Postponed

Following on from the extremely cold, snowy and frozen few weekends in the beginning of January, the concensus of oppinion has been that we abandon Saturday Racing till the weather warms up.

This weekend and next weekend is also a busy weekend for the prospective Dinghy Instructors as they are using the next two weekends to train and hopefully qualify.

The intention is to consider whether or not to continue Saturday Racing at the end of February.

If you want to continue with the Saturday Racing up until the start of the formal racing season, please let us know, we don't mind if you'd prefer to keep warm, rather than bobbing about in the cold light airs. ;-)

WindGuru:
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s-NO-w Sailing Today

With the current snowy conditions it seems like a good idea not to try to race today.

However, there are some people: Neil Marsden, an RYA coach and good friend of ours that do have great fun Ice Sailing in conditions like these, although not usually in this country. Hope you're having fun Neil ;-)

For us here the conditions aren't suitable for either sailing on ice, or even on water - perhaps.

WindGuru:
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However, there was something that might interest some younger sailors:

Ice Oppies:

Last Race Before Christmas

This Saturday; the 12th, will be the last Social Racing Session before Christmas.

It promises to be a relatively warm and clear day, with perhaps just enough wind.

WindGuru:
MetCheck:

An East North Easterly wind of around 6 knots, with minimal gusts pushing it up to possibly 8 knots, an easy, relaxed afternoons sailing.

As usual 13:00 briefing and first race starting at 13:30. Light is fading fast now so there may well only be enough time for two races so that we can pack away in the daylight.

We need someone to give Neil and Ian a run for their money, and we need to show the GP14s that there are other classes, even if they have all gone over to centre helms..

See you all on Saturday....

First Saturday's Racing in December

For the first Saturday in December, the weather promises to be fairly good for some Social Racing, 12 to 20 knots, with minimal gusting. Should be a good first sail for the uninitiated.

Check out Quiz 14 from UK-Halsey, and check who's in the right for the windward mark.

When we get out onto the water this week the intention is to have a figure of eight course, with two windward marks. So spend a bit of time before the race and see if you can get the best track for each windward mark.

So come down to the lake and have a go at three races: back to back, before an early finish and boats away in time for sundown, and tea.

WindGuru:
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With any luck,we won't have the mist and the fog that's in the picture here as it promises to be a relatively crisp and clear day.

See you all for a briefing at 13:00.

No Wind

Cath's right, sun, warm weather, almost summer - well that's stretching it a bit, but no wind whatsoever.

Only one helm turned up, and we didn't launch, not even a day for Enterprise "rocking and rolling".

Better luck in December - we hope.

Fair Weather at Last !!

This Saturday promises light winds, reasonable temperature for the time of year, but an interesting direction swing from North West to South East during the time we're going to be racing.

WindGuru:
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Racing will start at 13:00 with a briefing and an introduction to the rules for the race, with any luck we can get three races in before the daylight fades and we can't see to pack the boats away.

Don't forget, it will be cold if you're wet, so wrap up warm and stay dry.

See you all later.

N over A

Just got back from the lake and as the wind conditions were in the region 15 - 25 knots gusting to 45+, it may well not have been too bad a day to sail, but for the gusts, and by watching them across the lake they were fairly frequent.

The Visual Signals flown here show what would have been displayed today.

Their meaning is: "All races are abandoned. No more racing today."

• An arrow pointing up or down ( ↑ ↓ ) means that a visual signal is displayed or removed.
• A dot (• ) means a sound; five short dashes (– – – – –) mean repetitive sounds; a long dash (—) means a long sound.
• When a visual signal is displayed over a class flag, the signal applies only to that class.

Hopefully next week we'll be able to get out and race in more suitable conditions for Social Racing.

Rules Quiz

Something that you might find useful is the UK-Halsey Rules Quiz.

They have a pretty useful Internet Sailing Rules quiz that might prove to be a useful diversion when we can't get out on the water to sail. Sign up with your email address to get the answers.

They also have some useful pictures and information on their Blog, so give it a once over.

Carlsberg Saturday - Possibly

In the words of the Carlsberg Guys - Probably another windy Saturday.

