Vane 36R Forester Shield at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club
by Tony Wilson 27 Nov 2019 08:56 GMT
16 November 2019
Vane 36R Forester Shield at Fleetwood © Tony Wilson
A light wind from the pump house corner to greet five skippers with their 36Rs steered by vane.
Peter made out score cards and we were soon on the water.
For a 2 pointer first off was Mike against John P. while Eric was taking on Tony. Eric was able to skipper Wizzie's boat all set up by Keith as he had to leave us early being that he wasn't feeling too good.
Peter was the first on a bye which is good sometimes as you can see how the game pans out. John helped with a bit of advice on how Eric should trim his boat and it set off a treat as Tony did a couple of pirouettes before he got going. The plan was to crab along the car park side and avoid the sand hill bank. Tony eventually caught Eric up with just one readjust, while Eric bounced off a couple of times and overcooked his trim, which unfortunately set it off to the far bank to give Tony the first couple of points.
John was able to repeat and copy his set off trim and beat Mike P. to the far end. The return journey also went to John and Tony respectively.
Peter was now up against Mike and Sue, while John was victorious over Tony both ways. It was now about 12:30 and the races were getting slower. John had to remind Tony about the sails filling on the opposite side when fending off to avoid disqualification, but with very little wind it was proving difficult. With John well ahead and not in reach, it was a good time to test out trims and angles of vane setting for the next race.
Tony beat Peter to the top end and Peter was probably wishing he had his biggest set of sails on his boat, but early rigging had proved temperamental as his mast was jammed at the base, so had to make do. The return was so slow and at about a third way back up the lake Peter thought a re sail would probably be the best solution after lunch. One last attempt for Peter to get his boat off the wall before giving up and it worked. Tony was circling and Peter although bouncing off the wall crabbed all the way to the finish. This race took at least an hour to get back. The wind had died.
A longish lunch break and hoping for the wind to return although similar for the afternoon. Race four again lasted at least an hour on the return. Mike was sailing against Tony and had the first leg. The return was again very drawn out for all four boats. John had managed to get home first, leaving Eric to walk his boat back from over three quarters of the lake. The battle between Mike and Tony had both boats non cooperative on the sand bank side with Mike finishing back at the start.
The time had marched on and it was nearly 4pm. There was no way we were going to get the last race in to complete just one round, so Peter averaged out the scores to what could have been possible. John P. had been unbeatable on all his legs so was the winner for the day. John was also announced the winner for the years 2019 36R class sailing.
There has been some growing interest in this class and a couple of individuals have asked for some extra dates over the winter months on any free Saturdays. Generally the smaller boats are easier on the legs. The bigger boats and the higher winds require more of an energetic effort. Any individuals out there that might have a slight interest are always welcome.
Results:
1 John Plant 100%
2 Peter Whiteside 67%
3 Tony Wilson 50%