10 raters at Guildford Model Yacht Club
by Roger Stollery 24 Feb 2004 06:52 GMT
The Southern District Championship was sailed on 22 February at Guildford MYC’s sailing water at Abbey Meads opposite the Thorpe Park, Chertsey. It attracted 24 entries from 8 clubs.
The northerly wind blew straight down the lake, gathering strength during the day from 12mph to a maximum of 30mph. This gave absolutely superb conditions for these long, thin greyhounds of radio racing. The smallest sails were needed before the end of the event to cope with the strongest gusts. These boats, based on the ‘length and sail area rule’ of 1886, are very light, yet powerful, with deep keels powered their way to windward slicing through the big waves in a most fantastic fashion, almost planing at times. The offwind legs were a tremendous spectacle with all the boats planing flat out on the downwind legs. The conditions took their toll with gear failure cutting the fleet in half at the end.
The racing was dominated by the Graham Bantock ‘Prizm’ design, a comparatively wide, long boat with a powerful keel and plenty of ballast. This design won all 10 races with the designer winning Races 1,2,3 and 6, whilst Peter Fothergill won Race 4. Phil Playle also won a Race 1 heat and then Race 5 and a run of 4 to finish. Marbleheads are often rated as 10 raters and compete well in light airs, but have no advantage in strong winds. However despite their short length and light weight, five appear in the top ten and they took seven 2nd or 3rd places.
Overall Results:
1st Phil Playle Chelmsford ‘Prizm’ 11
2nd Graham Bantock Chelmsford ‘Prizm’ 13
3rd Peter Fothergill Chichester ‘Prizm’ 31
4th Peter Stollery Guildford ‘Roar Edge’ 32
5th Mark Dennis Chelmsford ‘Paradox’ 34