With winds at 26 knots and gusting up to 40 knots, its forecast to be a very windy day, perhaps not one for the faint hearted.....

WindGuru:
MetCheck:
AccuWeather:

The picture from AccuWeather looks even less promising, so we'll go with the two from Wing Guru and Met Check ;-)

If things get even more interesting - There'll be a post similar to last week when we decided it was likely to be perhaps a little too invigorating.

STOP PRESS!!

Just got back from the Lake, and the view is not too good, it's windy currently wind is in the region 23 - 34 knots gusting to 40+.

The outlook is grim with gusts to 60+ knots later, so the best option is probably to postpone till next week.

The Laser Training course is on the lake as are the DI pre-Assesment sailors, and we wish them all good luck ;-)

p.s. the conditions aren't quite as bad as the picture - not yet anyway.

Saturday Two

The second Saturday, and hopefully we'll get the chance to run a race or two. However, it has been rumoured that there will not only be the DI pre-assessment on the lake, but a Laser training day.

No matter, come along down and find a spot on the lake to race around the cans. We'll try to get three races in starting as usual at 13:00 and off the water and packed away by 16:00.

Weather for the day is "interesting".

WindGuru:
MetCheck:

With the wind expected to be between 28 and 16 knots, with the temperature hovering round the 10 Celcius mark.

So have a read up on the rules about avoiding contact and come along, wrap up warm and stay dry.

• SECTION B


• GENERAL LIMITATIONS


• 14 AVOIDING CONTACT

A boat shall avoid contact with another boat if reasonably possible.
However, a right-of-way boat or one entitled to room or mark-room
(a) need not act to avoid contact until it is clear that the other boat is not keeping clear or giving room or mark-room, and
(b) shall not be penalized under this rule unless there is contact that causes damage or injury.

• 15 ACQUIRING RIGHT OF WAY
  When a boat acquires right of way, she shall initially give the other boat room to keep clear, unless she acquires right of way because of the other boat’s actions.


• 16 CHANGING COURSE
  16.1 When a right-of-way boat changes course, she shall give the other boat room to keep clear.
  16.2 In addition, when after the starting signal a port-tack boat is keeping clear by sailing to pass astern of a starboard-tack boat, the starboard-tack boat shall not change course if as a result the port-tack boat would immediately need to change course to continue keeping clear.


• 17 ON THE SAME TACK; PROPER COURSE
  If a boat clear astern becomes overlapped within two of her hull lengths to leeward of a boat on the same tack, she shall not sail above her proper course while they remain on the same tack and overlapped within that distance, unless in doing so she promptly sails astern of the other boat. This rule does not apply if the overlap
  begins while the windward boat is required by rule 13 to keep clear.

See you all on Saturday.......

First Saturday

The First Saturday of the Social Racing season came & went.

Five boats out, and most of the helms practicing for the next weekends Dinghy Instructors Pre-Course Assessment. So not much chance for racing, especially as there was no committee boat ;-)

Boat for the day was the GP14, with three of them on the water, well done Martin, Anne, Neil, Ian, Cath, Michael and Kath.

Hopefully, there will be more of a chance to get some racing in next weekend.

Lets see what the most popular dinghy is for the second day in the series.

New Season Starts

This Saturday, the 7th of November starts the new seasons Social Sailing and Racing Sessions.

Its going to be cold, round about 7-9 degrees C is expected with a little bit of rain too, so wrap up warm. Wind looks light so ideal for a first session racing against the rest of this years winter socialites ;-)

WindGuru:
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Results will be published after the three races, which start with a brief outline from the "Racing Rules of Sailing" and rule discussion at 13:00 - this weeks ISAF Racing Rules of Sailing 2009-2012:

PART 2 - WHEN BOATS MEET

The rules of Part 2 apply between boats that are sailing in or near the racing area and intend to race, are racing, or have been racing. However, a boat not racing shall not be penalized for breaking one of these rules, except rule 23.1.

When a boat sailing under these rules meets a vessel that is not, she shall comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (IRPCAS) or government right-of-way rules. If the sailing instructions so state, the rules of Part 2 are replaced by the right-of-way rules of the IRPCAS or by government right-of-way rules.

