Wanderer Open at Crawley Mariners Yacht Club
by Tim Robertson 14 Mar 2012 06:59 GMT
11 March 2012
Wanderers at Crawley Mariners © Alison Martin
The first WCOA racing event of the 2012 Travellers' Trophy season was greeted by a misty morning and not very promising zephyrs of breeze at the friendly Crawley Mariners Yacht Club on Hedgecourt Lake near Gatwick.
The mist soon burnt off with the bright sun but the winds never really filled in all day, despite which a good if slow and challenging day of racing was shared with the Comet Versa fleet got under way at 11:00 after a relaxed briefing and mug of tea in the club house amongst the trees.
Before getting on the water discussions were had around light air settings and rig tensions were duly lowered by a notch or two, chocks knocked out and strops employed to hold the mainsail foot to the mast but allowing the tack to rise free from the normal pin at the gooseneck - thereby reducing luff tension. Crews all crowded to the front of the boats to try and keep transoms clear and reduce wetted areas, all boats were heeled to leeward at crazy angles to try and get shape into the sails, none of which really seemed to help much with such very light air that we barely moved for most of the day.
On the small lake legs were too short for spinnakering, apart from a couple of enterprising Comets with quick to set assymetrics, but even being set and recovered quickly didn't appear to pay in the light airs.
The race officer set his course in what looked like the windiest parts of the lake but even so all races were interrupted at times by total calms which had us drifting round in circles trying to at least point in the right direction and avoid gently colliding with other boats that seem magnetically drawn to one another in these conditions, especially at the marks - Hedgecourt appears to specialise in up and down drafts caused by the surrounding trees, very strange when you can feel wind on your face but can't set the sails to the breeze and get moving!
The Versa races off a yardstick slightly slower than Wanderer but it was noticeable how they were able to ghost along in very light air and overhaul the Wanderers, who only made up ground on them again when the fitful breeze enabled us to make use of our waterline length advantage. In every race they were able to sail through the Wanderers from a 5 minute later start - In race one they even overhauled us before the first mark!
Resultswise it was a bit of a lottery with three different boats recording a win in three races, mostly appearing to relate to who was in the best bit of the lake to take advantage of little gusts when they arrived and who could persuade the boat to tack when it barely had steerage way! Lots of boats got hung up at marks and lost enormous leads, other failed to notice when the centreboard was parked in the mud because we were all moving so slowly...
M Bennet (Y Knot W1416), sailing with his daughter as his light wind crew recorded a win in race one, followed home by T Robertson (Joshua Slocum W1038) and his son (another lightweight) with D Edwards (Humdinger W1060) in 3rd. Race 2 Saw W1060 record his win, with W1416 in second and W1038 a distant 3rd. The final race saw W1416 DNS as he had had enough of drifting for the day and 1060 DNF as he got bored of drifting around watching the sun go down and set to rowing back to the clubhouse, leaving W1038 to record his first win of the day by sitting out the calm for about 30 minutes before riding the tiniest zephyr over the line and then being towed by the safety boat back to the clubhouse as the sun began to set.
In the final reckoning results were as follows:
1st Tim Robertson, 2,(3),1, 3pts
2nd Mike Bennet, 1,2, (DNC), 3pts
3rd D Edwards, 3,1, (DNF), 4pts
Thanks from the WCOA to Crawley Mariners for hosting and race officering so well on the day, the other Wanderers for coming along and making a day of it, and the Comet Versas for sharing the water in such good humour.