Alton Water 2016 Fox's Marine and Country Frostbite Series - Day 4

by Martin Pavey 28 Jan 2016 08:36 GMT 24 January 2016

We start this week's report with some announcements:

• Our total entry numbers for the Frostbite have reached the maximum 120 boats
• We are still seeing interest from 'day entry' sailors to join in on a per day basis
• The pragmatic management team is permitting limited day entry in recognition that we have 'no shows'
• entry can be made weekly on a first-come, first-served basis

Based on race data and day entry interest this should provide a managed way forward. The day entry arrangements will be posted on the web site.

To use that rather coarse expression – 'so what's not to like' – 12 degrees C and 12mph from the south west gave more Spring-like conditions than Frostbite, with even the sun making an appearance during the second race of the day.

The Centre staff have done us proud with all things 'laying' – both ensuring the marks are now weighted and readily stand up and that the overflow car parks have been re-laid allowing on-site car parking once again. There is still more to do though... a longer line is required on the pin-end buoy, so that it can be used even in the deepest parts of the reservoir (which probably exceed that of the local Southern North Sea).

With the wind from the SW a repeat course from a few weeks ago was set, with laid windward and leeward marks and using club marks for the final square run and bottom reach; nothing too difficult and all explained at the race briefing though one (and only one) competitor/boat thought they knew better and had to return to re-round a mark correctly - no names but they are closely related to the race officer.

With the large number of boats out racing and the aim to make the most of the water and give a better racing experience, a maximum course length was set which rather dictated the length of the race – either too long or too short – and for the sake of balance one of each was judged to be 'fair'. The misbehaving pin-end buoy once again played up and the start sequence was aborted to allow for a longer mooring line to be attached, with proceedings getting underway about 10 minutes later than scheduled. There was some surprisingly good line discipline from all fleets in the conditions, with individual rather than general recalls being the order of the day.

The left side of the beats was generally favoured but one RS200 was seen to make big gains on one beat by going right. As ever with reservoir sailing responding early to the shifts and staying in the breeze was the way to a good result.

Fleet by fleet

The resurgence in RS300s continues with a father to two of the RS300 competitors joining in (and not being disgraced) – c'mon mum! There was close racing between the Merlin Rocket, RS300s and the Phantoms, with the Finn, having been recalled in the first race, giving chase. An observation is that the on-water performance of the various designs is largely dictated by the weather – marginal changes in the breeze resulting in place changes by class. Mike Bees in his RS300 having taken a break last week returned to take two first and also leads the overall placings with two discards out of eight races sailed.

The Asymmetrics had some fun on the start line with an individual recall and some pin-end coming-togethers that warranted a 720 – not the best way to start your race. The RS400s never really broke away from what is now the largest class contingent in the Frostbite, the RS200s. The slower Asymmetrics have to contend with being overtaken by 'faster' later starting boats but there is no easy solution to this for the Asymmetrics or other mixed handicap fleets. Davin Conlon and Sarah Bines once again had a perfect Sunday with two first places and lead the Asymmetrics overall in their RS200 with the RS Feva still in contention.

Overall the youngsters got the better of the 'old' men on the day in the Lasers. The first new radial cut Standard sail of 2016 was spotted out on the water (rarer than a red crested grebe?). The breeze made for some close racing but gave enough separation for the committee boat to record lapping and finishing reasonably comfortably for once. The day's champion was Adam Fuller in a Standard but with a lack of series results he is out of overall contention (at least at the moment). Ashley Deaton retains the number one spot in the Laser rankings followed by the ever present Graham Ireland (complete with painful toothache).

In the medium handicap the Larks continue to enjoy close boat for boat racing as do the 420s. There was a rare appearance on the podium for the first race of the day to Tim Granville in his Solo. This fleet covers a range of boats which now include a growing collection of RS Aeros and for this week a rare appearance of the R C-G Enterprise. Alan Krailing and Charlotte Stewart once again sailed their Lark consistently well to take the day's honours and to further increase their lead in the overall fleet standings. The Solo of James Cully retains second place overall with some consistent results.

No Cadets this week in the slow class (away training?) but with returning RS Teras and additional Toppers the fleet numbers hold up with close racing between these two classes within the fleet. This is the most closely fought fleet with only six points separating the top three places, with Henry and Faye Chatterton maintaining their position at the top of the table.

Two special mentions this week:

• To the two girls who talked most of the way around the lap only to break off from their intense conversation to say "thank you" to the committee boat.
• Spotted amongst the spectators... an avid reader of 'Sailing for Beginners' our sport is in good hands.

See below for provisional race by race results and overall fleet placings visit www.altonwater.co.uk/index.php?pid=167&series=420&full_series_fleet=420

Pictures with this report are from our regular photographers Tim Bees and Emer Berry and a further collection of Series photos can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/129954669@N05/albums/72157663327342550 and on the 'Alton Water Sailing' Facebook page.

Race 7 & 8 Results:

Helm	Crew	Club	Boat Type	R7	R8
Fast
Mike Bees		Brightlingsea SC	RS300	1	1
Dan Willett	Pete Nicholson	Brightlingsea SC	Merlin Rocket	2	3
Bob Portway		Alton Water SC	Phantom	4	2
Mark Peak		Alton Water SC	RS300	3	5.5
Asymmetrics
David Conlon	Sarah Bines	Brightlingsea SC	RS200	1	1
Rheanna Pavey	Holly Pavey	Stour SC	RS200	2	3
Ben Alexander	Ed Ballard	Deben YC	RS200	3	4
Matt Smith	Issy Taylor‑Jones	Alton Water SC	Feva	7	2
Ed Gibbons	Rebecca Bines	Brightlingsea SC	RS200	4	6
Laser
Adam Fuller		Orwell YC	Standard	2	1
Pete Kyne		Brightlingsea SC	Standard	1	4
Ashley Deaton		Alton Water SC	Radial	3	2
Cameron Harris		Orwell YC	Standard	4	3
Graham Ireland		Royal Harwich YC	Radial	5	5
Medium
Alan Krailing	Charlotte Stewart	Waldringfield SC	Lark	3	1
Simon Davis		Alton Water SC	OK	5	2
James Cully		Norfolk Broads YC	Solo	6	4
Ed Harris	Peter Farthing	Waldringfield SC	Lark	2	9
Slow
Matt Taylor		Alton Water SC	Tera Pro	3	1
Euan Harris		Orwell YC	Topper	2	3
Joshua Davis		Alton Water SC	Tera Pro	6	2
Benjamin Reason		Harwich Town SC	Topper	4	4