SECTION A - RIGHT OF WAY:

A boat has right of way when another boat is required to keep clear of her. However, some rules in Sections B, C and D limit the actions of a right-of-way boat.

• 10 ON OPPOSITE TACKS
  When boats are on opposite tacks, a port-tack boat shall keep clear of a starboard-tack boat.


• 11 ON THE SAME TACK, OVERLAPPED
  When boats are on the same tack and overlapped, a windward boat shall keep clear of a leeward boat.


• 12 ON THE SAME TACK, NOT OVERLAPPED
  When boats are on the same tack and not overlapped, a boat clear astern shall keep clear of a boat clear ahead.


• 13 WHILE TACKING
  After a boat passes head to wind, she shall keep clear of other boats until she is on a close-hauled course. During that time rules 10, 11 and 12 do not apply. If two boats are subject to this rule at the same time, the one on the other’s port side or the one astern shall keep clear.

New Season - Postponement

Unfortunately this years season is taking a bit more of a summer break than anticipated.

Due to other commitments on the lake the Winter Social Racing season, that was due to start this Saturday, (10th of October), is having to be postponed till the 7th of November.

This doesn't stop any of you eager beavers coming down for a sail round the lake, but it does mean that there will be no informal racing being run, and no results posted afterwards.

Keep an eye on the BLOG, or join the list of followers, and get set for winter....

Winter Season 2009-10

Just a quick reminder that this years Winter Social Racing season is about to kick off, not that we'll be expecting conditions like these, of even this type of craft on the lake this winter..... but it's nice to dream :-)

We are hoping for some fun and some racing for everyone that's perhaps a little new to racing. After all the Winter Social Racing, is just what is says on the tin, a bit of a social gathering for people to race, perhaps not too competitively, and it's in winter.

Now what could be simpler than that? There's even some of the not so new sailors that turn up to keep their hands in during the closed season - good for them too..

Hope to see you all back again at the lake again very soon.

Bank Holiday Monday

Will this be you?

Monday the 25th of May is the second Bank Holiday Monday in May and the weather looks fine for a good day's sailing, might be good for a barbecue too?

Or possibly a run to Pizza Hut or McDonalds?

WindGuru:
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Saturdays in May

The Saturdays in May; (the 2nd, the 9th, the 16th, the 23rd and the 30th), are days when an RYA Basic 1 and 2 sailing course is being run, so it's likely that some if not all of the club boats will be in use.

There's no reason why you shouldn't come down and sail anyway, and there might even be the opportunity to take part in an "informal" training race later in the month.

However, now's the time that you can join in with the regular club racers on a Thursday night and Sunday morning; you can practice the skills you've been trying out all winter and show them the way home ;-)

Laser 12 Hour Race

No "Social Racing" this Saturday, as it will be the third Annual Laser 12 Hour Race.

Come down and watch, or enter, a team to sail round the marine lake between 08:00 and 20:00 this Saturday, the 25th of April 2009.

Further details from the event website.

RS Vision Reefing

Recently it became apparent that the single line reefing systems used on the RS Visions were a little less than perfectly set up.

We've since discovered how they should be rigged so that it's a simple matter of following the instructions below to reef the sails.

So simple it can be done easily by one person.

Method: 1, Ease the sheet and GNAV 2, Pull the reef line, the boom will angle up until all of the aft reef line (clew line) slack is taken in or the GNAV travel limit is reached.
3, Ease the halyard, and continue pulling the reef line. The boom outer end will move down towards horizontal. 4, When the reef line has pulled the clew and tack down hard, jam it off. 5, Re-tension the halyard and adjust the GNAV and sheet.

Information and images courtesy of Selden Masts.

Easter Bunny

This Saturday is the Saturday before Easter, there will be no Club Racing on Sunday, as everyone will be at church.

However, the weather looks good for Saturday, so why not take the opportunity to get the weekend's sailing in on Saturday rather than Sunday?

WindGuru:
MetCheck:

Due to unforeseen circumstances "Social Racing" had to be postponed without any notice the Saturday before last, but we hopefully we'll be back on track this week at 1:00 p.m. as usual.