A beautiful day's sailing today in light winds and sunshine. We came 5th - our best nationals result so far. More on this later - we gotta run back to the caravan for Ultimate Frisbee.
Ben
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Photo Caption Competition
Here's a picture of young Finn Morris, washing down his boat. Captions please! The most witty offering will get a superb prize: a brand new used sponge and an Honourable Mention.
Monday, 17 August 2009
A day of two halves - Races 2&3
Today was a two-race day.
This morning's race began around 11:10 in light WSW winds. The gate start gets off cleanly and it soon becomes apparent that the left hand side is favorite for better breeze. We manage to get into a good position on the fleet and finish 9th in conditions that we seem to do better in. Local Barny Smith makes up for his bad luck yesterday, giving Steve Tylecote & Sally Wilson a run for their money and finishing 3rd behind Ben and Jenny Vines.
Remember Ella Vincent from 2008? Well she's back this year with Dad Dan, winners of the Tallest and Tiniest crew-combination prize...if there was one. At probably no more than 4 stone (a gentleman never asks) Ella makes the perfect light wind crew taking Dad into 7th at the finish.
Towards the end of the race the wind began to back, forcing the race committee to shift the windward mark to the south.
The second race is started with a traditional line-start, and by the time it gets underway the wind is blowing from the west about 20knots. Three loud gun-blasts from the committee boat signal the first start is abandoned after the majority of the fleet are over the line by a mile.
But we are all better behaved for the second start. We start about half way along the line. It's not the best start, but we tack off to port, duck one or two transoms and find ourselves crossing all the other boats that started to the right, getting to the windward mark in the late teens somewhere. We found that the right hand side of the beat was generally the way to go, but there are lots of wind shifts out there to keep it interesting.
The reaches are both exhilerating and challenging in these conditions. The wind is strong enough to be planing all the way, and the chop and wash from other boats keeps you on your toes!
After a few difficult mark roundings, including one where we ended up doing turns for someone else, we finish 18th. Stuart and Jane Hudson win the race by a country mile. Dan and Ella have a tougher time in the windy conditions, but despite a capsize are still smiling at the end of a very long day.
This evening the crews and the helms split. The helms head for the RAFYC for a civilised evening of stimulating conversation and fine dining. Meanwhile the crews traditionally form the annual meeting of the 'Crews Union' which amounts to something like a hen-party where the crews do what only crews do best: try to stay upright for a few hours. The men among the crews generally take at leat a year of rehab to recover from this female-dominated affair. The dress code is skirts - with no exceptions!
If I am able to harvest any gossip from inside the crew's Union I will bvring it to you tomorrow.
Meanwhile I'm off for port and billiards - cheerio.
Ben
This morning's race began around 11:10 in light WSW winds. The gate start gets off cleanly and it soon becomes apparent that the left hand side is favorite for better breeze. We manage to get into a good position on the fleet and finish 9th in conditions that we seem to do better in. Local Barny Smith makes up for his bad luck yesterday, giving Steve Tylecote & Sally Wilson a run for their money and finishing 3rd behind Ben and Jenny Vines.
Remember Ella Vincent from 2008? Well she's back this year with Dad Dan, winners of the Tallest and Tiniest crew-combination prize...if there was one. At probably no more than 4 stone (a gentleman never asks) Ella makes the perfect light wind crew taking Dad into 7th at the finish.
Towards the end of the race the wind began to back, forcing the race committee to shift the windward mark to the south.
The second race is started with a traditional line-start, and by the time it gets underway the wind is blowing from the west about 20knots. Three loud gun-blasts from the committee boat signal the first start is abandoned after the majority of the fleet are over the line by a mile.
But we are all better behaved for the second start. We start about half way along the line. It's not the best start, but we tack off to port, duck one or two transoms and find ourselves crossing all the other boats that started to the right, getting to the windward mark in the late teens somewhere. We found that the right hand side of the beat was generally the way to go, but there are lots of wind shifts out there to keep it interesting.
