Streaker and Laser Open at Scaling Dam Sailing Club
by Scaling Dam SC 13 Sep 2017 08:00 BST
2 September 2017
A fleet of 11 Lasers and 9 Streakers, including visitors from Ripon, Tees & Hartlepool and Beaver SC arrived at the club on Saturday morning to find blazing sunshine but very little wind. The competitors briefing was held on schedule and racing postponed in the hope that conditions would improve.
After an early lunch the fleet launched in the hope of getting the first start away at 1 o'clock. Unfortunately half way through the Streaker start sequence the wind dropped to nothing again, so the AP went up and the fleet drifted in circles for a while until the breeze filled back in from another direction. After a quick repositioning of the committee boat the first race got away on a small triangular course.
In the Streakers the travelling boats all had good starts but Martin Penty (Beaver SC) made the most of the light and shifty conditions, chased hard by Ian Priest (Scaling Dam SC), Peter Kitchen (Tees & Hartlepool YC) and Richard Eagland (Ripon SC), while from the home fleet Phil Brining has an unscheduled stop for some urgent boat maintenance.
In the Lasers we had the unusual sight of a Metcalfe v Metcalfe battle, with Lisa sailing a borrowed boat. Also making a first appearance in the radial fleet was Nicky Jackson-Ayre who seemed to be enjoying the light conditions if not the shiftiness. At the front of the fleet Georgia Booth and Pete Snowdon enjoyed some very tight racing with Pete taking line honours but Georgia winning out on handicap.
As the wind seemed to be more settled the race committee changed and extended the course for the second race. In the Streakers Richard managed to pull of a mid-line port hand start without incident, but this was not enough to stop Martin getting away to claim a second win, this time followed by a Scaling Dam trio of Zoe Meynell, John Tate and Ian. In the Lasers the change of course had little impact on the results, with Pete, Georgia, Lisa and Matt Jackson taking the first four places on the water.
After a very brief break and another course re-set the third race went off with a slightly depleted Streaker fleet. Martin again established a clear lead, while the chasing pack of Ian, Zoe, John, Alun and Peter swapped places several times around the course finishing with Zoe in 2nd and Peter in 3rd. In the Lasers, Lisa managed her best start but worst finish in the final race and Carl Wood managed to overcome equipment failure to ensure he finished all 3 races.
Prize Winners:
1st Radial (1st oa): Georgia Booth
2nd Radial (3rd oa): Lisa Metcalfe
Novice Radial (6th oa): Nicky Jackson-Ayre
1st Laser (2nd oa): Pete Snowdon (SDSC)
2nd Laser (4th oa): Matt Jackson (SDSC)
Novice Laser (7th oa): Matt Brining (SDSC)
1st Streaker: Martin Penty (Beaver SC)
2nd Streaker: Zoe Meynell (SDSC)
3rd Streaker: Ian Priest (SDSC)
4th Streaker: Peter Kitchen (Tees & Hartlepool YC)
Streaker Association Burgee: John Tate (SDSC)
Many thanks go to Ian Holden as Race Officer and his assistants on the committee boat Jon Pearce and Tony Priest and to Ian Thompson on the rescue boat. Thanks also to Hazel Meynell in the galley for keeping everyone well fed. We hope to see you all again next year.