by 48 seconds but it wasn’t enough. Hours Too came through to take 3^rd on the water from Moonshine while Tarka had to be content with 5^th after tacking too early on the way to Rich Man’s. In the second group the big shock was Spindrift who lost their way entirely, dropping from 6^th to 9^th so Rosamund finished 6^th, 1^st Place finished 7^th but Cleo made up a load of ground to close the gap by over 4 minutes and steal the place on handicap. Sylkie showed a taste of their true mettle, being faster than Rosamund, 1^st Place and Spindrift.  

On handicap Humble Pie and Pattie B were comfortably in 1^st and 2nd, Tarka taking advantage of the lack of wind at the start to take 3^rd while Kai  recovered strongly to take 4^th on Handicap from Moonshine by 27 seconds. Hours Too dropped from 3^rd on the water to 6^th on handicap just ahead of Cleo who pipped 1^st Place by nearly 2 minutes after the sterling last leg. Rosamund struggled under her new handicap dropping behind the aforementioned two boats on handicap. Sylkie can do better and must try harder!

 Looking at the whole series, no boat won more than 1 race but Humble Pie had 3 seconds, no other boat having more than 1. All in all a very well deserved win for Chris & Chris, many times unbeatable but occasionally all too human. Last year’s champion, Tarka had a strong run of results without ever showing the brilliance of last year. Is Jim too old?

We had 21 different boats out from Brightwater & Wynburg with a few welcome visitors from Brighams Cove from time to time.

 Thanks again are due to Eleanor, Rollie, Carla & Wendy on the horns/watches. We owe them a great deal.

Pattie B is back!

 A West wind greeted sailors as they rose on August 19^th, but the questions were whether it would last and how hard would it blow? As 2pm rolled up the wind was still holding but a little shifty and gusty and it was obvious that good judgement and luck were going to play a part.
Just 11 boats made it to the start and Kai  led the race off at 13.55 after a close encounter with Melody and then getting swamped when a gust hit. He also suffered from cramp while sailing so was lucky to finish. Fortunately he had a bailer with him!
The Wilbur’s in Hours Too showed they meant business right from the start as they sailed off to the Sheep Island Buoy pointing higher than almost everyone else and going faster to boot.  The wind seemed to head most boats as they approached that mark and only those that had gone as high as they could would lay the mark without tacking. At the end of the first leg, Humble Pie in second place had already dropped three minutes to Hours Too.
Close behind Humble Pie were Moonshine and Spindrift with Pattie B Too also not far away. Cleo had a narrow lead over 1^st Place, 4 minutes back from that group while the late starters were already closing up. Looking ahead to the boats sailing to Rich Man’s it was hard to know which course to take with boats on the same tack pointing as much as 45 degrees different to each other depending on where they were on the river. Hours Too was again quickest by a minute from Melody with Humble Pie another minute behind that. Moonshine, Tarka, Second Chance and Spindrift were within 33 seconds of each other in elapsed time on that leg, Cleo and 1^st Place still separated by seconds. Having bailed the boat, Kai was now running last but improved his lap time on the second lap by nearly 7 minutes! Biggest improvement of any boat in the race.
Second time up to Sheep saw the flying Wilbur’s again fastest beating Humble Pie by just 3 seconds but it was too little to late for the Pie men. Melody struggled while Moonshine pushed Tarka and Second Chance into 4^rd and 5^th quickest.
On the 4^th and final leg over to Rich Man’s, Hours too showed a little weakness being beaten on elapsed time by Tarka, Melody and Second Chance and equalled by Moonshine, Humble Pie just pipping Spindrift by 1 second. Gypsy also moved off the bottom of the deck with a time quicker than Cleo.
Threatened law suits failed to materialise, the cost of unsuccessful litigation obviously being prohibitive. Bribes are far more effective and cheaper in the long run. 

When two boats are on the same tack, the leeward boat has right of way and can luff up, (no further than head to wind) as long as they give the windward boat time to keep clear. If the leeward boat tacks however, they must make sure they do not hit the windward boat and, if tacking from port to starboard do not become the right of way boat until they are on the new tack and even then must give the other boat room to avoid them. If tacking from starboard to port they must keep clear at all times. If you feel you have been in the wrong you may accept a penalty by completing a 720 degree turn after the incident, keeping clear of all other boats while doing the two full turns. In proper racing, failure to do this would normally result in a protest with the offending boat disqualified from that race, but we have penalised the odd boat by 2 minutes for offenses.

