RC Laser Queen's Jubilee event at Fleetwood Model Yacht Club
by Tony Wilson 7 Jun 2022 11:09 BST
5 June 2022
RC Laser Summer Series at Fleetwood week 2 © Bob Jolly
Fresh Smoked Salmon delicacies, Coronation Chicken sandwiches and Victoria Sponge. Just some of the vast array of treats for our Jubilee Celebration lunch, though ready for later.
A constant 10 knots from the East was forecast, although from under the bridge but that was fine.
11 Skippers in attendance and we tried with the big rig, just for starters and only for the first race. A quick change onto Derek's more favourable rig, the 'B' and we were off again.
Using most of the lake we set off from fairly near the far end of the lake and it was a beat to a mark just under the bridge taken to Port, a spreader, all the way back to the top for a gate and finish somewhere near the start. A somewhat slight bias was on the start line but was increased severely as it started to get congested at the near side.
Shaun had put his stamp on the first couple of races, but there was a bit more competitiveness today, with a few more good skippers in the arena and another being also a National Champion.
Derek was now happy and on form, although also had the two John's, Rob and Tony on his heels, but Shaun just kept the rest in his rear view mirror with only giving away the odd race. Ten races was the midway target as rain was forecast sometime in the day.
1pm, 10 races had and it was off to lunch for a mass tasting session. Apologies to all those that couldn't attend, but it was all the more for ourselves, so we only continued sailing a bit later than normal.
2pm back on the lake, with Ian H. and Bob J. volunteering to officiate the races, as Trevor may have had 1 pork pie too many. The wind had eased a bit over lunch, so again we were back to our big rigs, but only for the first race again. As the wind swung, so had our biased start line and we were now taking the marks to Starboard.
Just the four more races and again a finish at the club house for a 3pm close and another coffee.
When struggling, it's always good to copy other's sail settings as a millimetre or two either way, can be all the difference to success or just misery. Walter had problems with his sail shape along the mast, but had done pretty well considering his gooseneck was broken and surprisingly just about hanging on by the last bit of plastic.
Four separate Skippers posted at least one win each, but we've all still a lot to do to catch the runaway kid.
Results:
1 Shaun Holbeche 15 pts
2 Tony Wilson 31 pts
3 Derek Priestly 40 pts