RC Laser Northern District Round 2 at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club
by Tony Wilson 2 May 2016 21:22 BST
1 May 2016
This was the second in the Northern District RC Laser Series. Six are to be held in total with two at each of the following locations; Fleetwood, West Lancs and Fairhaven, alternating by one in each month.
The forecast was lousy, rain or drizzle all day long. Plenty of wind, enough for B sails but coming from the hidden Southerly direction.
13 entrants from as far a field as North Wales, Barrow in Furness, 3 skippers from Southport and the remainder of the crowd from the home town of Fleetwood.
2 laps of a typical rectangle leaving all marks to Port.
The first race was won by the Abersoch star Tim Long with Tony W. for a photo finish. The next race was won by Tony and then that was the end for him as it was just problems one after another, from batteries to radio issues.
Mike was having a good day, but by lunchtime it was Tim well in the lead followed by Southport's Alan Tickle.
Jim was also having a touch of the Green wire trouble, something to be sorted out over the lunch break with a squirt of WD40. The slightest ingress of salty sea water can cause havoc on your electrics, especially servo plugs and this chemical reaction is within seconds as some of us have all found out. A good dosing of Vaseline in your joints can help to keep this green monster at bay.
Eddie Greenwood, a long serving member of Fleetwood, joined us at midday and didn't want to miss out on the fun. He regularly enjoys participating in most of the different sailing classes.
Tim, full on form, continued his afternoon quest, while Mike started to have a couple of winch jitters. To confirm this problem, we had a short welcomed visit by IOM Champion Rob Walsh. While having a couple of tries with Mike's handicapped boat, actually lead the pack just to show how a good start can make all the difference while racing.
The next race had everyone trying to do the same, only to get a recall as there were about 10 boats over the start line before the gun.
The drizzle continued throughout the day and the wind strength was pretty consistent and remained 'B' force. The only part of the course to cause problems was down the bottom end of the lake while crossing, where by the wind was swirling and creating dead spots in the lee of the road and Hotels. This was amplified twice by each race lap and great anguish for many skippers.
The lake water looked good and is pretty clear, you could keep an eye on your rudder and right down to the bottom of your keel, just in case you pick up any attached debris.
Skip R., also not having a good day, decided to miss out the last couple of races. Sail setting was just becoming too much of a headache.
It was back to the cabin for Trev to do some adding up after we'd completed 12 races by the 3:30pm deadline. Most had put up with the damp miserable day, so it just shows how good spirit among the fleet can overcome.
Thanks goes to the Fleetwood Club for hosting this event, with Trevor Bell as Race Officer and Robert Wheeler for some cracking photos.
Next race is in 4 weeks at the Blackpool and Fylde site on Fairhaven.
Overall Results: (top three)
1. Tim Long (Abersoch)
2. Dave Foster (Barrow)
3. Mike Parkington (Fleetwood)
Please keep an eye out on the RC Lasers site for updates (also rumours the Fairhaven Lasers website may be revived) Better still get in touch with Alan Tickle at the West Lanc's club Southport to be put on his vast Lasers emailing list for a prompt when we are racing.