 Humble Pie now leads with her best 4 results on 193 points after 5 races with Pattie B Too and Hours Too equal 2^nd on 191. It’s all about discards folks!

Thanks are due to Eleanor, Rollie, Carla & Wendy were on the horns/watches with impeccable  results. With one more race to go, 11 boats have sailed 4 races and will be dropping their worst score in future races.

Race results & times are available on the web at www.brightwaterclub.org 

1^st Pattie B Too, Nick & Catherine Price
2^nd Hours Too, Bob Wilbur & daughters
3^rd Moonshine, Lori Kidger, Harris Whitehead
4^th Spindrift, Celia & Dee Whitehead, Les Hinsman

Lightnings on the water but Wynwater shades Gypsy!

Another beautiful day with a strong but fairly steady wind saw 17 Brightwater & Wynburg boats make the start and with 4 visitors who sailed all or part of the race, there were a record 21 boats out. Another record that was nearly beaten was for fastest elapsed time but Humble Pie failed by a minute to beat the record of last year when their elapsed time was 59:40, taking just 1:00:58 on this day. Second on the water with another fine showing was Hours Too with Scott Kidger as guest crew this week. Another strong performance from Harmony saw them 3^rd on the water and 3^rd on handicap, solid evidence that the cut in their handicap from last week, wasn’t enough. There is a lot of talk about bribes but so far nothing has appeared, so quit grousing! Luke & Alex did well to finish 6^th in the Whitehead Lightning when more weight must have been useful. Stars of the day however were two of the little guys who did well in the conditions to spoil the fun of the big boys, Gypsy just falling to the Wynwater on handicap after a fine performance on the water. Gypsy now has a first and a 2^nd to their credit this and both these boats have been seriously cut before next week. Apart from the first 3 places the field was pretty well bunched on the original handicaps with 1^st Place in 4^th place just 4 minutes ahead of the lightning, Hours Too, 9 places behind in 13^th place. If Humble Pie had been 60 seconds quicker over the course they could have finished 6^th instead of 12^th. Tarka’s handicap has also been cut out of respect for a fine 5^th place and it is now equal with Melody. These two have each beaten the other 2 times out of 4 encounters so an even handicap seems fair. Shearwater seems to be struggling this year and although they are still putting in leg times that match the other Typhoons the consistency is lacking, particularly upwind. Spindrift is also struggling to break out of the middle of the fleet, 13 seconds quicker would have seen them move up 2 places. Sage is another who could have moved up with a small improvement, 35 seconds would be good for 4 places gained. Cleo after winning the first race this year has also struggled and had her handicap boosted a small amount. The times at the end of this report reflect the new handicaps but no places have been changed except that when the number crunching was done it transpired that the post race results had put Pattie B Too 6^th when they should have been 7^th, 4 seconds behind the Flying Scot, Moonshine. If you want to see how/if your handicap has changed look at the previous week’s results on the web page reports.

A couple of questions arose after the race. If an overlap is established when the bow of the leading boat is 2 of their boat lengths from a mark then the inside boat has right of way at that mark, regardless of whether it is the overtaking boat or not. The critical thing is whether any part of the rear boat is overlapped with any part of the leading boat at the 2 boat length time. Also, at the start mark by HoJo,  in a typical South wind, the boat coming across from Rich Man’s has right of way over a boat coming down from Sheep even if both are on Starboard tack as the former are the leeward boat. Right of way boat should make a point of turning at the mark and not continuing on to the shore so the windward boat can get round the mark as well. Just a courtesy.

Nearly all boats were quicker on the second lap but no one managed a lap under 30 minutes. Gypsy now leads with her best 4 results on 188 points after 5 races with Humble Pie and 1^st Place equal 2^nd on 186. Eleanor, Rollie, Gary, Jacquie & Wendy were on the horns/watches and delivered another fine set of results. With two more races to go, 10 boats have sailed 4 races and will be dropping their worst score in future races. 5 more boats could still qualify if they sail the remaining races.

1^st Wynwater, Nick & Catherine Price
2^nd Gypsy, Kai Whitehead
3^rd Harmony, Steve & Chris Soderling
4^th 1^st Place, Eric Maslen & Dick Giberson

Lightnings hit back as half the field is becalmed!

A record turn out, for 2007, of 16 boats took to the water on a clear day with a fresh Northerly wind blowing across the New Meadows. Wise heads predicted a change of direction as the sea breeze took over but by the end of the first lap, it still hadn’t happened and the 2 Lightnings of Bob Wilbur and Chris Schwabe had  romped off  into the distance. Their handicaps had been cut drastically after last weeks race but was it going to be enough?