The reaches are both exhilerating and challenging in these conditions. The wind is strong enough to be planing all the way, and the chop and wash from other boats keeps you on your toes!
After a few difficult mark roundings, including one where we ended up doing turns for someone else, we finish 18th. Stuart and Jane Hudson win the race by a country mile. Dan and Ella have a tougher time in the windy conditions, but despite a capsize are still smiling at the end of a very long day.
This evening the crews and the helms split. The helms head for the RAFYC for a civilised evening of stimulating conversation and fine dining. Meanwhile the crews traditionally form the annual meeting of the 'Crews Union' which amounts to something like a hen-party where the crews do what only crews do best: try to stay upright for a few hours. The men among the crews generally take at leat a year of rehab to recover from this female-dominated affair. The dress code is skirts - with no exceptions!
If I am able to harvest any gossip from inside the crew's Union I will bvring it to you tomorrow.
Meanwhile I'm off for port and billiards - cheerio.
Ben
Sunday, 16 August 2009
Race 1/8 and Flat-Pack Ferries
Hurra! Lighter winds today. Or so it was until about 11am when the breeze picked up to a decent force 4+. Urgggg!
Still, there's much more to racing here in the solent...like the Ikea Ferry, made 90% from mdf, and inside you have to walk about 2 miles to get to where you want to go, by which time you have arrived.
Now sitting in the bar of HRSC with a hard-earned pint.
Once again today the first start is abandoned, but the second gets away without incident. Unlike poor Barny Smith, who is full of incident during both starts. Evidently his halyard had broken and he deperately tries to fix the mainsail to the top of the mast while capsized, but fails to get it done and upright in time to start. Barny from HRSC has been the cheif organiser of this championship, and deserves better luck, having missed the practice race yesterday to keep everything run smoothly. Ah there he goes now past the window of the bar carrying his mast...repaired I hope.
Race One is a long one. Triangle, sausage, triangle, sausage, beat to finish. We have mixed fortunes, suffering up the beats but regaining places on the reaches. We just don't seem to be getting the speed on the beats that we need. Whether it's the chop, the wind, or us, we don't know, but all three no doubt. The last beat is the worst, losing 4 boats to finish 20th after nearly 2.5 hours. Then again, last year we would have been delighted with a result like that in these conditions, and there are some terrific sailors trying to keep ahead of us so we cant complain.
Besides, the sun is shining and the beer is cold, so all's well in the Hamble!
Speedy Steve Tylecote wins the race ahead of Stuart Hudson. Clink on the NFA link on the right to see the overall results.
Fingers crossed for lighter winds.
Ben
Still, there's much more to racing here in the solent...like the Ikea Ferry, made 90% from mdf, and inside you have to walk about 2 miles to get to where you want to go, by which time you have arrived.
Now sitting in the bar of HRSC with a hard-earned pint.
Once again today the first start is abandoned, but the second gets away without incident. Unlike poor Barny Smith, who is full of incident during both starts. Evidently his halyard had broken and he deperately tries to fix the mainsail to the top of the mast while capsized, but fails to get it done and upright in time to start. Barny from HRSC has been the cheif organiser of this championship, and deserves better luck, having missed the practice race yesterday to keep everything run smoothly. Ah there he goes now past the window of the bar carrying his mast...repaired I hope.
Race One is a long one. Triangle, sausage, triangle, sausage, beat to finish. We have mixed fortunes, suffering up the beats but regaining places on the reaches. We just don't seem to be getting the speed on the beats that we need. Whether it's the chop, the wind, or us, we don't know, but all three no doubt. The last beat is the worst, losing 4 boats to finish 20th after nearly 2.5 hours. Then again, last year we would have been delighted with a result like that in these conditions, and there are some terrific sailors trying to keep ahead of us so we cant complain.
Besides, the sun is shining and the beer is cold, so all's well in the Hamble!
Speedy Steve Tylecote wins the race ahead of Stuart Hudson. Clink on the NFA link on the right to see the overall results.
Fingers crossed for lighter winds.
Ben
Best buddies with the Commodore!
