Didnt the Streakers do well at the Battle of the Classes!
by Steve Cockerill, Rooster Sailing 24 Jan 2009 20:32 GMT
18 January 2009
I would like to investigate the personalities, the boats, the handicap and the conditions to understand why the class were so successful at this event.
The Personalitie
Ian Jones. Ian has been winning the Northern Laser Circuit - or should I call it the Northern Puddle Circuit for the last ten years. He is well known as a legend on a puddle. Ian is very reserved about his many successes but I am aware that in his last two meetings in a Laser against Paul Goodison he managed to win out victorious. His words were - I got lucky. Twice is not lucky! So you could say that he is no slouch in shifty gusty conditions. Ian has also won the Streaker Nationals in 2004 and 2005 and more recently he won the Laser Radial Masters Nationals at Stokes Bay in 2007.
Steve Cockerill - no perhaps I am not so reserved, but I do find that the Streaker is a boat that seems to fit my smaller frame better than boats like a Laser or even Laser Radial despite winning the Laser Master's Europeans in a standard rig this year and seven Laser Radial National Championships in the last nine years. The boat feels a bit like a Europe in size and weight but with a rig that is perhaps more repeatable and definitely cheaper and less off putting than the low boom of the Europe. I have loved sailing the boat - and I have been lucky to win the last three National Championships - and I really mean lucky.
The Boats
In 2004 Dave Naylor, another famous northern boat designer started working on a new mould for the Streaker. It was taken from a Championship winning boat built by Alan Gillard's Father. Prior to 2004 most Championship winning boats had been wooden boats either built by enthusiasts from a kit or by Dave Butler, a good northern boat builder. Dave Naylor's mould was fast but he was no longer interested in building Streakers so the boat and the mould was bought by Rooster Sailing. Why? Well it was the respect I had for those who enthused about the boat, namely Alan Gillard and John Burgoine. Both had been legends in Enterprises and Graduates - and both filled my head with enthusiasm. The first boat built by Dave had been made in Epoxy and was sailed by Ian to win the Nationals in 2004 and was called the 'Rooster Streaker'. Since then Rooster have made Streakers from this first hull and deck mould. Some in FRP and then later in Epoxy. Finally after much lobbying and some disquiet from some members, we were able to make a modification to the deck mould, with the help of Paul Young of Rondar, that I think makes the boat look as pleasing in GRP as it does in wood. In 2008 we manufactured 26 boats from this deck mould and sold them with sails made by Rooster Sails. The whole package clearly worked well as Rooster Epoxy Streakers came 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th at the National Championships in 2008.
The handicap
After sailing at the Grafham Grand Prix I was aware that the handicap was good but not fantastic. I felt bad for Jon Emmett sailing his Laser Radial. Jon has been sailing at the top of his game this year - nearly winning the world championships - but he was still left in 10th place in the single handed fleet. Tom Gillard had a great event and was the top Streaker coming 5th with me trailing in 7th. We never really pressed the likes of the Blaze or Phantom on the trapezoid course. I would agree that the boat has a great handicap for club sailors. However, I would argue - some might say spin - that it is a boat that club sailors find easy to sail to its handicap as it is not highly physical and its light weight make it easy to drive through the water.
The Conditions
Well I thought that we would struggle; the course favoured running boats and the Streaker loves reaching, so I was not convinced that we would be able to hold our own against the Solo that started just 1 minute behind. Thankfully we had some excellent luck on many of our long runs, with gusts that seamed to carry us through some of the more tricky calm spots under the bridge. We were able to keep the little boats planing, working hard to find the strongest breeze on the left side on the course near the Frigate.
I was amazed we managed 2nd and 3rd and I am always amazed when I beat Ian on a puddle. yet I am still kicking myself for missing a couple of shifts upwind that probably cost me the race. But there was so much going on - it was more like a washing machine than a race so I can't do any 'would-a', 'could-a', 'should-a' but it should make many sit up and notice this relatively unknown class.
Check out a short video clip of the Streakers to see for yourself how they performed.