4000 UK Series at Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club
by Tim Litt 21 May 2014 12:33 BST
17-18 May 2014
Situated on the top of the moors, as close as possible to gradient wind, in the heart of 'Gods own country' is Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club on Grimwith Reservoir. Saturday provided near perfect conditions; bright sunshine, clear blue sky and a firm westerly breeze coming off the dam wall. This wind direction opened up the whole length of the reservoir to be used for the windward-leeward course for both the 4000 UK Series and the ISO open.
The first race was scheduled for 12, but with some flexibility from the Race Officer giving the sailors time to make their way over to the race area, the race got underway around twenty past. True to form, Tim and Harry Litt were last off the beach just as the five minute gun went off, and with an impromptu capsize on the 1 minute gun were in great shape for the start! At the start, as Richard and Jo de Fleury had the GoPro all hooked-up and recording every move, they went for a port tack flier clearing the rest of the fleet to make for the right-hand side of the beat. This looked like good local knowledge as they tacked onto starboard to be lifted up to the windward mark followed by John Reynolds and Fran Howell and yours truly. With the crews fully wiring and strong gusts being delivered at regular intervals, the downwind leg emphatically reminded us all why we sail the 4000 – Perfect!! Richard and Jo took the first race comfortably and despite Tim and Harry making great gains downwind to put themselves into second at the leeward mark of the last lap were unable to keep their noses in front of the upwind specialists, John and Fran.
Having experienced the course and the wind conditions in the first race, John and Fran put their wily slide-rule judgment to work on the first beat of the second race, and counter to local knowledge, worked the left hand-side of the beat to find great gains. They rounded the windward mark having put plenty of distance between them and the rest of the fleet. However, Tim and Harry had by this time started shouting at each other properly and tuned into their energetic and slightly so aggressive mode of sailing; this was just what the conditions deserved and John and Fran's lead had gone by the leeward mark. During this race Richard and Jo were distracted by the GoPro making a bid for freedom towards the bottom of the reservoir. This then established the order to the finish of the race.
Lunch provided a welcome break for most providing an opportunity to catch breath and be refuelled by the great quality and value food from resident club caterers, Rural Recipes. With the RO under instruction to get four races completed by the end of the afternoon – he duly obliged with a succession of rapid fire back to back races where the warning signal for the next race was almost indistinguishable from the gun for the last finisher. This was great for the lead boats, but a little hard on the later finishers who got less of a break between races. Nonetheless, this did not seem to hinder the local boat of Erica and Ian Caswell, who after blowing off the winter cobwebs in races one and two, demonstrated progressive improvement as the afternoon went on recording finishes of 5, 3, 4 and 2. In races four and five they traded third and fourth places with Alan Holmes and Will Scott, from Scaling SC, who improved on their four fourth place finishes to finish the day impressively with two thirds. Tim and Harry, relishing the breezy conditions and rapid turn rounds between races, secured all first place finishes with the exception of race 5 where John and Fran worked their upwind magic once again to secure the win. Richard and Jo suffered gear failure and had no kite for the last 3 races of the day which proved to be costly in the overall standings.
Overnight the wind had shifted more southerly and Sunday saw the fleet, with our own start, join up with the Club's multi-class open windward-leeward competition. Despite indicating another 5-8 knots of breeze above that forecast of the previous day, the extra breeze did not materialise and the mean wind strength turned out to be 5-8 knots lighter. The new direction reduced the size of the course that could be set, delivered some large wind shifts and gusts and in particular produced some complex lulls and rolling shifting gusts at the windward mark. In contrast to the previous day, the new RO delivered multi-lap races that lasted in excess of 50 minutes. On a relatively short course and with a wide variety of boats, this allowed the fleets to merge and provided both plenty of entertaining near misses and the need for good tactical sailing. Steve Rickwood and David Crabbe, of the home club, ventured out having been unable to sail on Saturday, and quickly changed the order in the fleet pushing Erica and Ian back a place as Alan and Scott powered on to a comfortable third. Fran and John had jib problems and missed the first race. Meanwhile Richard and Jo were giving Tim and Harry a run for their money but couldn't manage to capitalise on some good tactical upwind sailing as a result of getting caught up in a group of boats in lull at the windward mark on the last lap. After winning the first race, Tim and Harry were in the groove and established two solid wins for the remaining races either side of the mandatory lunch break.
With Tim and Harry, as the standout boat for the weekend, the competition between John and Fran, our current European Champions, and Richard and Jo, Mr and Mrs 4000, was close. However, in the end it was the quality and experience built upon years of vociferous on the water tactical debates that won through to secure second place overall. Further down the fleet it was great to have some new faces battling it out, and on occasions popping further up the order. We hope to see them again at other events in the year.
Paul Hargreaves, a friend of the club, very kindly provided some top quality photos from the event which can be seen at paulhargreavesphotography.zenfolio.com/p782986246
Overall, this was a great event, in a beautiful location, at a great club and our thanks go to the club, Race Officers and volunteers – can't wait for next year!
Overall Results:
| Pos | Sail No | Helm | Crew | Club | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 4546 | Tim Litt | Harry Litt | Rutland Water SC | ‑3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 2 | 4682 | John Reynolds | Fran Howell | Grafham Water SC | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑4 | (DNC 7) | 3 | 2 | 14 |
| 3 | 4572 | Richard de Fleury | Jo de Fleury | Yorkshire Dales SC | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | ‑5 | (DNC 7) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 19 |
| 4 | 4464 | Alan Holmes | Will Scott | Scaling Dam SC | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑4 | (DNC 7) | 25 |
| 5 | 4201 | Erica Caswell | Ian Casswell | Yorkshire Dales SC | 5 | (RTD 5) | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | ‑6 | 4 | 28 |
| 6 | 4360 | Steve Rickwood | David Crabbe | Yorkshire Dales SC | DNC 7 | DNC 7 | DNC 7 | DNC 7 | DNC 7 | (DNC 7) | 4 | 5 | (DNC 7) | 44 |
Next event: UK Series Weston SC see the website for details, www.4000.org.uk