After racing we collapse in our caravan for an hour before the 'Commodore's reception' at HRSC. During the evening we find out who our buddies are. The buddy system matches up boats from opposite ends of the fleet as a kind of way to pass on experience through the fleet, and make new friends of course. There are prizes each day for the best combined buddy result.
Well our buddy turns out to be none other than the Commodore himself, Peter Slimming. Peter has sailed in over 25 Firefly National Championships and is still going well now and what he doesn't know about the Hamble conditions probably aint worth knowing! So I think we might just profit most from this relationship. He's also a regular visitor to Falmouth and the SW Championships at Restronguet, and as it happens, old mates with my Dad. Small world.
RSC Sailors Guy and Catherine English, pictured here with Fate (F8) missed the practice race due to their commitments organising Falmouth Dinghy Week. Guy is the only other RSC boat here this year, and scores a terrific buddy in Stuart Hudson, winner of the Practice Race.
Well our buddy turns out to be none other than the Commodore himself, Peter Slimming. Peter has sailed in over 25 Firefly National Championships and is still going well now and what he doesn't know about the Hamble conditions probably aint worth knowing! So I think we might just profit most from this relationship. He's also a regular visitor to Falmouth and the SW Championships at Restronguet, and as it happens, old mates with my Dad. Small world.
RSC Sailors Guy and Catherine English, pictured here with Fate (F8) missed the practice race due to their commitments organising Falmouth Dinghy Week. Guy is the only other RSC boat here this year, and scores a terrific buddy in Stuart Hudson, winner of the Practice Race.
Practice Race - a slog in the solent
The traffic beating out of Hamble River was like the A303 yesterday - Busy! Lots of yachts motoring out of the River, but they are respectful of our little craft. From Hamble River SC you have to sail out the river and turn left, out along So'ton Water to the rac area in the Solent. It took the fleet about an hour to reach the start area located in the Solent with a good force 4-5 blowing and everyone planing hard.
The first start was abandoned for some incident that happened along the line – but the second start gets everyone off fairly. We are second through the gate, so going up the left of the beat hoping for an early wind shift. But there aint none, and we’re not going particularly fast in the nasty chop which also makes tacking very costly. We try to wriggle our way right, where it seems to be favoured, but too many tacks leaves us about 15 at the first mark.
We don't seem to be matching the top boats for speed upwind in this windy weather, but we can catch a few on the reaches. We finish in the mid teens, but a few boats ahead fail to finish and hand us a 12th. The boats ahead that didn't finish were all trying to avoid being 10th - the reason being that the 10th boat becomes the 'pathfinder' for the gate start in the next race which will be the first to count in the series. Stuart Hudson wins the race.
The results can e found through the HRSC website - click on the link on the right.
Lets get ready to RUMBLE…
Like every good fight, it starts with the weigh-in. Lets get ready to RUMBLE…in the Hamble! Each Firefly is hoisted by the fork-lift and weighed. Minimum weight of the stripped hull is 163llb or 74kg. Then the centreboard and the rudder are checked they meet the minimum weights and jib poles are checked for length. All very official, but it gets the championship off to a fair and level start. Curiously lots of boats have seemed to lose a few pounds weight over the year and need to add lead.
The lightest is 10 lbs underweight, and the heaviest - the oldest boat in the fleet as it happens, so we shouldn't blame the old girl's Fate - is 17 lbs overweight.
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Lethal Hamble...
Anyone got any gen on Hamble?
Everyone we speak to that knows Hamble says...
"Ooh LETHAL tides" and "very choppy waters, very brown and lots of short chop, careful of the chop...oh and the tides...LETHAL tides!"
Cripes!
Seems there might be some tide then...and some chop. Anyone know any secrets that might help us get around quicker? It would only be fair to give us a chance against the locals!
The race course is supposed to be within 1 mile of William Buoy.
Everyone we speak to that knows Hamble says...
"Ooh LETHAL tides" and "very choppy waters, very brown and lots of short chop, careful of the chop...oh and the tides...LETHAL tides!"
Cripes!