Some boats had trouble getting to the line, Moonshine , formerly known as Cotton Sox got the dock lines caught in her centreboard and Lori was blue in the face trying to free them, in fact her whole body was blue! (So I’ve been told). Cleo had a traditional Whitehead start as did Luke in the Sunfish. Humble Pie, Melody, Tarka and Union Maid were also a little slow getting off the mark.
After the first leg to Sheep, Spindrift rounded HoJo in 3^rd just ahead of the Whitehead lightning. Luke in the Sunfish, 1^st Place and Harmony with Chris Soderling at the helm followed. The next leg over to Rich Man’s saw many place changes as is often the case with a northerly wind, Cleo and 1^st Place notably looking for wind in the wrong places.
Harmony, after  hitting the start mark and re-rounding, edged ahead of Spindrift and the Whitehead lightning by the time they got back to HoJo. Pattie B Too retired after the first lap while well placed, was it?

a)  Catherine looked at the clouds and knew the wind was going to drop.
b) Nick needed to answer a call of nature.
c) Nick saw Lori was in difficulties and swam in to try and help.
In any event the 3^rd leg to Sheep was a shocker with elapsed times varying between just over 20 minutes for Hours Too to over an hour for one boat which shall remain nameless,  most taking at least twice as long as the Lightning. The last leg over to Rich Man’s favoured the later runners with the two Typhoons that were still in the race faster than Spindrift and Harmony but Tarka was fastest of all, beating both the leading Lightnings. Melody was also quick but over 3 minutes behind Tarka on that leg alone. Several boats gave up the challenge while becalmed on the 3^rd leg but the race keeping crews were stalwart and stuck to their posts till the last boat finished. Eleanor, Rollie, Carla, & Wendy did their usual impeccable job on the watches.
We have now had 4 races from 6 possible weekends and just a few boats have sailed in all 4. Leading the series are Gypsy and Tarka on 183 points followed by 1^st Place on 181. The plan was to have the last race of the series on August 19^th which would give us just 2 more races. 10 boats have sailed at least 3 races, Melody and the Whitehead Lightning have sailed 2 each and could still qualify. The Lightnings of Chris Schwabe and Bob Wolber have had their handicaps cut still further as well as Harmony who put in a strong performance in their first race.  

 1^st Hours Too, Bob & Alwyn Wilbur
2^nd Humble Pie, Chris & Lael Schwabe
3^rd Harmony, Chris Soderling & Tom Bull
4^th Sunfish, Luke

With thunderstorms promised for 2pm hopes were not high in the morning, especially after this years poor offerings so far. As race time approached however the wind was holding and 10 Brightwater & Wynburg boats came out to do battle. Most of the battling seemed to be with two visiting Cat Boats who showed their colours as early as the start line when a number of boats had to take evasive action as one sat in irons on the start line. There were other incidents as well during the course of the race.
As expected the Whitehead Lightning and Bob Wolber in Hours Too made the running  with young Lori Kidger, crewed by Harris, a strong 3^rd on the water. Pattie B Too rounded HoJo 4^th after the first lap, hotly pursued by 1^st Place and the two Cat Boats.  Melody was already up to 8^th place ahead of Tom, Camilla, Bevan and birthday boy Lionel in Cleo. Gypsy was having it’s regular run in with Tarka who just managed to squeeze by at the mark, Shearwater rounding in last place.
As the boats got back from Rich Man’s on the 1^st lap there were a few surprises. Fastest was Tarka, just 12 seconds quicker than Cotton Sox with the 2 Lightnings in 3^rd and 4^th place separated by just 9 seconds, elapsed time on that leg. The Cat Boats had a slight edge on the Typhoons on this leg. Cotton Sox overtook the Whitehead Lightning and Shearwater passed Gypsy. Melody and Tarka were right among the main fleet and making inroads on the few smaller boats still ahead of them.
As boats rounded HoJo for the start of the 2^nd lap, there was some indecision about whether it was better to harden up and sail along the Brightwater shore, or tack at the mark to stay in the stream of the outgoing tide. The first had seemed to pay dividends on the first lap it wasn’t noticeable second time around. The Whitehead Lightning was quickest on this leg, ( re-passsing Cotton Sox),  just 11 second quicker than Hours Too with the Flying Scot a strong 3^rd. Melody, 4^th quickest, extended her lead over Tarka by 24 seconds while 1^st Place closed up on Pattie B Too by 22 seconds. Cleo was maintaining her lead over Shearwater but couldn’t catch the other Typhoons this week.
On the final  leg over to Rich Man’s and back, Cotton Sox again showed great speed regaining 2^nd place and setting an elapsed time quicker than even the leading Lightning of Bob Wilbur who nevertheless held on to finish first on the water with the lowest elapsed time of the race, 1 minute ahead of the Flying Scot. Pattie B Too finished 2^nd on handicap, 24 seconds ahead of Melody who in turn was just 1 second ahead of Tarka who was also just 1 second ahead of the Whitehead Lightning with Josh & Luke at the controls.
Another good race and the race officers were too numerous to mention but Eleanor, Rollie, Carla, & Wendy did a great job.
After three counting races there is a tie in the overall standings between Cleo and Gypsy, both on 139 points, Tarka in 3^rd place on 138. Until everyone has done 4 races however the series is wide open. Watch this space for further news.  

