6M sailing at Clapham on the 15th May.

May 16, 2011 at 10:51 am | Posted in News | Leave a comment

A boisterous sailing day. A strong gusty wind which at its worst was almost too much for the boats, but the intervals in between the gusts gave some spirited sailing. We had seven boats on the water which at times gave very crowded situations rounding the buoys, especially the wing mark on the far side of the lake where distance and visibility made it difficult and led to boats getting tangled with each other. The aim was to to be the first boat to get to the mark and it was then literally plain sailing, but for the next 3, 4 or 5 boats to arrive it was sometimes a bit of a mixup, however, in spite of a few contacts no damage was reported although at times the language was colourfull to say the least! We got a fair number of races in before lunch, not as many as we could have done but we started late, as usual.
Results as follows.
Race 1. Hugh, Leslie, John
Race 2. Leslie, Hugh, Ted
Race 3. Hugh, Leslie, Jim
Race 4. Hugh, Derek, John
Race 5. Leslie, Derek, Jim
Race 6. Hugh, Leslie, Jim
Race 7. Hugh, Leslie, Ted
The meeting started to break up about 2pm. I left early to see Alan at his home and found him surprisingly well. He is able to talk well, if a little hesitantly at times, and can walk slowly. It was great to see him recovering so well after his (2nd) stroke. He hopes to get to the pond at the next scheduled meeting on the 5th June. I understand that a member will pick him up from his home and take him back.
It was great to hear that both Jim and Grant have been to see him on more than one occasion. I think he was greatfull for the interest and support that Club members have shown.
A good day all round. The next scheduled meeting is on the 5th June, followed on the 12th June by a VIntage Club meeting. Hope to see you all there. Derek.

1M sailing at Clapham on the 1st May.

May 2, 2011 at 2:27 pm | Posted in News | Leave a comment

A good day at the pond with bright sunshine but a boisterous wind ranging from quite calm periods to very strong gusts making the choice of rig problematic. Some skippers were either confident enough to go with a top suit or had no option because they had no second suit others, like myself, chose the more prudent option of a second suit in the hope that what they lost in the calm interludes they would make up when the top suit boats were struggling in the gusts. This latter view did not always work out in practice.
We had the pleasure of having Mark and his son Joshua with us, so enjoying having the third and fourth generations of the Dicks family sailing at the pond. Joshua was sailing a Dicks designed Widget which seemed to cope with the strong winds very well. I spoke to Mark during the morning and he told me the Widget had been designed to cope with heavy weather and so it proved as can be seen from the results. Whether it was the boat or the skipper that did so well is difficult to judge, it was probably a combination of both but I certainly have it in mind to try at a future meeting to get Joshua to sail one of the less successful boats to see how well he does, if he does do well then it will give the owner of the boat some encouragement.
Although we started late we got a good number of races in and in spite of the gusts we had a good day with the following results, you will notice that all the best placed boats were Dicks designed.
Race 1. Leslie, Jim, Derek
Race 2. Joshua, Leslie, Ted
Race 3. Joshua, John, Leslie
Race 4. Joshua, Derek, Ted
Race 5. Joshua, Hugh, Ted
Race 6. Leslie, Joshua, Jim
Race 7. Leslie, Joshua, Derek
Race 8. Joshua, John, Leslie
Race 9. Joshua, Ted, Derek
Grant has been to see Allan again in hospital and I have spoken to Brenda on Saturday and both said that Allan was improving and that he might allowed home later this week. Great news.
The next scheduled meeting is on the 15th May for 6M,s. Mark is now based in London for a time and we would hope to see him and Joshua at the pond more often. If they can get hold of a 6M it will be great to race against them (and hopefully beat them) That is all for now. Derek.

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