RC Laser Autumn Series at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club - Day 2
by Tony Wilson 8 Nov 2016 20:12 GMT
6 November 2016
The early doors weather forecast was for 29mph winds dropping to 24mph by lunch time, all from the North, with maybe just a touch of rain in the afternoon. Anyone out on Saturday bonfire night will know that this is the bitterly cold direction. The first proper frosts of the year were also had over this weekend. It was going to be a blast.
Seven skippers signed up for the day for a shortish triangular course leaving all marks to Port for 2 laps in a wild breeze. The whole lake was covered so there no wind shadows to encounter, which can usually happen with the Northerlies.
Safe bet was to be using your 'D' rig, unless you were really careful with the C, but there wasn't really any big chop with the waves.
A couple tried the various sail sizes in the warm up but it was only a brave few including Ken that opted to sacrifice the first race to the bigger sail, and it paid off as he won the first 3 of the seven completed before lunch.
So by the half way mark it was Ken in the lead by achieving 5 wins and all with the C rig. Most were having difficulty in handling what they were using and couldn't understand how he was getting away with it and not experiencing their same handling issues - it was a battle.
After lunch for some unknown reason Ken had opted to give in and change down.
Now Garry had seemed to be in good form for the day and was putting in some good scores. Tony blaming his low positions on the extra burden of carrying a camera on board as usual, being that he was lagging pretty low in the pack but doesn't normally come alive till the afternoon anyway.
John P. and Jim L. were having there good moments especially when they got those flying starts engaged, it must be all that RC Mustang sailing they do every Tuesday for the good practice.
Tony had now unburdened himself of the extra baggage so he could try the C sail as the larger boom wouldn't foul against the camera waterproof housing. This time he got the first 2 wins in the afternoon.
We then had a Scottish visitor that jumped to the chance when offered to have a couple of goes with our Lasers as he'd never tried them before. He had brought along a couple of small pond boats in the car, but said that they don't really like salt water treatment so left them inside. His boat the Wee Nip resembled crafts similarly to the Fleetwood Flyer and the Mickey Finn. I need to check that one out.
The discussion over lunch was to whether we would complete another 7 races or go for the 16 in total giving us the 3 discards. We managed all 16 just before 3pm which was great and had been a very energetic full day of good winds. Most had had good moments and also short lulls in their sailing, for a spot of weed or slight bit of entanglement. most of the bits of weed resembled small bits of grass that usually freed itself after a short burst of speed.
The win for the day went to Garry, he had just been consistent with his low scores, even though Ken had 7 firsts to the day opposed to Garry's 3. Tony had notched his way back up to equal Ken on points but came third on a count back.
No boat damage reported for the day even though there were a few minor handling issues due to being in irons etc... please check out video to experience a fuller flavour of the event.
Day 2 Results: (top 3)
1 Garry Benson
2 Ken Crabtree
3 Tony Wilson