1^st Cotton Sox, Lori Kidger/Harris Whitehead
2^nd Pattie B Too, Jim & Nick Price
3^rd Melody, Peter Blachly
4^th Tarka, Jim Loney/Norman/Bert & CAT

Lightning in control for 2^nd week running!

 A beautiful morning made a pleasant change from the previous two weeks and 13 fine boats came out to do battle. Small boats were away at 13:55 with the main body of the fleet at 14:00 and the large boats should have started at 14:05 but in fact started at 14:10.
What looked like an advantage for the early starters turned out to be bad news as the wind dropped and then shifted to the South at about 13:57! Not all the main group were able to take advantage as they were too far from the line when the horn went.
Sweet Pea was the early leader but by the time Sheep Island Buoy was reached the two Lightnings of Chris Schwabe  & Bob Wolber were snapping at her heels and passed her on the run to HoJo. Hours Too made a clumsy rounding and lost 1^st place to Humble Pie but both were passed by Sweet Pea on a planning reach to Rich Man’s. A tighter reach back saw both the larger boats pull away again and they extended their lead on the 2^nd beat up to Sheep.
Back in the fleet, the Flying Scot, (now called Cotton Sox after Ruby Maslen’s saying, God bless you and your little cotton socks), rounded HoJo 6^th but passed Spindrift & Cleo on the reach to Rich Man’s and back. Silkie was holding a comfortable 7^th ahead of the Typhoons, 1^st Place and Pattie B Too. Shearwater was losing ground on the windward legs and Tarka was holding a slender lead from Fine Cut after just trailing her on the first leg.
The wind dropped a bit on the second lap, particularly the last leg and most boats were between 2 and 3 minutes slower the second time around. The moon was out early and could be seen mid fleet. Some saw a full moon and some saw it obscured by y-fronts!
Handicaps have been drastically cut before the next race as it seems to be the only way to stop the Lightnings although the biggest cut was made to Kai & Gypsy who did brilliantly to win from a strong field. On the second leg to Rich Man’s and back, Gypsy was quicker than all the Typhoons and only 13 seconds slower than Fine Cut!
Cotton Sox, struggling on the upwind legs, was 3^rd quickest round the course in elapsed time behind the two Lightnings. Due to a misunderstanding, Tarka and Fine cut were awarded incorect placings at the excuses tea and both have had their elapsed times cut by 5 minutes which gives them 6^th & 8^th places respectively.
After two counting races there is a tie in the overall standings between Cleo and Humble Pie, both on 98 points, Gypsy in 3^rd place on 95.
Eleanor and Rollie were ably assisted by Carla and Wendy, the new horn was welcomed by all for the starting sequence.

Lightning Triumphs July 15th!!

Record broken in 2^nd race of series! July 8th

 A clear sunny day with the promise of steady winds Rain, grey skies and no wind had local sailors chomping at the bit and eager made most reluctant to get out on the water to test their mettle with new crews in old boats. Dick Giberson, who knows these waters better than anyone was out with Eric in 1^st Place, Bevan Whithead was trying his luck at the helm of Spindrift with Tom as crew, Harris was out in Cleo with Kai & Lionel while Chris Schwabe was auditioning Tom Kelly as crew and the author was out with young Lori Kidger in Cotton Sox (Flying Scot).

