Vane 36R Leech Cup at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club
by Tony Wilson on 5 Jun
3 June 2017
Vane 36R Leech Cup at Fleetwood © Rob Wheeler
Early doors and only John Plant and Peter Jackson with boats at the ready had turned up for the day. With only two boats it was looking highly unlikely that any sailing was to be done - this class of boat seems to definitely be in the decline. A couple of sail trims later, then on cue Rob Wheeler and Tony Wilson turned up.
Rob had been promised assistance from the master of all sailing vessels Derek Priestly to help with his new venture and first delve into the world of Vane. Tony, although only down to help for the day to fend off with a pole, also had a boat thrust in front of him to sail for his first time ever. Tony, welcome to team Eric.
Four Vane boats all rigged in 'B' and a total of 3 ups and downs of the lake will actually count as a race. Derek had promised his son-in-law some help with house moving, so he could only stop until lunch anyway.
Rob had a nice boat 'Sybora' and it looked a bit superior to the rest of the fleet.
First up was John and Tony and there's no better way of learning than a bit of hands-on experience. Tony had only helped in the past and was now finding out the hard way, but with Eric and his boat 'Yard of Sail' he was in good hands.
John's boat was pointing better and looked more upright, so won the first leg. Peter and Rob were to go next and Derek had done some nice fine tuning to take his first beat giving them also 3 points.
The run was a bit different as John seemed to be having some difficulty and Tony nearly got down the lake in one go, two points for Tony. Rob was also able to sail centrally. Down the lake he took another couple of points.
Up to lunchtime seemed to be a repeat of each person's progress and it was Rob that had ruled the morning with Tony in second place.
Each had all sailed each other and it was enough to call it a day or even a competition, but it was only midday and hardly worth getting out of bed for a couple of hours of racing.
Derek had now left us but Ian had turned up. It was decided to race a second round and for the newbies to add to their knowledge in Vane steerage, rather than go home to whatever mundane task may be waiting for them.
John had now sorted out his earlier rudder issues and was able to run a lot better down the lake. Although Peter hadn't actually got a single point in the morning, he was now starting to enjoy it and make some progress and sneaked a couple of wins.
Rob had an unfortunate rubbing along the bank with his boat causing a shroud wire to break free as he was unable to catch the boat due to some family guy crabbing in the way.
A harsh old fashioned ruling, but with Rob's retirement all points gained by him or against him were wiped out from the score sheet. Rob felt he was unable to continue as a further couple of issues compounded his boat problems.
With the remaining guys sailing it was eventually John Plant that won the day.
Helpers are always welcome or to just come along and watch. You never know, you might be able to have a go at this free sailing. No batteries included.
Thanks today for Eric's loan of a boat and his Race Officer duties and also to the extra mates of the day, Ian and Brian. Also for the great pictures by Rob Wheeler. Looking forward to the next event.
Overall Results:
1st John Plant 16pts
2nd Tony Wilson 9pts
3rd Peter Jackson 6pts
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