Seems there might be some tide then...and some chop. Anyone know any secrets that might help us get around quicker? It would only be fair to give us a chance against the locals!
The race course is supposed to be within 1 mile of William Buoy.
Falmouth Week provides final tune-up
A glorious day of sunshine in Falmouth today. The best we have had in a month. Finally Cornwall's visitors (aka Emmets)can go to the beach and meanwhile the Martitime Museum can draw a deep breath after so much rain has washed so many visitors through the doors over the wet weeks.
For Liz and I it was a chance to engage the dinghies competing n Falmouth Dinghy Week (FDW) for a last tune-up before we hit the long road to Hamble.
Arriving at the scene it was good to see a Firefly (Peter and Dawn Langdon to no-one's surprise)at the top of the leaders board in Division 3 which with 24 boats includes a whole range of small dinghies including Solos, Enterprises, RS Fevas, Laser radials and so on.
The Wayfarer Nationals is being run within FDW and provides a busy racecourse. No sign of Frank and Margaret Dye - probably off Norway somewhere...
The race begins under Trefusis Point in fickle conditions. The Langdons cleverly pick their way up to the shore and catch the Wayfarers up by the first mark - who all seem to be wallowing - perhaps chatting about their lunch or their last summer cruise or something!
We creep around behind them. This is a harbour race around the whole of the Carrick Roads. Somehow we manage to overhaul Peter & Dawn, and then eventually an Enterprise which has been dumped on by a huge wind shift.
After 2 hours of racing, isn't it incredible that two Fireflies can finish within seconds of eachother. Happily for us it was us just one boat-length ahead of the Langdons at the Finish. First over the line and first on handicap.
Then it was pack the boat onto trailer and ready for the road tomorrow.
The sailing's not over for the day yet though. This evening we sailed a SMOD (St Mawes One Design) in a 'Parade of Sail' around Falmouth Harbour. This is SMOD No 1, Aileen, a resident of the Maritime Museum floating collection on display on the pontoon. Here's a picture. My crew are Andy and Liz Palmer-Felgate - used to sail Fireflies but jumped ship to the faster RS500 and currently leading the FDW asymetric fleet.
Also pictured below is Daisy Belle sailed by Museum Director Jonatahan Griffin. This little boat has spent well over 100 years on the Fal.
For Liz and I it was a chance to engage the dinghies competing n Falmouth Dinghy Week (FDW) for a last tune-up before we hit the long road to Hamble.
Arriving at the scene it was good to see a Firefly (Peter and Dawn Langdon to no-one's surprise)at the top of the leaders board in Division 3 which with 24 boats includes a whole range of small dinghies including Solos, Enterprises, RS Fevas, Laser radials and so on.
The Wayfarer Nationals is being run within FDW and provides a busy racecourse. No sign of Frank and Margaret Dye - probably off Norway somewhere...
The race begins under Trefusis Point in fickle conditions. The Langdons cleverly pick their way up to the shore and catch the Wayfarers up by the first mark - who all seem to be wallowing - perhaps chatting about their lunch or their last summer cruise or something!
We creep around behind them. This is a harbour race around the whole of the Carrick Roads. Somehow we manage to overhaul Peter & Dawn, and then eventually an Enterprise which has been dumped on by a huge wind shift.
After 2 hours of racing, isn't it incredible that two Fireflies can finish within seconds of eachother. Happily for us it was us just one boat-length ahead of the Langdons at the Finish. First over the line and first on handicap.
Then it was pack the boat onto trailer and ready for the road tomorrow.
The sailing's not over for the day yet though. This evening we sailed a SMOD (St Mawes One Design) in a 'Parade of Sail' around Falmouth Harbour. This is SMOD No 1, Aileen, a resident of the Maritime Museum floating collection on display on the pontoon. Here's a picture. My crew are Andy and Liz Palmer-Felgate - used to sail Fireflies but jumped ship to the faster RS500 and currently leading the FDW asymetric fleet.
Also pictured below is Daisy Belle sailed by Museum Director Jonatahan Griffin. This little boat has spent well over 100 years on the Fal.
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