As the crews jockeyed for position prior to the start, different methods were used. There was the hanging on a nearby boat method, the stay on the dock till the last minute method and the don’t leave the mooring till after the start method, traditionally favoured by the Whiteheads. At the horn Humble Pie and Cotton Sox sped floated off towards the Sheep Island mark and when Humble Pie failed to keep clear of the leeward Cotton Sox when overtaking she should have been disqualified after the inevitable collision. Bevan Whitehead decided the quickest way to Sheep was via the narrows.  After 1 hour places seemed pretty much the same and the two leading boats had nearly made it half way to the mark but were actually going backwards as the wind air shifted from the West to the North East and then to the South. At this point 1^st Place decided the competition was too stiff and retired. 30 minutes later with no discernable progress made, the rest of the fleet recognised the wisdom of these two old salts and followed suit.

At the debriefing later there was much discussion about how many points should be awarded for turning out but as everyone had  retired it was decided that no one deserved anything and all should know better. Moose Schwabe was the main culprit however and his points from last week were deducted from his season tally.

In fact the race could possibly be justified as a way of getting cookies and brownies on a dull Sunday afternoon but that was about the most redeeming feature.

This was certainly the slowest race ever on the New Meadows.

Nick Price 8^th July 2007

(It was remiss of me not to thank Mary & Wendy for sitting and watching this fiasco for the whole 90 minutes ready to time us to the nearest second. Eleanor & Rollie had also offered to help but were told there would be no racing as there was no wind. Lael’s exhortations could be heard across the river which must have been a great comfort to Humble Pie even if the wind didn’t reach that far!)

Humble beginnings as Cleo gets the Pie! July 1st

1st home but not winners, Chris Schwabe and Chris kidger

First race of the 2007 series got under way July 1^st in a stiff and variable West wind, varied in strength and direction. Last year’s runners-up in Humble Pie got off to a strong start with the two Chris’s, Schwabe & Kidger leaving the 2pm starters in their wake and soon overhauling the luckless Kai who had quite bit of water on board and was begging bailers from the passing boats. It wasn’t clear if the water was coming through or over the boat but it was there in some quantity! Following at a distance were Spindrift, being sailed by Celia with Lori as crew, Eric & Greg in 1^st Place, the widest boat on the river, Nick & Wendy in Pattie-B Too, Macy & Harris in Cleo, and Debbie and numerous crew in Shearwater. Just 90 seconds separated these 5 boats as they rounded the Hojo mark before heading over to Rich Man’s. This was always going to be the critical leg of the race and opinions varied, from boat to boat. Humble Pie kept heading up the river as did Spindrift and 1^st Place. Pattie B Too took the mid choice, Cleo and Shearwater tacking close to the mark. The mid way route proved best on this lap, Pattie-B Too moving up to a narrow lead for 2^nd at Rich Man’s which they were quickly to lose to Spindrift on the run back to Hojo. 1^st Place dropped from 3^rd to 5^th on this leg, Cleo moving from 6^th to 4^th.

Tarka overhauls Gypsy, no contact!

Humble Pie still led with places through the fleet being maintained on the second reach to Sheep island & back but more drama was yet to come and the beat over to Rich Man’s for the second time stood half the fleet on it’s head! 1^st Place, rounding Hojo in 5^th Place, 3 minutes behind Spindrift and Pattie-B Too, rounded Rich Man’s in second place on the water and held that comfortably on the run back to the finish only to be edged down to 3^rd place on handicap. Confused? I am.

Humble Pie was still pulling out a lead, taking virtually the same time on each of the two laps. In contrast, Tarka was 8 minutes quicker on the second lap! 1^st Place was 3 minutes quicker second time around, as was Cleo.

All in all a great start to the year with 8 boats turning out and some nail biting racing in middle of the fleet. Handicaps have already been adjusted and it has been decided to award 10 points for a win this year, regardless of how many are sailing. 9 for 2^nd place etc. Best 4 results to count with the finish and presentation on August 19^th. Ties will be decided in favour of most 1^st places, then 2^nd places etc. If still undecided, discarded scores will also be taken into account.

There was much banter at the excuses tea party with a broken boom vang being offered as a reason for losing even though not all boats had one to start with. Shearwater had too many excuses to list having lost their way badly on the second lap. Pattie-B Too lost valuable seconds bailing out Kai while Tarka seemed to be more concerned with speed over the ground than direction! Thanks to Eleanor and her time keepers who were trying out a sun dial or perhaps several sun dials. Times have been rounded up to the nearest second!

Winners of the 1st race of 2007, Macy & Harris Whitehead